‘Mentor, friend, teacher, and learner’: the beauty, opportunities, and challenges of heritage speakers as heritage language educators

Meagan Y. Driver; Gabriela DeRobles

‘Mentor, friend, teacher, and learner’: the beauty, opportunities, and challenges of heritage speakers as heritage language educators

Meagan Y. Driver ^[1] ; Gabriela DeRobles ^[2]
1. [1] Michigan State University
  
  Michigan State University
  
  City of East Lansing, Estados Unidos
2. [2] University of Colorado Denver
  
  University of Colorado Denver
  
  Estados Unidos
Localización: Applied linguistics, ISSN 0142-6001, Vol. 46, Nº 6, 2025, págs. 877-893
Idioma: inglés
DOI: 10.1093/applin/amae055
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Resumen
- The last decade has seen an increased interest in heritage language education (HLE), yet only limited work is guided by in-group scholars and community members who themselves identify as heritage speakers (i.e. individuals with family connections to a non-English language). The present study addresses a lack of in-group representation in the research by investigating current barriers and opportunities in HLE through semi-structured narrative interviews with eight in-group HS educators from five different heritage language backgrounds. A thematic analysis of qualitative findings uncovered a multitude of common and critical issues experienced by HS educators, including the benefits and hardships of sharing a sociolinguistic background with HL students and the emotional roller coaster of teaching a personal HL. Findings also outline numerous needs specific to this community of educators, such as increased in-group representation in the field and greater support for social-emotional and professional success and well-being. Results suggest a number of institutional implications to empower current HS educators and encourage a pipeline from HL student to HL teacher for individuals from minoritized language backgrounds.
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