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5 Identifying and Placing Spanish Heritage Speakers: One Program’s Placement Test Approach.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	5 Identifying and Placing Spanish Heritage Speakers: One Program’s Placement Test Approach.
Authors:	Moreno, Oscar¹, Garrett-Rucks, Paula¹
Source:	Dimensions. 2021, Vol. 56, p72-91. 20p.
Subject Terms:	Hispanic Americans, College teachers, Cultural studies, Readiness for school, Standardization
Abstract:	Despite the increasing number of U.S. born Latinos, placing heritage and native speakers in the Spanish curriculum is still a challenge (MacGregor-Mendoza & Moreno, 2020). The present article (a) addresses the unique needs of heritage speakers in the Spanish curriculum; (b) problematizes traditional grammar-based placement exams; and (c) describes a multiple-choice placement exam (free upon request) designed and used at Georgia State University (GSU), a major urban university in the Southeastern U.S. Taking a sociolinguistic approach to the dialectical nature of Spanish, the GSU Spanish Language Program Coordinator developed a placement test based on what students—heritage, native, and non-native—do when asked to perform language tasks. The placement test design is outlined using distinctions of linguistic norms, both local/ regional and general. Reference is made to the ways in which diverse types of Spanish speakers align linguistically with general Spanish. This essay responds to the call for language standardization studies that recognize diglossia within a single named language by examining the role of heteroglossia to challenge monolingual language standardization ideologies (McLelland, 2021). Pedagogical implications for identifying and placing K-16 learners in a meaningful Spanish for Heritage Speakers classroom are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Despite the increasing number of U.S. born Latinos, placing heritage and native speakers in the Spanish curriculum is still a challenge (MacGregor-Mendoza & Moreno, 2020). The present article (a) addresses the unique needs of heritage speakers in the Spanish curriculum; (b) problematizes traditional grammar-based placement exams; and (c) describes a multiple-choice placement exam (free upon request) designed and used at Georgia State University (GSU), a major urban university in the Southeastern U.S. Taking a sociolinguistic approach to the dialectical nature of Spanish, the GSU Spanish Language Program Coordinator developed a placement test based on what students—heritage, native, and non-native—do when asked to perform language tasks. The placement test design is outlined using distinctions of linguistic norms, both local/ regional and general. Reference is made to the ways in which diverse types of Spanish speakers align linguistically with general Spanish. This essay responds to the call for language standardization studies that recognize diglossia within a single named language by examining the role of heteroglossia to challenge monolingual language standardization ideologies (McLelland, 2021). Pedagogical implications for identifying and placing K-16 learners in a meaningful Spanish for Heritage Speakers classroom are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]