This course offers an introduction to the pedagogical and sociolinguistic topics related to the teaching of Spanish to Spanish heritage speakers in the United States. The course aims to inform language practitioners so that they are better prepared to meet the needs of the heritage speakers in their classrooms. To this end, the course examines seminal articles in the field to familiarize students with the most relevant theories in Second Language Acquisition, current pedagogical approaches, and productive research topics in this area. This includes a description of the heritage speaker, the field, the teaching objectives, and practices best suited for heritage learners, as well as a grounded understanding of the greater social, political, and pedagogical issues that underpin teaching Spanish to Spanish speakers in the United States. (1 unit)<br />
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<strong>Required text:</strong> S. Beaudrie, C. Ducar, K. Potowski, <em>Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice</em> (New York: McGraw-Hill).