This study analyzes the programs and policies for Spanish heritage language (SHL) students in Iowa high schools. Previous research suggests that SHL students do not enjoy equitable educational experiences in Spanish language classrooms, which are often taught by and designed for traditional second language learners. In US states like Iowa, there…

This mixed-methods explanatory sequential study aimed to identify the most commonly used World Language curriculum models in New Jersey high schools, assess the level of curriculum coherence in Spanish programs, and examine their impact on student learning. Surveys and interviews with high school Spanish teachers revealed that, while theoretical…

This qualitative phenomenological study explores teachers' and bilingual adolescents' views about heritage language (HL) maintenance and bilingualism. Interviews with twelve teachers and twelve students revealed limited value for bilingualism. English dominance overshadowed the importance of bilingualism and HL maintenance. Findings reveal the…

A vast amount of Latina/o/x students enroll in US public schools with the potential to become bilingual in English and Spanish. However, this potential is often dismissed, ignored, and their Spanish is perceived as a problem to be overcome. Despite this, some Latina/o/x bilingual students decide to become Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL)…

This qualitative research study used the case study method of one-on-one interviews to collect and examine the experiences of former English learners (ELs) who were unable to finish high school in southeastern Louisiana. This study aimed to identify specific factors that, using Everett Lee's theory, pushed or pulled these ELs from school and…

This study evaluated the construct and structural equivalence of the English and Spanish versions of the authoritative school climate survey (ASCS). Measurement invariance was evaluated through increasingly restrictive tests on a sample of N = 6976 high school students, with focus on the three core ASCS scales: Students' Willingness to Seek Help,…

Following WWII, the English language became the global Lingua Franca, meaning that it is the primary language used to communicate between people who speak different languages. With the development of English as the Lingua Franca, Americans are generally less exposed to foreign languages than most other nationalities. Some researchers believe that…

At a time of heightened discourse on multilingual education in the United States, there is a need to question what is meant by the term and how its understandings may be perpetuating harmful power asymmetries. Specifically, California has declared its goal of supporting multilingual education from kindergarten through twelfth grade, yet the…

This case study examined second language (L2) instructors' use of technology in high school and junior high Spanish classrooms in the state of Texas. Specifically, this work sought to investigate the kinds of technologies teachers employ in their practice and how they apply them in the classroom, and what personal and institutional factors…

As students feel empowered to select their own goals, they forge their own journeys to success. A culturally sustaining tool, student reflection is an informative practice for self-paced growth in language learning and beyond. A French and a Spanish teacher share their protocols to bring goal-setting into any classroom, along with the research and…

There is limited research surrounding non-native speaker-teachers of world languages and the disruption known as the "native speaker fallacy" (Phillipson, 1992), which is the belief that only native speakers can be the most suitable teachers of a given language. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of tenured,…

"Vos" is regularly used in "paisa" (of Antioquia) Spanish, although written "vos" is considered non- normative. Recent research shows an augmented presence of written "vos" in public domains (Weyers 2016a, 2016b), which is viewed favorably by a majority of "paisas" (Weyers, forthcoming). So, what…

Indigenous education increasingly seeks to reclaim the institutions of state assimilation as spaces for the dissemination and support of localized forms of knowledge and language use and the valorization of alternative citizenship identities. In this study, I compare two schools in Ecuador to show how divergent ways of teaching Kichwa promote or…

This qualitative study documented the way in which a social studies teacher co-created language space with emergent bilingual youth. Drawing from qualitative approaches, we collected data from a teacher interview (s), classroom observations and student artifacts to chronicle the way in which a secondary social studies teacher enacted…

This study investigated the relationship between task-based teacher training and novice English language teachers' cognitions and implementations of tasks in Honduran bilingual schools. After participating in a four-week training program on task-based language teaching, teachers with little or no prior teaching experience designed task-based…