Heritage Language Institute, June 22-26, 2002, UCLA

 

Sponsored by UC Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching (UCCLLT)

 

Organized by the UCLA Language Resource Center (LRC)

 

 

Presenters:

Keynote Speakers: Guadalupe Valdés, Stanford; Terrence Wiley, Arizona State University

 

Guest Speakers:  Ray Clifford, Defense Language Institute; Maria Polinsky, UCSD; Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, University of Pennsylvania

 

UCLA: Russell Campbell,LRC;  Olga Kagan, Slavic Department; Linda Jensen, TESL;

Lorena Llosa, Applied Linguistics; Janet Oh, Psychology; John Schumann, Applied Lingusitics;

Sung-Ock Song, Korean

 

Other UC campuses:  Kathleen Dillon, UCD; Maria V. Pagani, UCSC

 

Los Angeles Unified School District:  Craig Merrill

 

Australia:  Joseph Lo Bianco, Chief Executive, Language Australia: the National Languages and Literacy Institute (a videotaped interview)

 

Purpose:

This workshop will provide an opportunity to:

  1. Learn from the experts in this developing field;
  2. Encourage the sharing of issues and practices among UC campuses;
  3. Stimulate new solutions and collaborations;
  4. Promote research and curricular development in heritage language acquisition;
  5. Explore uses of technology in the attainment of literacy by heritage students;
  6. Draft guidelines for a comprehensive program of heritage language learning at the University of California.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Day 1. Saturday, June 22.  ROYCE 314

 

10:00                Registration and Coffee

 

10:45                Introduction (Olga Kagan, LRC) and Welcome (Robert Blake, UCCLLT)

 

11:00 -12:30     G. Valdés: Teaching Heritage Languages: Principles, Practices, and Future Possibilities

 

This presentation will offer a brief overview of the linguistic and educational conditions that gave rise to the focus on the teaching of heritage languages with the foreign language profession in the United States. Using the case of Spanish, it will present current basic principles informing heritage language instruction and trace the evolution of these principles and practices over time. Finally, it will focus on the future and identify key challenges facing the development of comprehensive programs of heritage language learning within existing institutional structures.

 

  12:30 - 1:45        Lunch

 

   1:45 - 3:00        T. Wiley: Promoting Heritage Languages: Policy Challenges and Prospects

 

This paper addresses educational language policy issues related to defining and developing programs for heritage language speakers. It explores the politics of heritage language identity, including the determinants of outsider/foreign versus insider statuses relative to heritage language and the implications of using language proficiency versus ethnic heritage as determiners of that status. The possibilities for ways in which university programs can engage heritage language communities are

also discussed.

 

   3:00 - 3:15       Break

 

   3:15-4:15          J. Schumann: Variation in Neural Structure and Variation in Learning

 

This paper addresses the issue of inter-individual differences in brains.  Brains are as different as faces, and these differences have consequences for learning.  The sources of variation across brains (mutation, gene shuffling, developmental selection, experiential selection)  will be outlined.  Manifestation of these differences will be examined (performance on IQ tests, the abilities of prodigies and savants, the

architecture of Einstein's brain).  Finally, the role of this variation for human evolution and its implications for education (particularly for education in heritage languages) will be discussed.

 

  4:15- 5:15         N. Van Deusen-Scholl: Heritage Languages in the UC system: Identifying the Learners and Reassessing the Pedagogy

 

This paper will present the results of a survey conducted during the Spring of 2001 among the eight campuses in the UC system. The survey consisted of thirteen questions divided over three sections:

(1) defining heritage students; (2) curriculum; and (3) pedagogy.  The paper will provide a brief overview of the results of the survey, attempt to problematize some of the major issues that were raised, and discuss the implications of the preliminary findings.

 

5:15                  Wine and Cheese Reception

 

Day 2. Sunday, June 23.  ROYCE 314

 

9:00 -11:00  M. Polinsky: What Linguists Can Learn from Heritage Speakers

 

Heritage speakers or near-native speakers have been at the fore of sociolinguistic and pedagogical work for some time now and these two fields of inquiry have made important contributions to heritage language studies. Theoretical linguistic and psycholinguistic studies of heritage speakers have become a priority only recently, and the goal of this presentation is to outline the main linguistic questions relevant for heritage language research and to provide some preliminary answers to these questions.

