Browsing by Subject "Heritage language education"
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Item The current status of Korean as a heritage language in the United States : learning opportunities, language vitality, and motivation(2011-12) Choi, Eunjeong; Horwitz, Elaine Kolker, 1950-; Oppenheim, Robert M.American-born Korean-Americans show one of the highest rates of heritage language attrition among immigrant groups in the United States. This literature review aims to identify factors that influence Korean heritage learners' motivation to maintain or disengage from heritage language learning, particularly focusing on language learning settings, learning opportunities, and learners' experiences and perceptions about the language and learning. First, it reviews research that informs about the current status of Korean mainly as a heritage language in American K-16 schools where learner motivation and language learning are positioned. The second section explores the circumstances of Korean language use and exposure taking place in the Korean community setting. The third section explores the ways in which heritage language maintenance is influenced by Korean heritage learners' diverse experiences in association with the perceived language vitality, ethnic and linguistic identity formation, and individual differences in learning goals and backgrounds. On the basis of the literature review, the last section discusses the argument that the systemic relations of the K-16 education community, the Korean community, and individual learners are critical in understanding Korean heritage learners' involvement in language learning and development. Finally, this Report concludes with recommendations for the enhancement of learning opportunities and motivation for Korean learners and with suggestions for future research in the nascent field of Korean education and research in the United States.Item Teachers’ perspectives on Chinese culture integration and culturally relevant pedagogy in teaching Chinese as a heritage language : a multiple-case study(2011-05) Wu, Hsu-Pai; Field, Sherry L.; Salinas, Cynthia; Palmer, Deborah K.; Maloch, Anna E.; Suizzo, Marie-AnneThis multiple-case study investigated six teachers’ perspectives on their teaching practices and cultural integration in a Chinese heritage language school. This research also explored how the teachers’ instructional practices were linked to Ladson-Billings’ theories on culturally relevant pedagogy (1994). Qualitative in nature, multiple data sources were included, such as semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and teachers’ artifacts. Data analysis included both within- and cross-case analysis. Within-case analysis showed that each teacher had her particular method of fostering students’ language learning. They also had unique ways of teaching Chinese culture; one held that culture is embedded in literature, another held that culture is the daily life of a group of people, another held that culture is gained through reading, a fourth held that culture is transmitted from one generation to the next, another held that culture is analyzed in relation to other cultures, and, finally, one teacher perceived that culture is hybrid and multifaceted. Based on the central tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy, four themes emerged from the cross-case analysis: (a) motivational and skill-building strategies to promote academic success, (b) individual, plural, and progressive ways to integrate and reconceptualize Chinese culture, (c) rebalancing authority to share power with students, and (d) culture identity development to enhance self-empowerment. Despite the link between the current study and Ladson-Billings’ theory, differences were found. For example, the Chinese teachers viewed heritage language learning as a way to help students connect their family members rather than to become active agents in the larger society. Besides cultural facts, the teachers incorporated cultural virtues and cultural reconceptualization. Instead of focusing on questioning inequities, the teachers encouraged students to build harmonious relationship with other ethnic groups. As the existing studies emphasized minority education for Mexican and African American students, the present study shed new light on language and culture instruction for Chinese Americans. This study suggests four implications: (a) developing heritage language teachers’ professional knowledge about implementing a “student-centered” approach, (b) enhancing heritage language teachers’ critical cultural awareness, (c) investigating heritage language teaching from diverse sociocultural backgrounds, and (d) introducing the theory of culturally relevant pedagogy in heritage language education.