Results of UCLA

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The Heritage Language Learner Survey Focus
on the Less-Commonly Taught Languages A Project
of the National Heritage Language Resource
Center Research Team Maria Carreira, CSU
Long Beach (Project co-director) Kathleen
Dillon, UC Davis Olga Kagan, UCLA (Project
co-director) Research
Assistants Sonja Tighearnain and Agazit
Abate
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National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC)

• Created through a Dept. of Education Grant to the
  UCLA Center for World Languages and the UC
  Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching
  (UCCLLT)
• Directors Olga Kagan, UCLA Robert Blake
  UCDavis

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Survey overview
Number of respondents as of April 24, 2008
1564 Respondents were heritage language
learners (HLLs) enrolled in heritage language
classes Working definition of the term
heritage language learner A student whose
home language is different from English.
Number of questions 45 (2 open-ended)
Languages surveyed 22 (see next slide) Areas
of inquiry HL background, usage, abilities,
attitudes Key findings Significant
commonalities to all HLLs and HL learning
contexts Significant differences between
languages Significant differences within the
same language.
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Languages surveyed
Arabic 1.8 28 Armenian 3.6 57 Cantonese 11.1
174 Hindi/Urdu 1.5 24 Japanese 1.2 19 Korean 7
.6 119 Mandarin 17.1 268 Persian 3.8 60 Russi
an 10.7 167 Spanish 20.1 314 Tagalog 6.6 103
Thai 0.7 11 Vietnamese 7.2 113 Other
(Indonesian, Ilokano, Polish, Portuguese,
Amharic)
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Presentation overview

• Commonalities to HLLs and HL learning contexts
• Inter-linguistic differences (only for languages
  where ngt60)
• Intra-linguistic differences (Arabic, Hindi/Urdu,
  and Japanese)
• Pedagogical implications

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Summary of main findings

• Background Most HLLs are US born or early
  arrivals in the US and have little or no formal
  training in the HL
• Usage Most HLLs have very little exposure to
  their HL outside of the home environment. They
  feel most comfortable using a mix of English and
  the HL. Many have traveled to their country of
  origin
• Linguistic abilities They are more confident
  about their receptive skills in the HL than their
  productive skills and are aware of their
  limitations in the HL (and in English)
• Attitudes toward the HL Most value their HL
  identity, have had mostly positive experiences
  with their HL have put his/her knowledge of the
  HL to good use in academic settings.

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Specifics Background

• 61.5 are US born
• 70 of the foreign-born arrived in the US before
  the are of 11
• 58.6 have not attended a community or religious
  school in the US
• 74.1 did not attend school in their country of
  origin and those who did, did so for a short
  period of time (1-2 years)

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Specifics Usage
9
Specifics Usage
10
SpecificsUsage
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Specifics Usage
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What language did you use most at the following
periods in your life?
Specifics Usage
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Specifics Usage
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Specifics Usage
15
Specifics Usage
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Specifics UsageWhy have you enrolled in
heritage language courses?
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Specifics Abilities
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Please rate your heritage language abilities
Specifics Abilities
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Specifics Abilities
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Attitudes
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Open-ended questions
Attitudes

• 1. How has your knowledge of your heritage
  language affected your experience in school? Can
  you remember an incident when your heritage
  language was helpful or caused you problems in
  school?
• 2. How has your knowledge of your heritage
  language affected your experience outside of
  school, for example in your home, church, or
  neighborhood? Can you remember an incident when
  your heritage language was helpful or caused you
  problems in any of these settings?

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I have made more friends
It has made my experience at school more
pleasant. By taking a HL class, I was able to
meet more students with my HL. Thus, I have
created new friendships with students of the same
background as mine. It has never caused a problem
for me. (Armenian) It has helped me make more
friends, because most of my friends that I'm
close with now are all Chinese too. If I need to
ask or talk to someone privately with people
around, I can ask them in Chinese. It never
caused problems for me. I find my heritage
language very useful in school. When I was in
high school, it helped me find my very first
friends. I was a new transfer student so i didn't
know anyone, and this girl came up to me to make
friends. And knowing Chinese has helped me to
communicate with her in a better way since
Chinese is her native language.
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I can help others
Several times the knowledge that I have of my
HL has been to the benefit of teachers that had
problems because of the language barrier between
them and new students that spoke mainly
Cantonese. So in the end I ended up sitting next
to them, being the big buddy, or whatever it was.
In the end, it showed how much I really knew my
language, even though it was easier to get the
point across if I had explained it, but I still
had a long way to go if I wanted to be fluent in
Cantonese.
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It helps me learn other languages
When I was in elementary school, I made every
effort to avoid speaking my heritage language. It
made me feel different, and like all children
that young, all I wanted was to fit in. It wasn't
until I was a sophomore in high school that I
realized how important it was for me to be fluent
in my HL. Academically, having knowledge of my HL
has been nothing but beneficial. In high school I
took three years of French, and, my HL being
Spanish, I was able to pick up the language very
quickly. I received the highest grade in the
class each year, and also received the highest AP
score of my class. When reading Russian
literature in translation, I was able to help my
class understand the connotation of certain words
that were not very clear in the translation.
Also, surprisingly, when I studied Latin, I found
certain vocabulary to have similar roots. The
grammar systems of these two languages is also
very similar (at least in contrast to English).
Also, there are many Russians involved in my
major study of mathematics, so this has been
useful at times, though as of yet I do not have a
technical vocabulary that would be useful in
reading papers in Russian.
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Other academic advantages
As a college student, I realize that knowing
a second language can be very helpful, both
socially and academically. My major requires me
to take a foreign language and because Korean is
my second language, it has been easy for me to
take the placement test and be placed right into
Korean 1C instead of having to go through 1A and
1B. However, it hasn't always been easy growing
up with a heritage language. As a young student,
I had difficulty in my writing classes. AP
courses, higher GPA, connecting with instructors
and others
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It offers privacy, intimacy, etc.
It is very helpful. I met most of my friends
because we all knew how to speak Russian and we
were all coming from the same place of moving to
America when we were little kids. I also find
that my heritage language has helped made school
more enjoyable. We would always laugh about a
joke in Russian or something else that the
English students couldn't or wouldn't understand.
It made school fun! My heritage language at
school is at most useful to tell jokes amongst us
HL speakers. It's helpful in that we can rant
about other things in a language people don't
understand and are therefore free to whatever we
please. Other than that, we don't talk in our HL
much. It's only used for jokes (Cantonese)
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Belonging
All my life, I've been around people not of my
native heritage. To be in a class with people of
the same culture as I am feels inviting and
accepting. I am now able to speak to my
classmates in a different language whilst making
myself feel integrated in my culture
(Vietnamese) During middle school and high
school, I felt that my heritage language was not
something that I would consider a valuable skill.
I only spoke Tagalog when calling relatives back
in the Philippines during holidays and special
occasions. I only started to take pride in my
knowledge of my heritage language after coming to
UCSD and joining Filipino clubs as well as
enrolling in classes such as Advanced Filipino.
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Expanding horizons
It has helped me understand people better, and
understand the different levels of diversity we
have in our university. It has allowed me to
understand who I am and how I relate to my school
environment. (Chinese) I think that my HL is
very useful in today's increasing globalizing
world. I have used my HL in class presentations,
to teach others, and to explain concepts.
(Mandarin) global citizen, a more open-minded
person, more curious of the other
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Presentation overview

• Commonalities to HLLs and HL learning contexts
• Inter-linguistic differences (only for languages
  where ngt60)
• Intra-linguistic differences (Arabic, Hindi/Urdu,
  and Japanese)
• Pedagogical implications

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Language-specific findingsMandarin and Cantonese
Limited exposure 93.5 are either US-born or
early arrivals 58.3 never read in their HL or
read for less than 15 min. per week 82.2
never access the Internet in this language or
access it only rarely Limited formal
training 45.8 have never attended a community
or religious school in their HL (but 27.9
attended for four or more years) 84.1 rate
their reading skills in the range of low to
intermediate. Similarly, 89.7 rate their
writing skills within this range Ambitious
linguistic goals Cite professional reasons
first for studying their HL
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Language-specific findingsRussian

• Significant exposure
• 75.9 are foreign-born but most arrived in this
  country before age 10
• 93.6 were read to in their HL by parents or
  other relatives as children
• Are the most likely to live with parents during
  college
• Significant formal education
• Of all HLLs, they are the most likely to have
  attended school in their country of origin
  (37.5), and the least likely to have attended a
  community or church school in the US (15.8)
• Modest linguistic goals
• Study Russian to learn about their roots and
  connect with relatives.

