Response to inquiry: Definition of "heritage learner"

[Scott McGinnis]

From: Trinh Pham [mailto:lindatrinhpham at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 4:48 PM

Hi Cecile and all!
You got it!  Well that's what I think.  A heritage
learner is someone who is (re)learning a native
language.  I put (re) in parentheses because it is
difficult to say how much is relearned and how much is
learned for the first time.  The range is outrageous!
>>From very minimal oral skills to proficient oral
skills with little written literacy skills.  I think
that's what makes Hi-Sun's question or comment so
complex and interesting.  And the funny part is that
in research, we don't really make a distinction
between what was actually "lost" and what was
potentially "lost".  May I use myself as an example?
I spoke only Vietnamese up until entering maybe
kindergarten or first grade.  Did not speak a word of
English and then as I grew up, my fluency in English
developed while Vietnamese declined.  Now, lets say I
am (re)learning, how much am I relearning, I have no
idea!  And as I (re)learn, I am relearning what I
"lost" which is the amount of language I knew up until kindergarten and
what I potentially "lost" which is the amount from kindergarten to well,
now.  It's complex huh?  And I'm not sure if anyone really knows how to
predict what is real loss and what is potential loss.  And this has to
do with identity issues.
Unfortunately, like Craig said earlier, we do not have
the resources, classrooms, materials, teachers, and I
would argue, understanding, for HL.  And so foreign
language and heritage language (re)learners are thrown
in one class.  HL (I think) have this metalanguage
awareness that foreign lang. learners do not yet have.
 My friend Eddy who is not Vietnamese can give a
brilliant presentation on International Politics in
Vietnamese, something that is way beyond what I can
do.  But I can sit down and discuss lets say, what it
is like to, I don't know, take a shower!  Something
that comes "naturally" for me but unnatural for Eddy.
Combining HL and Non HL into one class has a lot of disadvantages,
particularly for HL, but we have to be a little careful of complaining
too much because Less Commonly Taught Languages are already skating on
thin ice.  It's a pretty frustrating situation.

Cecile, I hope I kinda made it more real... I might be
talking out of my ___, I'm still a graduate student,
so I feel like there is so much more I need to
understand!  I'm preparing for my oral exams, so maybe
it's natural to feel this way! Aaahh!!!

Linda Trinh Pham
UC Berkeley
Graduate School of Education
Education - Language, Literacy and Culture

--- Scott McGinnis <smcginnis at nflc.org> wrote:
> Hello,
> I, for one, thought there were some very good
> questions posed in the
> last year but unfortunately not a lot of responses.
> I, as a linguistics
> student, think it is a beneficial tool to see what
> others are
> researching and studying. I can't say that I have
> enough experience to
> put in my two bits but I am very eager to hear some
> world views on
> language. As for the heritage vs non heritage
> learners, it may be a dumb
> question but what is the definition of non heritage
> learner. For that
> matter a heritage learner. Is this someone learning
> their native
> language again? If this is the case isn't there
> already other influences
> that skew the progression or the learning process?
> Forgive me if this is
> too basic for this discussion. Sincerely, Cecile
> Buhl
>