Cover not available
Part of
Recent Developments in Hispanic Linguistics: Studies in structure, variation, and bilingualism
Edited by Michael Gradoville and Sean McKinnon
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 41] 2024
► pp. 199–221

Chapter 8
Critical language awareness, heritage learners, and (non)dynamic language ideologies in a Spanish in the US course

ORCID logo | Texas A&M University
| University of Texas at San Antonio

Given exposure to hegemonic language ideologies from multiple sources and actors in larger society, a key component of critical language awareness (CLA) pedagogy is to raise students’ critical consciousness about them. Therefore, the present study examines how seven Spanish heritage language speakers’ language ideologies influence their linguistic self-conceptualization before and after taking a CLA-informed course on Spanish in the US. The results provide evidence that most participants either questioned dominant language ideologies (e.g., monoglossic and standard language) when it came to conceptualizing their own Spanish or directly challenged them in their daily lives after completing the course. However, some participant reflections expressed hegemonic language ideologies at the end of the semester, which mirrors findings from previous research that measure critical awareness post-instruction.

Keywords: critical language awareness, language ideologies, Spanish as a heritage language, Spanish in the US
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Language ideologies
    • 2.2Critical language awareness
    • 2.3Measuring critical awareness
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Course design
    • 3.3Data collection and analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Challenging hegemonic language ideologies
    • 4.2From awareness to action
    • 4.3Maintaining dominant language ideologies
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References (51)
Barrett, R.
(2006) Language ideology and racial inequality: Competing functions of Spanish in an Anglo-owned Mexican restaurant. Language in Society, 35, 163–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beaudrie, S., Amezcua, A., & Loza, S.
(2021) Critical language awareness in the heritage language classroom: Design, implementation, and evaluation of a curricular intervention. International Multilingual Research Journal, 15, 61–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Button Poetry
(2015, July 6). Melissa Lozada-Oliva – My Spanish [video]. YouTube. [URL]
Callesano, S.
(2023) Mediated bricolage and the sociolinguistic co-construction of No Sabo Kids. Languages, 8, pp. 18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carr, J., & Luján, R.
(2020) Language solidarity: How to create a force field with words. In C. Boullosa & A. Quintero (Eds.), Let’s talk about your wall: Mexican writers respond to the immigration crisis (pp. 49–59). The New PressGoogle Scholar
Chappell, W.
(2020) Perceptions of Spanish(es) in the United States: Mexicans’ sociophonetic evaluations of [v]. In S. M. Alvord & G. L. Thompson (Eds.), Spanish in the United States: Attitudes and Variation (pp. 31–55). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clark, R., & Ivanič, R.
(1999) Raising critical awareness of language: A curriculum aim for the new millennium. Language Awareness, 8, 63–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K.
(2011) Research methods in education. Routledge.Google Scholar
CrazyKarens
(2020, July 11). INSANE Karen yells at workers for speaking Spanish [video]. Instagram. [URL]
Cummins, J.
(2007) Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10, 221–240.Google Scholar
Del Carpio, L., & Ochoa, V.
(2022) Language ideologies in the Spanish Heritage Language classroom: (Mis)alignment between instructor and students’ beliefs. Languages, 7, pp. 21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escobar, A. M., & Potowski, K.
(2015) El español de los Estados Unidos. CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fairclough, N.
(2013) Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language (2nd ed.). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(Ed.) (2014a) Critical language awareness (2nd ed.). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014b) The appropriacy of ‘appropriateness.’ In N. Fairclough (Ed.), Critical language awareness (pp. 33–56). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freire, P.
(1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.Google Scholar
Fuller, J. F., & Leeman, J.
(2020) Speaking Spanish in the US: The sociopolitics of language. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
García, O., & Torres-Guevara, R.
(2009) Monoglossic ideologies and language policies in the education of US Latinas/os. In E. G. Murillo Jr., S. A. Villenas, R. T. Galván, J. Sánchez Muñoz, C. Martínez, M. Machado-Casas (Eds.), Handbook of Latinos and education: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 182–193). Routledge.Google Scholar
Gasca Jiménez, L., & Adrada-Rafael, S.
(2021) Understanding heritage language learners’ critical language awareness (CLA) in mixed language programs. Languages, 6, pp. 37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hidalgo, M.
(1995) Language and ethnicity in the “taboo” region: The US- Mexico border. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 114, 29–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holguín Mendoza, C.
(2018) Critical language awareness (CLA) for Spanish heritage language programs: Implementing a complete curriculum. International Multilingual Research Journal, 12, 65–79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hudgens Henderson, M.
(2022) Critical language awareness in the Spanish as a Heritage Language college classroom. Languages, 7, pp. 15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kinsella, B.
(2020) Multilingualism and the role of sibling order: Second-generation Latino children in the U.S. Brill.Google Scholar
Kroskrity, P. V.
(2004) Language ideologies. In A. Duranti (Ed.), A companion to linguistic anthropology (pp. 496–517). Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Leeman, J.
(2005) Engaging critical pedagogy: Spanish for native speakers. Foreign Language Annals, 38, 35–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Critical approaches to teaching Spanish as a local/foreign language. In M. Lacorte (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Hispanic applied linguistics (pp. 275–292). Routledge.Google Scholar
Leeman, J., & Rabin, L.
(2007) Reading language: Critical perspectives for the literature classroom. Hispania, 90, 304–315.Google Scholar
Leeman, J., & Serafini, E. J.
(2021) “It’s not fair”: Discourses of deficit, equity, and effort in mixed heritage and second language Spanish classes. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 20, 425–439. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lippi-Green, R.
(2012) English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Loza, S.
(2017) Transgressing Standard Language Ideologies in the Spanish heritage language (SHL) Classroom. Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, 1, 56–77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez, G. A.
(2003) Classroom based dialect awareness in heritage language instruction: A critical applied linguistic approach. Heritage Language Journal, 1, 44–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez, G. A.
(2010) Language and power in healthcare: Towards a theory of language barriers among linguistic minorities in the US. In J. Watzke, P. Chamness Miller & M. Mantero M (Eds.), Readings in Language Studies: Language and Power (pp. 59–74). International Society for Language Studies.Google Scholar
Melgarejo, V., & Bucholtz, M.
(2020) “Oh, I don’t even know how to say this in Spanish”: The linguistic representation of Latinxs in “Jane the Virgin.” Spanish in Context, 17, 488–510. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Metz, M., & Knight, H.
(2021) The dominant school language narrative: Unpacking English teacher’s language ideologies. Language, 97, e238–e256. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Otheguy, R., García, O., & Reid, W.
(2015) Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review, 6, 281–307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Padilla, L. V., & Vana, R.
(2019) Ideologies in the foreign language curriculum: Insights from textbooks and instructor interviews. Language Awareness, 28, 15–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pascual y Cabo, D., & Prada, J.
(2018) Redefining Spanish teaching and learning in the United States. Foreign Language Annals, 51, 533–547. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pero Like
(2019, November 29). Neutral Spanish vs. Dominican Spanish [video]. YouTube. [URL]
Pomerantz, A.
(2002) Language ideologies and the production of identities: Spanish as a resource for participation in a multilingual marketplace. Multilingua, 21, 275–302.Google Scholar
Prada, J.
(2019) Exploring the role of translanguaging in linguistic ideological and attitudinal reconfigurations in the Spanish classroom for heritage speakers. Classroom Discourse, 10, 306–322. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Preston, D. R.
(2013) Linguistic insecurity forty years later. Journal of English Linguistics, 41, 304–331. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quan, T.
(2020) Critical language awareness and L2 learners of Spanish: An action-research study. Foreign Language Annals, 53, 897–919. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021) Critical approaches to Spanish language teacher education: Challenging raciolinguistic ideologies and fostering critical language awareness. Hispania, 104, 447–459. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robin, B. R.
(2008) Digital storytelling: A powerful technology tool for the 21st century classroom. Theory into Practice, 47, 220–228. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafini, E. J.
(2021) Assessing students through a critical language awareness framework. In S. Loza & S. Beaudrie (Eds.), Heritage language teaching: Critical language awareness perspectives for research and pedagogy (pp. 80–97). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, S.
(2022) Cultivating critical language awareness in the writing classroom. Routledge.Google Scholar
Stansky, D., Donnelly, E., Stonick, C., Dominguez, M. & Pascual y Cabo, D.
(2022) New media representations of Spanish heritage speakers: The case of #nosabokids. In A. Sánchez-Muñoz & J. Retis (Eds.), Communicative spaces in bilingual contexts: Discourses, synergies and counterflows in Spanish and English (pp. 32–44). Taylor & Francis Group. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tseng, A.
(2021) ‘Qué barbaridad, son latinos y deberían saber español primero’: Language ideology, agency, and heritage language insecurity across immigrant generations. Applied Linguistics, 42, 113–135. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Valdés, G.
(2001) Heritage language students: Profiles and possibilities. In J. Peyton, D. A. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 37–77). Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Valdés, G., González, S. V., García, D. L., & Márquez, P.
(2003) Language ideology: The case of Spanish in departments of foreign languages. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 34, 3–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar