NOVEMBER 25, 2020 — While many Hispanic students at UTSA grew up speaking Spanish in their home, most of them never formally studied the language in school.
Now the university is giving these students, who are known as heritage speakers, a space where they can further explore the language they grew up speaking with their families and speak it with a new sense of confidence. We spoke about the planning for a new Spanish Heritage Speakers Program with Lilian Cano, a lecturer from the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and two of her students: Alejandra Gomez, a sophomore history major, and John Casares, a senior sociology major.
What are heritage speakers?
Cano: We have so many heritage speakers—meaning that they grew up in an environment where Spanish was spoken around them all the time. For example, maybe their grandparents or their parents would speak Spanish around them. They can understand the language and speak a lot of it, but they may have some trouble areas when it comes to writing or reading it. On the other hand, some heritage speakers can read, write and understand the language but have trouble speaking it. All heritage speakers have different strengths and weaknesses, and my job is to help them wherever they need me. However, their level is way beyond a Spanish I and a Spanish II student. They usually need only a little bit of a push in some of the areas.
What is the Spanish Heritage Speakers Program?
Cano: Well, I’ve been calling it a program because I have high hopes of expanding it soon. Right now we just have two classes: Spanish 1014 and Spanish 1024 for heritage speakers. With the 1024 course, the students have the opportunity to take an optional exam at the end of the semester, and if they pass, they can earn their first course credits for a minor. So we’re working arduously on building this program to get students more involved in the Spanish language.
How did the idea to establish something like the heritage speakers courses come about?
Cano: We realized in our Spanish I and II classes that so many students didn’t need those levels. The heritage students were more advanced and needed a different type of class developed specifically for them. We were like, ‘Man, these kids are getting bored in here!’ They are not true beginners, where they don’t have any previous knowledge of the language, but they’re also not native speakers. It is important to have courses that are designed for L2 learners and other courses designed for heritage speakers because we teach them in different ways.
You’re using TV shows and entertainment as a method of teaching. Can you tell me a little bit about how that works?
Cano: The program we use is called Edunovela. It is an amazing program where students practice the language while watching TV series. The program breaks down the series into episodes and within the episodes, break it down into smaller segments. Within those segments they have the vocabulary, extra readings and explanations so they can follow the series without difficulty. While watching the series they can slow down the speech and read the Spanish subtitles. At the end of each episode there are also mini comprehension quizzes and writing activities to check for comprehension. My students tell me it doesn’t even feel like homework because they are very interested in the show.
Is there a component of the classes where they’re learning about the Hispanic culture itself?
Cano: I want them to be proud of the language skills they already have as well as of their heritage and background. I’m teaching them about their culture through essays, videos and documentaries. We’ve discussed the history of Hispanics in Texas, from the Battle of the Alamo to ranching and cattle drives in South Texas. We are also studying the walkouts that happened in Los Angeles in the 1960s, the farm workers strike with Dolores Huerta and César Chavez.
What are your goals for the program as far as expanding it?
Cano: My goal is to have more classes in the heritage program and for the students to love their heritage, to be proud of their ancestors and their background. I want them to be able to use the language and not feel embarrassed or ashamed because they think they don’t speak it as a native speaker. An important part of my job is to increase their confidence because they already possess a lot of internal knowledge. To know two languages is amazing.
Alejandra and John, how has the Heritage Speakers Program changed your perception of yourself as far as speaking Spanish?
Gomez: It helped me realize that I do know a lot more Spanish than I originally thought. I knew I wasn’t at the beginner level, but I also thought I wasn’t at a very advanced level. It turns out I can hold a conversation perfectly fine with a native speaker because this class helped improve my existing vocabulary.
Casares: I am definitely more confident in how much I actually know about Spanish. The class has opened my view to different ones I didn’t have before.
Why is it important to have something like this at UTSA?
Cano: I want my students to learn about their heritage, to connect with other heritage speakers and feel comfortable while they practice their language. History has not been kind to Hispanics and Spanish, and I want to make sure that my students rise from past obstacles and embrace their cultural heritage. The education cycle must continue so they can go out into the world and teach future generations.
Gomez: This program is important because it allows people with a handle on Spanish to develop it further in an environment full of encouragement and no judgment. This class is also for people that aren’t quite native speakers, so it allows a place for the in-between Spanish that a lot of second- and third-generation Hispanic Americans know.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
