ERIC Number: EJ1479190
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0958-8221
EISSN: EISSN-1744-3210
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Telecollaboration: From Linguistic Insecurity to Linguistic Confidence in Spanish as a Heritage Language
Computer Assisted Language Learning, v38 n5-6 p1141-1166 2025
For heritage speakers (HSs), speaking their heritage language (HL) sometimes comes accompanied by HL anxiety and/or lack of confidence in their HL skills Although, HL anxiety and lack of confidence in the HL usually intertwine with few opportunities to use the language and/or being perceived as speakers of a stigmatized variety of the HL, the present study focuses on telecollaboration as a catalyst for linguistic confidence in the HL. For six weeks, 13 dyads of HSs and Mexican Spanish speakers synchronously interacted via Zoom and Google Docs. To observe the effects of telecollaboration on HSs' linguistic confidence, data were collected via weekly written reflections and the recordings of the Zoom meetings. Although all HSs participants were enrolled in third-year courses for Spanish HSs at a large public U.S. university in Texas, their proficiency levels varied from low self-perceived to high self-perceived proficiency. Results exhibited that these differences did not derive in distinct outcomes and all the participants could develop linguistic confidence when interacting in their HL. These results shed light into the importance of providing HSs with more resources to maintain their HL and encouraging them to use Spanish in different contexts.
Descriptors: Native Language, Spanish, Self Esteem, Computer Mediated Communication, Videoconferencing, College Students, Student Attitudes, Language Proficiency, Hispanic American Students
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

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