Program for Heritage Speakers of Spanish
Do you have family and cultural ties to Spanish-speaking countries?
Did you grow up around Spanish at home or in your community?
Is your spoken Spanish better than your ability to write in it?
Or would you say it is easier for you to understand it than to speak it?
If you answered even some of these questions affirmatively, it is highly likely that you are a heritage speaker of Spanish.
You are considered a heritage speaker if you acquired a minority (immigrant or indigenous) language informally, by being exposed to it at home or in your community from a young age, but your educational experiences either mostly or exclusively took place in the dominant language of the country. In the United States, where the dominant language is English, if you were raised in a home where Spanish was spoken, you are considered a heritage speaker of Spanish.
Heritage Spanish speakers have varying levels of proficiency in the language. While some are colloquially conversational, others only understand it. This depends on each speaker’s unique circumstances.
The Spanish Area of the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Southern Methodist University has a program created specifically for heritage Spanish speakers’ unique linguistic needs.
Heritage speakers often need support with:
1. transferring literacy skills (writing, orthography),
2. developing metalinguistic awareness (explicit grammatical understanding of the language), and
3. expanding their linguistic repertoire to encompass academic and professional expression.
Community: You will meet other heritage speakers like yourself.
Empathy: You won’t feel scared or intimidated anymore because you perceive that you don’t speak or write Spanish well enough, since everyone in the classroom is in the same learning situation and can relate to your experience.
Supportive Learning Environment: The teachers in our Program for Heritage Speakers of Spanish are trained in matters that pertain to bilingual and bicultural populations and they use that knowledge to create an understanding and supportive learning environment for our heritage Spanish speakers.
Additive Bilingualism: We do not penalize, attempt to change or eliminate the way you are accustomed to speaking with your family and your community. Instead, we add resources to your linguistic toolbox that allow you to be able to do more with your Spanish.
Meeting You Where You Are: You will not have to sit idly in a class surrounded by non-native speakers of Spanish who are justifiably starting with numbers and greetings or worry about not recognizing or understanding grammatical concepts. We will assess to take stock of what you know and build from there.
New Horizons: You will learn more about your own culture, the culture of other Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and that of other Spanish-speaking countries.
Fast-Track It: You can use the Spanish you already know to get retroactive course credit and advance in the program. In fact, obtaining at least a minor in Spanish is relatively simple for our heritage Spanish students. For more details, see the section below.
Click on the buttons below to see our program requirements::
Spanish Major for Heritage Speakers
Spanish Minor for Heritage Speakers
Note: These requirements apply to heritage Spanish speakers only. To see major and minor requirements for non-native and native speakers, click here.
By enrolling in courses for heritage Spanish speakers, you will:
1. Gain increased overall confidence in your own Spanish.
2. Start cultivating positive attitudes toward the heritage language.
3. Have a renewed desire to maintain the language of your heritage.
4. Be more confident in your ability to use Spanish across registers (formal, informal), contexts (professional, academic and personal) and skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking). For example, you may notice yourself communicating more confidently and efficiently with your Spanish-speaking family; you might connect with your community on a deeper level and be able to help Spanish-only speakers in your in your area; you will be more outspoken in class, etc.
5. Be proficient in contemporary cultural and community topics relevant to the socio-cultural space of the Hispanics in the United States.
6. Develop a critical understanding of issues surrounding bilingualism in the U.S.
7. Have better or more employment opportunities.
8. Be prepared to enroll in upper division courses leading to a major or minor in Spanish.
All teachers in the Program for Heritage Speakers of Spanish commit to the following classroom principles and practices:
1. You will be respected as in individual.
2. Your languages and linguistic experiences will be valued.
3. Your bilingual and bicultural experience will be acknowledged.
4. The course content will be engaging and meaningful to you.
5. Project- and community-based learning.
Note: Violations of the first three principles are not in line with SMU’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and can be reported anonymously to the Spanish Area chair.
The heritage-only cohort classes are currently taught by:
Q: I do not have much experience reading or writing in Spanish.
A: No prior experience is necessary for any of our courses for heritage Spanish speakers.
Q: I don’t feel I can speak Spanish fluently.
A: We have courses for different proficiency levels. Also, every class builds on what you already know.
Q: I am concerned because I did not take Spanish in high school.
A: Our heritage classes are open to students who may or may not have had formal instruction of the language.
Q: I’m scared of heritage Spanish classes because I think they will be too difficult for me. I think I would do better in a lower-level class for non-native speakers of Spanish.
A: Heritage Spanish classes are neither harder nor easier than courses for non-native speakers of Spanish. They are simply different because heritage speakers and non-native speakers have different learning needs. The course content, the objectives, the materials we use and the way we teach heritage classes all reflect those differences. In addition, if you perceive that a heritage Spanish course you placed into is above your level, we encourage you to reach out to us! Schedule an appointment with the Spanish Area advisor or one of the professors from the Heritage Spanish Program and we will help you with correct placement.
Q: People can’t relate to my bicultural and bilingual experience.
A: Our heritage program teachers understand and will take into account the experiences of growing up connected to the language and to Spanish-speaking cultures.
Q: Who are other students enrolled in heritage Spanish classes?
A: Most of our heritage speakers were born and raised in Texas and other parts of the United States. Our heritage courses give you the opportunity to meet other Hispanic students and develop a strong sense of community.
Below are opportunities that allow heritage students to become involved through events and/or opportunities on campus. Please check back periodically to learn about new events and projects for students to become more involved and to meet fellow heritage students.
28th Conference of Spanish in the US and 13the Conference on Spanish in Contact with Other Languages
SMU League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Consider the following resources to learn more about heritage languages and heritage speaker populations.
Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages