Dr. Bajuniemi shared some resources with us that you might find helpful/educational, whether or not you work directly with heritage language speakers.
- University of Minnesota’s Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
- Mi lengua: Spanish as a Heritage Language in the United States, Research and Practice
- Innovative Strategies for Heritage Language Teaching: A Practical Guide for the Classroom
Dr. Bajuniemi especially recommends the work of Dr. Kim Potowski, Professor of Hispanic linguistics. Dr. Potowski has a list of helpful resources.
Make sure to check out Dr. Bajuniemi’s website for more information on her work. You can also find her on twitter @AbsP.
And please remember that labels are complicated and messy and “heritage language speaker” will have different connotations for different people and those connotations are dependent on a myriad of historical and personal factors. But we should all remember that bilingualism isn’t just for white kids and everyone’s language is valid and important.
Happy New Year!
-Megan
The Vocal Fries Pod 