“Revive, redefine, reconnect with your language and culture”

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What does the term “Spanish heritage language speaker” mean?

A heritage speaker is a person that had early exposure to a language (heritage language) different to the societal language. Therefore, this individual is bilingual -at some degree- in both languages (Valdés, 2001) and can also have a cultural connection with the “heritage” culture (Polinsky and Kagan, 2007).

What are the goals of this program?

Provide a supportive and effective learning environment that considers the bilingual/bicultural background of our students.
Foster and encourage our students' development in the diverse variations of “Spanishes” used in the U.S.
Meet our students' specific needs, those being:
- literacy development (reading and writing)
- use of “translanguaging,” the act performed by bilinguals of accessing different autonomous languages (e.g., Spanish in the U.S. and English) to maximize communication among our communities in Texas
- exploration of topics related to their own cultural backgrounds
- discovery of learning opportunities both inside and outside the classroom

Why study with us?

The Spanish Heritage Language program's motto is revive, redefine, and reconnect with your language and culture. Many of our students come into the program with the idea that they need to fix their Spanish, that they do not speak the proper Spanish. Our mission is to have students find pride in the language variety they speak, revive their interests in learning and maintaining the Spanish language, redefine what it means to be Hispanic, and, most of all, support our students in their journey to reconnect with their cultural heritage. In studying with us, you will be able to explore and learn about historical and current events, create projects, but most importantly, to get closer to a community of students with similar backgrounds to yours. We create spaces to celebrate your language, culture, identity and voice within the classroom community and with the communities beyond the classroom walls.

How long has this program been at Texas Tech University?

Since the fall semester of 2014, this program has offered a series of courses specifically designed with the Spanish heritage language learners in mind.

With this initiative, our SHL program at CMLL joins a growing number of departments across the country that recognizes the importance of the heritage speaker population and celebrates the richness that this community brings to our campus and our community.