Microsoft Word - Rhone_7.2.docx E-­‐JournALL,  EuroAmerican  Journal  of  Applied  Linguistics  and  Languages   Volume  7,  Issue  2,  October  2020,  120–123   ISSN  2376-­‐905X     http://doi.org/10.21283/2376905X.12.223   www.e-­‐journall.org     © Rhone 2020. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.       Review:  Belpoliti,  Flavia  &  Bermejo,  Encarna  (2020).  Spanish  heritage   learners’  emerging  literacy:  Empirical  research  and  classroom  practice.   Routledge.         SENDY  MONARREZ  RHONE   University  of  Houston         Book  review     Received  1  September  2020;  accepted  after  revision  16  September  2020   ABSTRACT EN This manuscript reviews Spanish Heritage Learners’ Emerging Literacy: Empirical Research and Classroom Practice, by Flavia Belpoliti (Texas A&M University-Commerce) and Encarna Bermejo (Houston Baptist University), published in 2020 by Routledge. The book is the result of an empirical study. Its eight chapters follow a research-based approach to the teaching of Spanish Heritage Language. The authors present detailed linguistic features to consider when teaching SHL writing and research-based pedagogical and instructional implications. Key words:  SPANISH HERITAGE LANGUAGE, RESEARCH-BASED PEDAGOGY, EMERGING LITERACY ES Este manuscrito es una reseña del libro Spanish Heritage Learners' Emerging Literacy: Empirical Research and Classroom Practice de Flavia Belpoliti (Texas A&M University-Commerce) y Encarna Bermejo (Houston Baptist University), publicado en 2020 por Routledge. El libro es el resultado de un estudio empírico: tiene ocho capítulos y sigue un enfoque de aprendizaje basado en la investigación para la enseñanza del español como lengua de herencia. Se presentan características lingüísticas detalladas que se deben tomar en cuenta al enseñar la escritura del español como lengua de herencia y las implicaciones pedagógicas e instruccionales según el enfoque del aprendizaje basado en la investigación. Palabras claves: ESPAÑOL COMO LENGUA DE HERENCIA, APRENDIZAJE BASADO EN LA INVESTIGACIÓN, ALFABETIZACIÓN EMERGENTE IT Questo manoscritto è una recensione del libro Spanish Heritage Learners' Emerging Literacy: Empirical Research and Classroom Practice di Flavia Belpoliti (Texas A&M University-Commerce) e Encarna Bermejo (Houston Baptist University), ed è stato pubblicato dalla Routledge nel 2020. Il libro, risultato di uno studio empirico, è suddiviso in otto capitoli che seguono un approccio all’insegnamento dello spagnolo come lingua ereditaria basato sulla ricerca. Le autrici presentano nel dettaglio le caratteristiche linguistiche da tenere in considerazione nell’insegnamento dello spagnolo come lingua ereditaria e le implicazioni pedagogiche e per l’insegnamento che derivano dalla ricerca. Parole chiave: SPAGNOLO COME LINGUA EREDITARIA, PEDAGOGIA BASATA SULLA RICERCA, ALFABETIZZAZIONE EMERGENTE *  Sendy  Monarrez  Rhone,  University  of  Houston                  sendyrhone@gmail.com http://www.e-journall.org REVIEW:  SPANISH  HERITAGE  LEARNERS’  EMERGING  LITERACY   E-­‐JournALL  7(2)  (2020),  pp.  120–123 121   In  Spanish  Heritage   Learners’   Emerging  Literacy:   Empirical  Research  and  Classroom  Practice,   Flavia   Belpoliti  and  Encarna  Bermejo  offer  a  substantial  contribution  to  the  field  of  heritage  language  (HL)  pedagogy   by  presenting  a  multidimensional  research-­‐based  approach  to  the  teaching  of  Spanish  as  a  Heritage  Language   (SHL).   This   book   is   the   result   of   an   empirical   study   that   focuses   on   the   linguistic   knowledge   and   writing   abilities  of  beginner  Spanish  heritage  language  learners  (SHLL)  in  Spanish  college  courses.  The  novelty  of  this   book  is  its  comprehensive  analysis  of  SHL  emergent  writing  production,  and  its  strength  relies  on  providing   linguistic   analysis   and   pedagogical   and   practical   solutions   derived   from   an   empirical   research   study.   The   book   uses   this   analysis   to   help   professors   and   professionals   that   come   in   contact   with   SHLL   at   beginner   stages  to  better  comprehend  their  linguistic  abilities  and  help  them  develop  their  literacy  in  the  HL.   This   book   has   eight   chapters,   in   addition   to   the   introduction,   which   can   be   divided   into   three   sections.   In   the   first   section,   Chapter   1   provides   an   overview   of   heritage   languages   in   the   United   States,   particularly  Spanish  and  its  context,  and  an  introduction  of  the  research  that  drives  the  remaining  chapters.   