Papers by Marta Fairclough
Verbum et Lingua: Didáctica, Lengua y Cultura, 2025
This article discusses the pedagogical aspects related to the teaching of Spanish as a heritage l... more This article discusses the pedagogical aspects related to the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States. After a brief introduction that includes some key definitions, the main differences between the acquisition of a second language and a heritage language are explained, followed by a brief historical review of Spanish heritage language programs in the United States. Then, the article describes the types of classes that are offered in these programs, and the teaching approaches and main pedagogical strategies used in the classroom. This is followed by a brief account of the main challenges faced by the teaching of the heritage language (HL) to ensure that Spanish remains a community language in the future. The section ends with the questioning of what language variety of Spanish should be taught in the classroom and how. The article concludes by emphasizing the merits of the efforts led by professionals in the Spanish teaching field because of their optimism about the future of the Spanish language in this territory.
Verbum et Lingua: Didáctica, Lengua y Cultura, 2024
This paper presents a review of historical and sociolinguistic aspects related to the Spanish of ... more This paper presents a review of historical and sociolinguistic aspects related to the Spanish of the United States. On the one hand, it describes how the growing Hispanic community has struggled to maintain its language in social contexts in which the contact language, English, has made significant advances, displacing the language of the Hispanic community. On the other hand, a series of phenomena of linguistic change, variation, transfer, and simplification that occur in all the components of the structure of Spanish as a natural result of linguisticcontact between the two languages are presented. The phenomena of linguistic change are also explored in situations in which two or more dialects of Spanish have remained in contact for an extended time, which has given rise to accommodation phenomena in which speakers, for example, originating from the American lowlands have adopted linguistic uses of highland Spanish dialects (Parodi, 2014). This would be explained by the fact that these latter communities have a longer history in this territory and a significantly larger number of speakers. Among the conclusions of the study, the variety of strategies that Hispanic speakers use creatively to maintain Spanish stands out.
Hispania, 2016
Abstract:This study presents the development and implementation of inquiry-based cultural project... more Abstract:This study presents the development and implementation of inquiry-based cultural projects in a Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) Program. Four different inquiry-based curricula are described to illustrate how university students in an SHL program advance their knowledge of Spanish while carrying out research to understand Hispanic cultures. First-, second-, and third-year students conducted research utilizing different tools, including the Internet, surveys, interviews, and field data collection. They sought out and analyzed materials related to particular cultural expressions and became familiar with perspectives, products, and practices influencing the development of Hispanic cultures in the Houston area. The scaffolding of these projects from their immediate family context to the broader community allowed students gradually to expand their connection to and appreciation of their home culture while advancing their heritage language skills. By the end of each SHL course, students were able to articulate their research findings in written and oral presentations requiring increasing levels of linguistic proficiency. This study exemplifies a comprehensive approach to heritage language teaching integrating community engagement, cultural perspectives, and literacy, and can serve as a pedagogical model for heritage language programs elsewhere.
El Espanol En Los Estados Unidos E Pluribus Unum Enfoque Multidisciplinar 2013 Isbn 0985096136 Pags 169 186, 2013
Hispania a Journal Devoted to the Teaching of Spanish and Portuguese, 2011
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2015
This pilot study identifies some lexical aspects of the emerging writing skills in Spanish among ... more This pilot study identifies some lexical aspects of the emerging writing skills in Spanish among receptive English/Spanish bilingual students with little or no exposure to formal study of the home language upon entering a Spanish Heritage Language Program at a large public university in the Southwestern United States. The 200+ essays analyzed in the study are the last section of an online placement and credit exam that all incoming students take before enrolling in Spanish courses. The study focuses on lexical richness by analyzing lexical density, profile, and variation. It also measures transfer from English in the form of code-switches, borrowings, calques, and lexical creations. This exploratory study complements previous research and provides valuable information to the profession about the learning needs of this student population.
