2022 Heritage Language Learning Symposium
The Second Heritage Language Learning Symposium is a virtual event sponsored by the UNC Charlotte Chancellor’s Diversity Grant and the CLAS Alumni Council Fall Faculty Grant. It is also supported by the Department of Languages and Culture Studies and the Spanish program.
The entire event will be held virtually on February 23-24, 2022 from 10:00am – 3:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.
Description
The symposium offers the possibility to learn about current research on heritage language learning as well as to get practical tools to teach Spanish to U.S. Spanish Heritage Speakers. We have invited four prominent scholars who have been engaged in the field of Heritage Language Education. The Presenters will share their research and knowledge with UNC Charlotte faculty, graduate and undergraduate students as well as with attendees from other institutions.For 2022, the Heritage Language Learning Symposium will focus on promoting a broad understanding of diversity, access, and inclusion in heritage language education by bringing together experts in the fields of bilingual education, linguistic ideologies, and sociopolitics of language. This year’s event aims to increase understanding of and knowledge about how racial and linguistic practices intersect and affect minoritized-language learners and speakers.
This event will hold research presentations in the morning and workshops in the afternoon where attendees will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from the invited experts.
Organizers
Dr. Javier García León (javier.garcialeon@uncc.edu)
Dr. Paloma Fernández Sánchez (palomafernandezsanchez@uncc.edu)
Symposium Goals
This symposium has five primary goals:
- to increase understanding of and knowledge about (Spanish) heritage speakers on the American context,
- to reflect on how heritage students’ pedagogical needs are different from those of second-language learners,
- to provide Spanish language instructors with pedagogical tools to better teach Spanish to U.S. Spanish Heritage Speakers, and
- to strengthen bilingual/heritage language education practices by connecting scholars, language instructors, and students at UNC Charlotte.
- to reflect on how racial and linguistic practices intersect and affect (Spanish) heritage language learners and speakers
Featured Speakers
Dr. Nelson Flores – University of Pennsylvania
Nelson Flores is an associated professor in educational linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. His research examines how language and race intersect in bilingual education policies and practices in ways that are harmful to racialized bilingual students. He is the recipient of many awards including the 2017 AERA Bilingual Education SIG Early Career Award, a 2017 Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship and the 2019 James Alatis Prize for Research on Language Planning and Policy in Educational Contexts.
Dr. Claudia Holguín Mendoza – University of California at Riverside
Dr. Claudia Holguín Mendoza (Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) is an Assistant Professor of Spanish linguistics at the University of California, Riverside. She specializes in the sociolinguistics of race in the Mexican borderlands and Greater Mexico as well as critical pedagogies for the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language. She publishes in both English and Spanish and her work has appeared in journals such as International Multilingual Research Journal, Hispania, Studies in Hispanic & Lusophone Linguistics, Identities, and Frontera Norte.
Dr. Sergio Loza – University of Oregon
Dr. Sergio Loza is an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon, where he directs the Spanish Heritage Language Program and teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. He received his Ph.D. in Spanish Heritage Language Education with a secondary focus on Sociolinguistics. As a first-generation college graduate, a son to Mexican immigrants and a grandson to Bracero workers, his lived social and linguistic experiences guide his research and pedagogical projects.
His research interests include Spanish heritage language education, critical language awareness, language ideologies, language attitudes, sociolinguistic style, Spanish in the U.S., and critical discourse analysis. Sergio Loza has published in peer reviewed journal such as Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Language Awareness, Language Testing, International Multilingual Research Journal, and Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures. He also has a co-edited volume titled Heritage Language Teaching: Critical Language Awareness Perspective for Research and Pedagogy (Routledge).
Dr. Sibela Pinochet – West Forsyth High School
Dr. Sibela Pinochet teaches Spanish language and culture at West Forsyth High School. She is a teacher leader for the Teacher Academy for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and the PLT facilitator for the WFHS department of World Languages. Dr. Pinochet is a National Board-Certified Teacher. She received her Ph.D. in educational studies with a concentration in cultural studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Pinochet has presented at state and regional conferences on topics related to language instruction, Spanish for Heritage learners, and critical pedagogy teaching practices in secondary schools. The focus of her career to date has been in teaching the Spanish language and culture, coaching novice teachers, writing curriculum, leading professional trainings, and crafting events related to cultural topics.
Schedule
Note: All times are Eastern Standard Time
Click the following link to download a provisional copy of this schedule with session abstracts.
Wednesday February 23, 2022
10:00am – 10:10 am | Opening Remarks – Dr. Michèle Bissière, Chair, Department of Languages and Culture Studies
Zoom link: https://uncc.zoom.us/j/99319290325 |
10:10am – 12:00pm | Research Presentation: From Academic Language to Language Architecture
Dr. Nelson Flores, U of Pennsylvania. Zoom link: https://uncc.zoom.us/j/99319290325 |
1:00pm – 3:00pm | Workshop: Critical Sociocultural Linguistic Literacy: An antiracist teaching approach centered on sociolinguistic justice and student agency
Facilitator: Dr. Claudia Holguín Mendoza, U of California at Riverside. Zoom link: https://uncc.zoom.us/j/91914992509 |
Thursday February 24, 2022
10:00am – 10:10 am | Opening Remarks – Dr. Kendra Jason, Race and Social Justice Advocate for UNC Charlotte´s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Zoom link: https://uncc.zoom.us/j/93285015527 |
10:10am – 12:00pm | Research Presentation: Critical language awareness perspectives for research and pedagogy: Creating new educational opportunities for Latinx students and language departments
Dr. Sergio Loza, University of Oregon Zoom link: https://uncc.zoom.us/j/93285015527 |
1:00pm – 3:00pm | Workshop: Incorporating students´ Funds of Knowledge “Hidden Treasure”
Facilitator: Dr. Sibela Pinochet, West Forsyth High School Zoom link: https://uncc.zoom.us/j/98009254099 This workshop will address how K-12 teachers use heritage students’ skills and knowledge that they bring to the classroom |
Registration
There is no cost to attend this Symposium, but you must be registered in advance. The deadline for registration is February 22, 2022. Click the following link to register:
Contact
Please contact the Symposium organizers if you have any questions or comments:
Dr. Javier García León (javier.garcialeon@uncc.edu)
Dr. Paloma Fernández Sánchez (palomafernandezsanchez@uncc.edu)