Heritage language learners' perceptions of acquiring and maintaining the Spanish language

Abstract

The number of heritage language learners in American universities is increasing each year. Similar to monolingual students, this subgroup of learners is required to complete university level ‘foreign language’ coursework, which can be a source of anxiety. Particularly, this subgroup of learners may experience high levels of anxiety due to their low levels of heritage language proficiency because they may think they should already know their heritage language or they may think others will think they should already know their heritage language. This qualitative study investigated 11 university-level Hispanic heritage speakers’ experiences of acquiring and maintaining the Spanish language. The model developed from the interview sessions illustrates that participants’ perceptions of their Spanish language background impacted their Spanish language experiences. Although participants in this study had various levels of Spanish proficiency, they expressed how their lack of formal educational experiences was the main hindrance to their ability to obtain advanced levels of Spanish language skills.

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