In   the   second  section,  Chapters  2   through  6  explain   the   linguistic   features   to   take   into   consideration  when   teaching   SHL   writing,   from   the   surface-­‐level   conventions   (orthography)   to   sentence   structure   and   lexical   production   to   more   complex   components   at   the   discourse   level.   The   third   section,   Chapters   7   and   8,   highlights   current   and   future   research   and   teaching   trends   in   SHL   pedagogy,   projects   that   can   be   implemented  in  beginning  SHL  courses,  and  research-­‐based  ideas  to  create  a  SHL  curriculum  at  the  university   level.   While   each   of   Chapters   2   through   6   concludes   with   research-­‐based   pedagogical   and   instructional   implications,   the   last   two   chapters   are   fully   pedagogically   oriented.   The   unique   contribution   of   these   last   chapters   to   HL   pedagogy   is   to   provide   teaching   approaches   and   classroom   activities   that   address   each   linguistic  feature  analyzed  in  the  earlier  chapters.   In   the   introduction,   the  authors  provide  a  general  history  of  HL  research—which  dates  back  to  the   late  1970s  and  developing  more  fully  at  the  beginning  of  the  21st  century—and  its  unique  context  in  teaching   SHL,  particularly  writing,  at  the  university  level.  Due  to  the  nature  of  HLs,  the  authors  show  the  need  to  focus   on   literacy   at   the   beginner’s   level   in   college   courses,   as   increasing   numbers   of   second,   third,   or   later   generations  of  Spanish  speakers  are  enrolling  in  Spanish  courses  at  the  university,  thus  creating  a  particular   pedagogical   and  curricular  need  at   this  academic   level.  The  authors  define   literacy  as   “reading  and  writing   effectively  in  a  variety  of  contexts”  (Pilgrim  &  Martinez,  2013,  p.  60)  and  explain  the  dynamic  dimensions  of   language   and   literacy,   such   as   being   able   to   engage  with   the   language   in   its  written   form   rather   than   just   orally   and   considering   the   diverse   social   functions   of   language   (Halliday,   1996).   Furthermore,   emergent   literacy   is  defined  as   “the   initial   stages  of   this  multidimensional  process”   (Belpoliti  &  Bermejo,  2020,  p.  4).   Heritage  speakers’  abilities  and  knowledge  are  merged  to  produce  written  texts  in  the  HL  in  different  social   contexts  (Beaudrie  &  Ducar,  2005;  Vergara  Wilson  &  Ibarra,  2015).   Chapter  1,   “Heritage  Languages  and  Spanish  Heritage  Language  Speakers   in   the  United  States,”  has   four  sections  that  set  the  foundation  for  understanding  SHLL:  a  literature  review  of  HL  research  over  the  past   two  decades,   a   discussion  of   the   complexity   of   the  definitions   of  HL   and  HLL,   an   account   of   the   context   of   SHLL  in  the  United  States  and  particularly  of  the  Hispanic  population  of  Texas  and  Houston,  which  acts  as  a   segue   into   the   final   section,   a   description   of   the   research   study   on   which   this   book   is   based.   The   study   involved  a  corpus  of  200  writing  samples,  essays  from  beginner  students  that  took  the  online  placement  test   for  Spanish  heritage  learners  at  the  University  of  Houston.  The  results  from  this  study  are  then  analyzed  and   discussed  in  detail   in  the  following  chapters,   focusing  each  chapter  on  one  of  the  areas  of   language:  writing   conventions,  verbal  morphology,  sentence  complexity,  lexical  access,  and  discourse  organization.   In   Chapter   2,   “Spanish   Orthography   in   Heritage   Language   Writing,”   the   authors   present,   through   statistical  analysis,  the  challenges  of  spelling  as  one  of  the  most  difficult  topics  for  SHLL  to  master.  They  make   a   three-­‐level   analysis:   (1)   phoneme-­‐to-­‐grapheme   relationships,   divided   into   different   representations,   particularly  the  problematic  relationships  such  as  the  /s/  phoneme  and  the    grapheme;  (2)  accent  marks,   focusing  on  the  omission  (the  primary  problem),  misuse,  and  addition  of  accents;  and  (3)  syllable  and  word   division,   though   this   is   the   least  of   the  problems  at   the  orthographic   level.  With   these   findings,   the  chapter   concludes  with  different  pedagogical  strategies   for  HLLs   to   improve   their  spelling,   such  as  providing  direct   instruction  on  high-­‐frequency  words,  using  discovery  and  visualization  techniques,  and  technology.   