Having a clear idea of the knowledge in the heritage language that a student brings to the classr... more Having a clear idea of the knowledge in the heritage language that a student brings to the classroom is essential for a successful language-learning experience; for that reason, research in heritage language education has been focusing increasingly on assessment issues, especially language placement exams. Professionals debate whether assessment procedures should measure what students know and can do with the heritage language, or what deficiencies they have. Ideally, a balance of both will produce a better placement exam. This paper presents a working model of language placement based on current second-language theory and research and on what is known of heritage language learning. It explains the rationale for content selection and the design of effective tasks in a language placement exam for incoming university students and, finally, briefly voices some key logistical considerations.
Having a clear idea of the knowledge in the heritage language that a student brings to the classr... more Having a clear idea of the knowledge in the heritage language that a student brings to the classroom is essential for a successful language-learning experience; for that reason, research in heritage language education has been focusing increasingly on assessment issues, especially language placement exams. Professionals debate whether assessment procedures should measure what students know and can do with the heritage language, or what deficiencies they have. Ideally, a balance of both will produce a better placement exam. This paper presents a working model of language placement based on current second-language theory and research and on what is known of heritage language learning. It explains the rationale for content selection and the design of effective tasks in a language placement exam for incoming university students and, finally, briefly voices some key logistical considerations.
Hispania, 2010
The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the design and piloting of a branched, online ... more The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the design and piloting of a branched, online placement and credit examination that measures receptive as well as productive and creative language abilities in the heritage language of college students entering the Spanish for Heritage Learners Program at the University of Houston, a major metropolitan university in the Southwestern United States. Special emphasis is given to the linguistics tasks included in the examination's blueprint and the results obtained in its pilot implementation. The analysis of the results from each section of the test not only helps distinguish among different ability levels (and consequently achieve a more accurate class placement), but it also contributes to the consolidation of a typology of Hispanic heritage students, thus generating a better understanding of their learning needs.
The lexical decision test has shown to be a practical measure of overall language proficiency. Fo... more The lexical decision test has shown to be a practical measure of overall language proficiency. For this study, the effectiveness of a lexical decision test w...
Linguistic simplification is a common phenomenon in language contact situations in which "bi... more Linguistic simplification is a common phenomenon in language contact situations in which "bilinguals develop strategies aimed at lightening the cognitive load of having to remember and use two different linguistic systems" (Silva-Corvalan 1994). However, in some instances, this simplification process may not be so obvious. This study analyzes direct/indirect discourse patterns in the speech of 15 Spanish/English bilinguals from the Houston community and 10 monolingual Mexican speakers. Our objective is to look at simplification at the syntactic level, i.e., a lower percentage of instances of the more complex form (indirect discourse) in the speech of bilingual speakers at the lower levels of proficiency Contrary to our hypothesis, empirical data and qualitative analysis lead to the following findings: (1) syntactic simplification at the structural level is absent, although there appears to be simplification in the verb system within the subordinate clause; (2) simplificati...
Revista de Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica
El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer una visión general de las prácticas pedagógicas actuales ... more El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer una visión general de las prácticas pedagógicas actuales en la enseñanza del español como lengua heredada en Estados Unidos, incluyendo algunas de las prácticas más innovadoras del campo. Después de una breve introducción a la situación socio-demográfica y lingüística de la lengua española en dicho contexto, se describen algunas de las principales características que definen al estudiantado de lengua de herencia y se mencionan los modelos pedagógicos vigentes en los programas de herencia y su presencia en las instituciones terciarias. La segunda parte se enfoca en ciertas prácticas pedagógicas innovadoras en la enseñanza del español como lengua de herencia. Dichas innovaciones se basan en una pedagogía crítica de la lengua (Fairclough, 1995) cuyo propósito es fomentar la concientización y el pensamiento crítico por medio de la incorporación de contenido de orden sociolingüístico en el aula, la adquisición multidialectal, el translenguar, la ...
Studies in Bilingualism, 2016
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Papers by Marta Fairclough