Survey of Heritage Language Teaching at UCLA
Summary
UCLA is playing a leadership role in the design, development, implementation and evaluation of heritage language instruction. The heritage language classes in Chinese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese and Persian are the largest in the country. UCLA linguists, researchers and teaching faculty have produced pioneering work in heritage language research and designing and producing curriculum, textbooks, tests and other teaching materials designed specifically for heritage student needs. The success to date of these initiatives is demonstrated by the number of external grants awarded for heritage projects. This survey shows, however, that progress across language departments is uneven. Wide discrepancies exist in the identification, testing and instruction of heritage learners. With the expertise already existing on campus and the dedication of language instructors across languages, there is potential for UCLA to develop as a center of excellence in heritage language instruction. In order to achieve that excellence, the survey indicates that there are urgent requirements for support for instructors to undertake further training, develop instructional materials, particularly computer-assisted or designed for individualized instruction, and establish where possible standardized placement tests. In the process instructors should be encouraged to develop the data required for further research into the hitherto neglected area of heritage language instruction.
This survey project, conducted Fall 1999, was produced under the auspices of the Language Resource Center, by Helen Reid, in collaboration with Olga Kagan, Chairperson of the Foreign Language Resource Committee.