Chapter   3,   “Spanish   Verbs   in   Emerging   Heritage   Language   Writing,”   focuses   on   analyzing   the   beginning   SHL   learners’   knowledge   of   the   verbal   system   of   Spanish,   in   order   to   guide   classroom   implementations  to  help  SHLLs  acquire  a  more  complex  verbal  morphology.  First,  this  chapter  introduces  the   tense,  aspect,  and  mood  system  of  Spanish  and  explains  this  system  in  terms  of  SHLL  accuracy  and  complexity   of  use.  The  main  section  of   this   chapter   is  a   statistical   analysis  of   the  corpus   in   terms  of   tense,   aspect,   and   RHONE   E-­‐JournALL  7(2)  (2020),  pp.  120–123 122   mood.  It  shows  that  though  SHLL  have  challenges  in  the  use  of  different  tenses  (i.e.,  differentiating  between   the  preterit  and  the  imperfect)  and  different  moods  (i.e.,  deciding  when  to  use  indicative  or  subjunctive),  the   main   problem   is   that   they   tend   to   avoid   using   complex   verbs   and   instead   use   more   familiar   structures,   making   their   writing   more   colloquial.   The   chapter   also   ends   with   pedagogical   implications,   mainly   recommending  interactive  reading  and  the  use  of  folklore  in  language  teaching.     The  strength  of  Chapter  4,  “Building  Sentences  in  Spanish:  Complexity,  Fluency,  and  Accuracy,”  relies   on  the  understanding  of  the  grammatical  competence  in  SHLL’s  production  as  the  foundation  for  deciding  the   order  of  the  grammatical  instruction.  In  this  chapter,  the  authors  show  how  SHL  instruction  needs  to  focus  on   sentence   structure,   particularly   in   terms   of   complexity,   fluency,   and   accuracy,   as   students   become   more   functional   in  their  writing  by  developing  proficiency  and  a  more  academic  writing  style.  Their  research  has   shown   that   the   most   problematic   structures   for   SHLL   are   nominal   phrases,   gender,   number   and   person   agreement,  possessive  structures,  relative  clauses,  and  prepositions.  Based  on  these  findings,  the  authors  give   three  practical  approaches  to  teaching  grammar.  First,  raising  linguistic  awareness,  which  allows  students  to   pay   close   attention   to   the   Spanish   linguistic   system.   The   second   approach   is   focusing   on   form,   through   techniques  such  as  dictogloss,  a   teaching   technique   that  addresses  grammatical  structures  by  requiring   the   students   to   listen   to   an   oral   piece   and   write   and   rewrite   it   as   they   listen.   The   last   approach   is   extensive   reading,  focusing  particularly  on  authentic  and  multidialectal  texts.   The   focus   of   Chapter   5   is   vocabulary   knowledge.   The   authors   argue   that   the   main   vocabulary   problem  for  SHLL  is  the  influence  of  English  into  their  Spanish  lexicon.  Due  to  the  particular  context  of  how   Spanish  is  acquired  in  the  context  of  the  United  States,  explained  and  contextualized  in  the  first  chapter,  SHLL   at   college   level   have   a   strong   colloquial   lexicon,   and   they  use   a   (sometimes   very   inventive)   language   from   their  upbringing,  even  in  academic  contexts.  English  contact  has  brought  into  SHLL  lexicon  a  variety  of  loans,   calques,   and  new   creations.   To  help   students   build   a  more   formal   vocabulary   and  decrease   the  number   of   English   transfers,   the  authors  recommend  that   teachers   focus  on  specific  vocabulary  areas,  which  will  help   the  learners  build  a  larger  lexical  repertoire  that  includes  academic  and  formal  vocabulary.  In  its  pedagogical   implications,   this   chapter   recommends   vocabulary   teaching   activities   that   cover   a   wide   variety   of   areas   introduced  to  the  students  in  stages  of  difficulty  (from  easier,  limited  vocabulary  to  more  complex,  idiomatic   use  of  vocabulary)  to  allow  students  to  grow  their  vocabulary  breadth  and  depth  in  an  intentional  way.   Chapter   6   focuses   on   the   widest   linguistic   characteristic   of   writing,   discourse   competence,   which   allows  students  and  writers  to  go  beyond  the  sentence  level  and  provide  a  stronger  organization  of  text  and   information.   Discourse   competence   not   only   includes   linguistic   strategies,   but   it   also   requires   cultural   knowledge   to  make   texts   understandable   and  meaningful   to   the   reader.   This   chapter,   then,   describes   how   SHLL  organize  their  texts,  focusing  on  the  global  structure,  the  argumentative  sequencing,  and  text  cohesion.   