Language Ideologies and Linguistic Identity in Heritage Language Learning

Language Ideologies and Linguistic Identity in Heritage Language Learning addresses the ways in which discourses about language value and identities of linguistic expertise are constructed and negotiated in the Spanish heritage language (HL) classroom, and how the classroom discourse shapes, and is shaped by, the world outside of the classroom.

The volume examines the sociopolitical contexts, personal histories, and communicative practices of Spanish teachers and students in two diverse geographic regions: the US states of Texas and Kansas. Adopting an integrated sociocultural approach, it considers the ways in which individuals draw from multiple linguistic resources and social practices in daily interaction and how they articulate their beliefs about language through storytelling. Rich interactional data, examples from social media, and stories of community engagement are utilized to demonstrate how Spanish heritage speakers use language creatively and proactively to legitimize and claim power in their home and community linguistic practices.

This is an invaluable resource for applied linguists who seek to better understand the relationship between language, ideology, and identity and for graduate students and researchers in the fields of linguistics, Spanish, and HL education.

Rachel Showstack, PhD, is Associate Professor of Spanish at Wichita State University, USA. Her work on Spanish heritage language learning, Spanish in the U.S., and language and healthcare has appeared in various scholarly journals and edited collections, and she is co-editor of Contexts of Co-Constructed Discourse: Interaction, Pragmatics, and Second Language Applications and co-author of Health Disparities and the Applied Linguist. She is also the founder and president of the community-based health equity organization AlcesuVoz, for which she has received multiple federal and foundation grants.

Diego Pascual y Cabo, PhD, an Associate Professor at the University of Florida, USA, is a formally-trained linguist who studies and cares deeply about Spanish heritage speaker bilingualism. In his work, not only is he intentional about raising critical language awareness, he is also committed to dispelling negative and simplistic ideologies about minoritized bilinguals and their linguistic practices. As a teacher, he is passionate about the pursuit of a more equitable and more critically conscious education.

Damián Vergara Wilson, PhD, is a Professor of Spanish at the University of New Mexico, USA. Although he has worked extensively on language evolution in Spanish through a usage-base perspective and has a foundation in sociolinguistics, he has always maintained a focus on issues facing Spanish speakers, especially heritage learners, in the U.S. context. His current research agenda has focused evaluating heritage learner perspectives of their learning experiences and how these may inform critical pedagogies.