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Delia Méndez Montesinos posted an update in the group Heritage Spanish Café 8 years, 8 months ago
I’m sure that just like for everyone else, this is a super-busy time just getting ready for classes. This coming fall will be the third semester since we began our introductory course (SPN 604) in our newly designed heritage Spanish track and I’m working hard reviewing the answer key for the book. It is up to the instructor to provide the key, but I like to do it because I find it helps students as they do work outside of class.
Also this will be the second semester we impart SPN 612, the intermediate course. Both courses have received good evaluations from instructors and students alike; so hopefully, we are on the right track.
Our Spanish heritage track is comprised of two semester courses, each six hours. They meet MWF for two hours, and believe it or not, the time flies (even the students made the same comment!). Our SLA track is comprised of three six-hour courses, so one of the enticements to get heritage learners to use the HL track is they can complete the requirement in two semesters. In case HLs decide to return to the ASL track after SPN 604, they would enter the third semester SLA course; and if they decide to enter the HL track from SLA, they need to have completed that second semester before they can take SPN 612.
I’ve also been working on creating online quizzes for students to take; they are designed mainly for students to assess their own understanding of the material; consequently they can use their book, work with a classmate, etc. This way I can give shorter quizzes in class since we are pressed for time. At the same time I’ve been working on “labs” that are essentially about one- to two-minute responses students record through Canvas to questions I pose. I do want to begin to do more with SPinTX; just need to find the time.
Which brings me to another project. A colleague, Jocelly G. Meiners, and I are working on a questionnaire about introductory HLs’ language attitude towards Spanish. We hope to pilot some questions this fall and have the survey (and IRB approval) completed to administer the survey next spring at the start of the semester and at the end of the year. We think that HLs’ attitude toward Spanish will be more positive once they take a language and culture course designed for them. Will keep you updated.
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Hi Delia. Wow, you are super busy. I need a flow chart to seeing how the HS track intergrates with the SLA track. You explained well enough. But I am a visual learner. I think your language attitudes study will be very interesting for the members of this online community. I hope that you and Jocelly keep us posted on the developments of this project. I am sure others will want to do something similar at their institutions.
Hi all. Yes, we are excited about this project of creating a survey to see what changes in the learners’ linguistic attitudes are produced after taking our courses for HLs. When we teach these classes we really try to encourage a positive attitude toward their heritage language and we hope that they learn to value their language and cultural heritage. So it will be interesting to see what this survey can tell us.
We have been working hard to learn how to use Qualtrics (the online survey tool that UT supports), and we now have a working version online what we are ready to pilot this week when school starts. We’ll keep you posted!