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Language-specific findingsKorean

• Mixed profile
• Have the highest rate of participation in a
  community or religious school in the US (72.3)
• Have the lowest rate of participation in school
  in their country of origin (11)
• Are among the most likely of HLLs to respond that
  they never read in their HL (41.9)
• 80.3 were read to by a parent or relative in
  their HL.

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Language-specific findingsTagalog

• The low end of the exposure scale
• Among survey participants, they have the least
  exposure to their HL
• Are the only respondents who are more likely to
  use English at home than their HL
• Are the least likely of respondents to have been
  read to by a parent or relative in the HL
  (37.3)
• Are the least likely of all respondents to have
  first learned to read in their HL (18)
• Have very low participation rates in a community
  or religious school (19.1)

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Language-specific findingsVietnamese and Persian

• Vietnamese
• Are less likely to read in their HL than the
  average respondent
• Are the least likely of all participants to use
  the Internet in their HL
• Are the least likely of all participants to have
  ever visited their country or origin
• Persian
• After Japanese, they are the most avid readers
  - 45.8 spend an hour or more per week reading in
  the HL
• Surprisingly, the large majority place
  themselves in the low to intermediate range in
  reading (85) and writing (88.4).

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Presentation overview

• Commonalities to HLLs and HL learning contexts
• Inter-linguistic differences (only for languages
  where ngt60)
• Intra-linguistic differences Classroom profiles
  (Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, and Japanese)
• Pedagogical implications

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Classroom profiles Arabic 100

• The only HL Arabic course in the university
• 10 students 4 foreign-born (1 late arrival), 6
  US-born
• Oral proficiency
• - eight out of ten students consider themselves
  to have advanced listening and speaking skills
• - one student ranks himself as native in these
  proficiencies
• - one student considers himself to have
  intermediate speaking skills and advanced
  listening skills
• Dialectal diversity Students come from Egypt,
  Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

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Classroom profiles Arabic 100

• Schooling and literacy skills
• - one student has 6-8 years of schooling in his
  country of birth considers himself as advanced
  reader and writer
• - three students have four or more years of
  community or religious school in the US they
  rank themselves as intermediate readers and
  writers
• - six students have no schooling of any
  kind in Arabic two have low reading and writing
  skills, the rest have no such skills at all.

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Classroom profiles Hindi/Urdu 100

• 2nd in a six-quarter sequence of courses
• 16 HLLs from six different language backgrounds
  Hindi/Urdu (7), Gujarati (4), Punjabi (2), Telugu
  (2), and Marathi (1)
• Reading and writing
• - seven students have no reading or writing
  skills
• - two have low-level skills
• - six are have intermediate-level skills
• - one has advanced-level skills

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Classroom profiles Japanese 100

• Intermediate-level course for native and
  non-native speakers
• Enrollment 12 HLLs students
• All 12 have advanced or native-level listening
  and speaking skills
• Eight have a significant amount of schooling in
  Japanese (4 years) and rate themselves in the
  range of intermediate to advanced in reading and
  writing
• Four have no formal schooling but rate themselves
  as intermediate readers.

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Pedagogical implications
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Pedagogical Implications

• HL instruction and program design should be
  oriented around the student, not the traditional
  curriculum
• Curricula and materials should be responsive to
  the needs and goals of HLLs (learner-centered)
• Curricula and materials should to be highly
  adaptable for use in the mixed ability classroom

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Pedagogical Implications

• What do teachers need to know?
• The commonalities of HL instruction (HL
  research)
• The particulars of their own language
  (linguistic, social, historicalissues)
• Their own students (Action research)
• How to differentiate instruction (Differentiated
  instruction).