2026 Heritage Language Learning Symposium (Feb. 19-20)

Research Presentation: Honoring Heritage and Language Diversity: Pathways for Success in Mixed Classrooms

Dr. Enza Antenos is Director of the BA in Language, Business & Culture and Associate Professor of Italian in the Department of World Languages and Cultures. As a principal collaborator in developing the interdisciplinary Language, Business & Culture (LBC) major — launched in 2019 as a joint initiative between the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Feliciano School of Business — she bridges the gap between language education and professional preparation.

Research Presentation: Multidialectal Approaches and Heritage Language Learners

Dr. Emma Trentman is Associate Professor of Arabic and Director of the Language Learning Center at the University of New Mexico.  Her research examines language learning during study abroad and in the classroom, with a focus on language ideologies and multilingual approaches.  She directs the Arabic program at the University of New Mexico and is co-editor of the Critical Multilingualism Studies Journal.

Research Presentation: Not One-Size-Fits-All: Research-Informed Strategies for Teaching Mixed HL-L2 Classes

Dr. Yan Liu, Associate Professor of the Practice in Chinese and Linguistics and Director of the Chinese Language Program at Duke University, served as a board member of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA) (2022-2025), and is currently Vice Chair of the Cultures & Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) Consortium. Dr. Liu’s research centers on learning Chinese as an additional language, heritage language education, and interdisciplinary curriculum design. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences and published in journals and edited volumes. Most recently, she co-authored the textbook Modern Chinese for Heritage Beginners: Stories about Us (2023).

Research Presentation: Tracing Growth, Not Gaps: What the Subjunctive Can Tell Us About Heritage Language Acquisition

Workshop: Bringing the Local Community into the Spanish Classroom

Dr. Laura Solano-Escobar is an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Coordinator of the Spanish for Bilinguals Program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her research centers on bilingualism and heritage language acquisition. Specifically, she explores the role of linguistic and psycholinguistic factors in shaping the acquisition of Spanish morphosyntactic structures by heritage speakers and L2 learners. Dr. Solano-Escobar is also involved in curricular design and community engagement initiatives that promote bilingualism and biliteracy.

Research Presentation: Addressing the Challenges of Mixed Heritage Language (HL) Classes in Public and Community-Based Education

Dr. Masako Douglas is Professor Emerita of Japanese at California State University, Long Beach. Her areas of specialization include literacy development among Japanese learners of both heritage and foreign languages, as well as curriculum and instruction. Dr. Douglas developed heritage language curricula for children’s programs at a Japanese heritage language (JHL) school, where she taught students from first grade through middle school for seven years. She also established a JHL course within the Japanese program at a four-year university. Currently, she serves as a curriculum advisor and teacher trainer at a weekend JHL school, as well as on the boards of the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools in the U.S. and the Bilingual and Multilingual Child Network in Japan.