ABSTRACT

Heritage Speakers of Spanish and Study Abroad is an edited volume that provides emerging research on heritage speakers of Spanish in immersion contexts in theoretical, empirical, and programmatic terms. 

This edited collection seeks to expand our understanding of heritage speakers of Spanish by incorporating research on their linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic development during and after a sojourn abroad, by discussing the complexities of their identity formation and negotiation during immersive stays, and by highlighting programmatic innovations that could be leveraged to better serve diverse learners in study abroad contexts.

This volume advances the fields of both heritage language education and research on immersion study in a variety of ways, and will be of interest to scholars of applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and educational linguistics, especially those interested in study abroad programming and Spanish for heritage speakers.

part Section I|87 pages

Sociolinguistics

chapter 1|20 pages

Sociolinguistic competence among heritage speakers of Spanish abroad

Key findings, critical gaps, and contributions to variationist theory

chapter 3|26 pages

“Aquí el español es muy diferente”

Mexican Americans’ linguistic accommodation in social interactions with Spanish peers

chapter 4|21 pages

Individual differences in dialectal accommodation

Case studies of heritage speakers volunteering in coastal Ecuador

part Section III|40 pages

Identity

part Section IV|38 pages

Linguistic development

part Section V|68 pages

Program design

chapter 11|17 pages

Spanish heritage language learners abroad

Inclusive pedagogies for critical sociocultural linguistic literacy

chapter 12|18 pages

Enhancing readiness for the immersive experience

Spanish heritage language learners as conversation partners in predeparture sessions

chapter |9 pages

Afterword

Charting a path forward for Spanish heritage speakers in study abroad