 

 

11:00 -11:15      Coffee Break

 

11:15 -12:15      R. Clifford: Assessing the Language Skills of Heritage Learners

There are many reasons for testing the language skills of heritage learners, including screening for job assignments, placing individuals into an instructional program, and planning tailored individualized instruction.  This presentation will consider these reasons for testing heritage learners and propose that different assessment approaches should be used for each purpose.

 

12:15 -  1:30      Lunch

 

 1:30 -  2:30      J. Oh: Does Heritage Language Loss Affect Family Relationships?

 

A linguistic minority child is encouraged to speak her/his heritage language in order to communicate with family members, especially parents.  If  children instead speak the majority language, parents may be forced to communicate to their children in a language in which they may not be able to fully and freely express their thoughts.  Other parents may resort to speaking in the heritage language to their children even though their children speak only the majority language.  One would suspect that these patterns of language use would seriously disrupt family relationships.  In this talk, I will present evidence that this is the case and evidence suggesting that mental health in general can also be affected.  This will underscore the importance of further examining the effects of heritage language loss on linguistic minority families. 

 

 2:30 -  2:45      Break

 

  2:45 – 3:45       L. Jensen and L. Llosa:  Heritage Language Students at the University: a Survey of  HL Reading Abilities and Attitudes

 

The presenters will discuss the results of a survey focusing on reading abilities in the HL given to students in Korean, Russian, Thai, and Vietnamese heritage language classes at UCLA.  The results are especially informative for curriculum designers and materials developers of university HL courses.

 

3:45 -  4:30      Documentary “Growing Up with English Plus”, Monash University, Australia

 

Day 3. Monday, June 24

 

  9:00 -10:00    S. Sohn and C. Merrill: Teacher Training Project in Korean

10:00 -10:15    Break

10:15 -12:00    Panel discussion of UC Heritage Language Programs

12:00 - 1:15     Lunch

  1:15 - 2:00     K. Dillon, Presenter and Discussion Leader:  Issues of Heritage Instruction on UC          

                   Campuses/What Goes into the Guidelines

 

Afternoon: Drafting the Guidelines of UC Heritage Language Instruction

 

Day 4. Tuesday, June 25

 

   9:00 -10:00      R. Campbell, L. Jensen:  Web-Based Reading Programs in Korean and Thai

10:00 - 10:15      Break

10:15 - 11:15      V. Pagani: Culture-Based Web Materials

11:15 - 12:15       O. Kagan:  A Textbook for Heritage Learners – How Is It Different?

12:15 -   1:30       Lunch

 

Afternoon: Drafting the Guidelines of UC Heritage Language Instruction

 

Day 5.Wednesday, June 26

 

9:00 -12:00            Finishing the Drafts and General Discussion. Future Plans for  Intercampus                    .                                           Collaboration on Heritage Instruction

 

12:00                     Lunch and Closing Remarks

 

 

In preparation for the Institute we are asking each campus to supply the following information.

 

The answers need not be extensive; even a sketch will facilitate the discussion and the writing of the guidelines.

 

  1. Which language programs on your campus offer a separate program for heritage speakers?
  2. How long is each heritage sequence? Is it lower division or upper division?
  3. How are materials and syllabi for the HL track different from the regular track? 
  4. Is there a placement procedure?  If yes, what is it?

 

 

 

Guidelines

 

The purpose of the Guidelines is to inform the University of California administration and faculty about a need to provide instruction aimed specifically at heritage speakers.  A curriculum for heritage speakers has a different starting point since heritage speakers have speaking and listening proficiencies typically higher than those attained by non-heritage speakers after four years of university language instruction.  The  reading and writing proficiencies of heritage speakers are, however, typically weak or non-existent

 

We should thus aim at providing recommendations in regard to the following:

 

  1. Goals of instruction.
  2. Language requirement.
  3. Placement exams.
  4. Separate tracks/sequences.
  5. Content of instruction.
  6. Role of technology.
  7. Cooperation among faculty teaching the same heritage language across UC.
  8. Other - to be suggested by participants