The   last   two  chapters  are   fully  pedagogical   in  nature.  Chapter  7,   “Towards  a  Signature  Curriculum   For   Spanish   as   a   Heritage   Language,”   promotes   a   curriculum   design   that   includes   all   of   these   previously   analyzed  linguistic  features  and  explains  how  they  can  be  implemented  in  project-­‐based  learning  (PBL).  From   a  research-­‐based  approach,   the  chapter   indicates   that   there   is  a  higher  chance  of   student  participation  and   development   of   writing   abilities   and   skills   through   PBL.   Chapter   8,   “Teaching   and   Learning   Heritage   Languages:   New   Directions,   Enduring   Questions,”   is   a   fascinating   and   brilliant   chapter,   as   it   uses   the   framework  of   the  story  of  Rosa,  a  29-­‐year-­‐old  third-­‐generation  Mexican-­‐American  student,   to   illustrate  and   pull   together   all   the   research   on   the   five   linguistic   aspects   of   literacy   from   this   volume.   By   using   the   PBL   model,  the  authors  provide  recommendations  and  clear  techniques  to  apply  all  the  knowledge  that  they  have   presented  throughout  the  book.   In   conclusion,   Belpoliti   and   Bermejo   have   given   the   field   of   SHL   a   new,   fresh,   groundbreaking   research-­‐based  book  that  is  scientific  by  virtue  of  the  data  and  approach  used,  but  that  it  is  also  very  practical   as   it   has   a   strong   focus   on   classroom   application.   Although   the   book   focuses   on   university-­‐level   SHL,   the   findings  and  recommendations  will  appeal  to  a  wider  audience  of  readers:  non-­‐language  university  teachers,   educational   leaders,   policymakers,   and   anyone   who   comes   in   contact   with   SHLL   in   and   outside   of   the   academic  context.  Finally,  it  is  also  a  valuable  volume  for  training  graduate  students  in  research  and  research-­‐ based  pedagogy.             REVIEW:  SPANISH  HERITAGE  LEARNERS’  EMERGING  LITERACY   E-­‐JournALL  7(2)  (2020),  pp.  120–123 123   References   Beaudrie,  Sara,  &  Ducar,  Cynthia  (2005).  Beginning-­‐level  university  heritage  programs:  Creating  a  space  for   all  heritage  language  learners.  Heritage  Language  Journal,  3(1),  1–26.   Halliday,  Michael  Alexander  Kirkwood  (1996).  Literacy  and  linguistics:  A   functional  perspective.   In  Ruqaiya   Hasan  &  Geoffrey  Williams  (Eds.),  Literacy  in  society  (pp.  339–376).  Addison  Wesley  Longman.   Pilgrim,  Jodi,  &  Martinez,  Elda  (2013).  Defining  literacy  in  the  21st  century:  A  guide  to  terminology  and  skills.   Texas  Journal  of  Literacy  Education,  1(1),  60–69.   Vergara  Wilson,  Damián,  &   Ibarra,   Carlos  Enrique   (2015).  Understanding   the   inheritors:  The  perception  of   beginning-­‐level   students   toward   their   Spanish   as   a   heritage   language   program.   E-­‐JournALL,   Euro-­‐ American  Journal  of  Applied  Linguistics  and  Languages,  2(2),  85–101.             Sendy Monarrez Rhone, University of Houston sendyrhone@gmail.com EN Sendy Monarrez Rhone is a Spanish Instructor in the Department of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in Spanish Linguistics. Her areas of research are Spanish applied linguistics, especially phonetics and pronunciation, and heritage language learners. Her language pedagogy interests are multilingualism, teacher training, e-learning content development, online learning, and language learning strategies. ES Sendy Monarrez Rhone, es instructora de español en el Departamento de Estudios Hispánicos en la Universidad de Houston, donde actualmente está haciendo un doctorado en Lingüística Española. Sus áreas de investigación son la lingüística aplicada del español, especialmente la fonética y la pronunciación, y los hablantes de herencia. Sus interes en la pedagogía de idiomas son el multilingüismo, la formación del profesorado, el desarrollo de contenido de aprendizaje en línea, el aprendizaje en línea y las estrategias de aprendizaje de idiomas. IT Sendy Monarrez Rhone è una docente di spagnolo nel Dipartimento di Studi Ispanici all’Università di Houston dove sta attualmente completando il dottorato in Linguistica Spagnola. Le sue aree di ricerca sono la Linguistica Applicata Spagnola, con un focus particolare sulla la fonetica e sulla pronuncia e gli apprendenti di lingue ereditarie. La sua sfera d’interesse nell’ambito pedagogico delle lingue sono il multilinguismo, la formazione dei docenti, lo sviluppo dei contenuti di apprendimento a distanza, l’apprendimento online e le strategie d’apprendimento delle lingue.