Inclusive Assessment Methods for a Heterogeneous Group: Appropriate Testing in the Heritage Language Classroom

Introduction

In recent decades, scholarship has called for the intersection of education and multilingualism in the United States (Charity Hudley & Mallinson, 2018; Flores, 2017; Flores, 2019; Mena & García, 2020). While dual-language programs exist, until recently the goal of bilingual education was to quickly mainstream students in English-only classes (Flores, 2017). While the language spoken in U.S. schools is most often English, multilingual language classrooms do exist. The caveat to the presence of multilingual classrooms is languages other than English are presented as foreign languages (Flores, 2017; Reagan & Osborn, 2021). Consequently, many students enter the post-secondary educational sphere as Heritage Language Learners. While other definitions will be discussed later, here heritage language learners (henceforth HLLs) are linguistically defined as multilingual native speakers with baseline proficiency in more than one language, often with a higher dominance in one language than another (Polinksy, 2018; Zyzik, 2016).

The author first became interested in studying speakers of Spanish as a heritage language (SHLs) when taking a heritage languages course in graduate school. As a white, non-native Spanish speaker, she learned Spanish in high school within an L2 classroom through decontextualized content. Upon entering upper-level undergraduate courses at a university in Texas, she was intimidated by the numerous native Spanish speakers in her classes. The author was both daunted and jealous of other students’ fantastic language skills. When taking a heritage languages course in graduate school, she was deeply saddened and frustrated at systems perpetuating a deficiency perspective towards individuals she viewed as native speakers of a language. It was alarming that these students of whom she was in awe may have or continue to experience the linguistic insecurity she also experienced. After learning about this specific population of speakers, the author now seeks to change a system built on deficit perspectives. These changes start in the classroom, providing adjustments in courses and learning materials to better fit a unique population. Although the author does not share the same cultural, linguistic, or racial perspectives as some of her future students, she hopes to better understand through a collective learning community in which her students and herself initiate learning and understanding.

Recent research focuses on identifying and classifying the needs of HLLs; this is especially challenging from a pedagogical and curriculum-focused standpoint (Pascual y Cabo, 2018). Some universities boast a long-established and strong SHL program at their university (Vergara Wilson & Ibarra, 2015), with other universities not having classes or a program to serve Spanish Heritage Language Learners (SHLLs) at all (Johnson, 2017-present). Most universities are somewhere in between, with heritage language (HL) program growth exploding within the past decade. Overall, a pattern of Spanish as a Heritage Language resource expansion at the collegiate level has begun, with modifications and extensions each year.

With the increase in programs, research turned to address pedagogical questions regarding information and materials most appropriate for HLLs. Specifically examined in this chapter are contextualized assessment materials for SHLLs at the post-secondary level. The author created and organized the activities around the textbook and syllabus utilized at her home university. This study proposes methods of integrating assessment into the heritage language classroom as a means to better understand and ultimately teach the unique population of speakers. In addition to simply testing students at the beginning of the course, the author proposes that appropriate assessment throughout the semester can improve classroom community, engage students in a different understanding of language, and collect information to support other SHL instructors.