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ERIC Number: EJ1293959
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Identifying and Placing Spanish Heritage Speakers: One Program's Placement Test Approach
Moreno, Oscar; Garrett-Rucks, Paula
Dimension, p72-91 2021
Despite the increasing number of U.S. born Latinos, placing heritage and native speakers in the Spanish curriculum is still a challenge (MacGregor-Mendoza & Moreno, 2020). The present article: (1) addresses the unique needs of heritage speakers in the Spanish curriculum; (2) problematizes traditional grammar-based placement exams; and (3) describes a multiple-choice placement exam (free upon request) designed and used at Georgia State University (GSU), a major urban university in the Southeastern U.S. Taking a sociolinguistic approach to the dialectical nature of Spanish, the GSU Spanish Language Program Coordinator developed a placement test based on what students--heritage, native, and non-native--do when asked to perform language tasks. The placement test design is outlined using distinctions of linguistic norms, both local/ regional and general. Reference is made to the ways in which diverse types of Spanish speakers align linguistically with general Spanish. This essay responds to the call for language standardization studies that recognize diglossia within a single named language by examining the role of heteroglossia to challenge monolingual language standardization ideologies (McLelland, 2021). Pedagogical implications for identifying and placing K-16 learners in a meaningful Spanish for Heritage Speakers classroom are discussed. [Note: The publication year (2020) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication year is 2021.]
Southern Conference on Language Teaching. P.O. Box 33615, Decatur, GA 30033. Tel: 404-290-1942; Web site: http://www.scolt.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Georgia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A