The Ideology of U.S. Spanish in Foreign and Heritage Language Curricula: Insights from Textbooks and Instructor Focus Groups
Author
Al Masaeed, Katharine BurnsIssue Date
2014Keywords
foreign and heritage languageLanguage ideology
language variety
textbooks
U.S. Spanish
Second Language Acquisition & Teaching
critical discourse analysis
Advisor
Waugh, Linda R.
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Embargo
Release 1-Jun-2015Abstract
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2012), the United States is the world's fifth most populous Spanish-speaking country, with over 35 million Spanish-speakers. In addition, Spanish is the most widely taught foreign language in the United States, with more students enrolled in Spanish at the higher-education level than in all other modern languages combined, as detailed in a 2010 report from the Modern Language Association (MLA). How are these two realities connected? Is the United States' status as a top Spanish-speaking country reflected in Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) and Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) curricula at the university level? This case study of a large, Southwestern university, which is home to SFL and SHL programs among the largest in the country, explores that question using a two-tiered approach. First, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is employed to examine the ideological underpinnings of how spoken varieties of Spanish, with particular emphasis on U.S. Spanish, are presented in first-year and second-year university-level SFL and SHL textbooks used at the university. Second, focus groups of SFL and SHL instructors are conducted to gain insight into their beliefs and practices regarding language variety in the classroom. The study finds a systematic reinforcement of the ideology of a monolithic 'standard' Spanish in the SFL and SHL textbooks and curricula, with only cursory attention paid to regional varieties of Spanish and an oftentimes explicit de-legitimization of U.S. Spanish in particular.Type
textElectronic Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.Degree Level
doctoralDegree Program
Graduate CollegeSecond Language Acquisition & Teaching
Degree Grantor
University of ArizonaCollections
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