The growing presence of Latino students in U.S. colleges and universities is evident in foreign language (FL) classrooms. Latino students with a high proficiency level in Spanish are usually placed in advanced language or content-based courses along with other non-Latino students. This paper examines university instructors' beliefs and practices concerning interaction in advanced Spanish courses with heritage and non-heritage students. The participants were 15 instructors of diverse academic and professional backgrounds teaching advanced Spanish courses at a large research-oriented public university. Following a process of selection, verification, and generalization of linguistic metaphors used to talk about the topic, this qualitative study analyzes data collected through a questionnaire, interviews, and non-participant observations. The discussion addresses the instructors' beliefs and perceptions with regard to: (1) the classroom environment; (2) their role as teachers of advanced-level courses; (3) the students enrolled in these courses; and (4) the contrast between what teachers consider to be the desired interaction in an advanced language classroom, and what actually happens. (Contains 1 table and 2 notes.)