Community Engagement Pedagogy: A Tool to Empower Heritage Language and Second Language Integration

Response 2 to "Meeting Student Needs: Integrating Spanish Heritage Language Learners into the Second Language Classroom"

The article "Meeting Student Needs: Integrating Spanish Heritage Language Learners into the Second Language Classroom" confirms that, despite the challenges to the instructor, combining university heritage language (HL) and second language (L2) learners in the same classroom offers excellent pedagogical opportunities for both groups. In order to increase the outcomes, the article suggests that the instructor create a collaborative environment by employing a pedagogy based on group/pair activities, which allows L2 and HL students to learn from each other. However, the article cautions that HL learners "should not be relegated to tutoring roles or informants on culture or language," which decreases HL learning opportunities and intimates an uneven hierarchy between students. Thus, ideal learning conditions are contingent upon the organization and structure of group work (Postholm 2008). Fushino (2010) explains that student learning in a group environment is rather unpredictable unless structured guidance is in place. Therefore, Chiriac and Granström (2012) point to the importance of educational leadership and classroom management in designing group work activities. Moreover, Johnson and Johnson (1999) underscore that "placing socially unskilled students in a group and telling them to cooperate does not guarantee that they are able to do so effectively" (82). This rejoinder proposes that community engaged (CE) learning projects are an option that enables students to work cooperatively towards accomplishing a relevant goal. Community engagement encourages individual accountability and positive interdependence in a group setting. Moreover, CE projects also provide homogeneous L2 classrooms with some of the heterogeneity available in mixed classrooms.

Heritage learner populations are increasing in most US universities, but this trend does not account for all institutions. Instructors in L2-dominant classrooms need to be resourceful if they want their students to obtain the benefits of the mixed classroom setting. CE learning projects that foster interaction between L2 learners and native speakers provide a viable option that promotes similar linguistic, cultural, and affective gains to those described in mixed classes. This pedagogy "places the student in an active role … promoting the use of the target language in a real-life context" (Caldwell 2007: 465). A project conducted in Pittsburgh by Osa-Melero and Fernández forged a relationship between primarily upper-middle-class, Caucasian, university students and Mexican and Central American children, ages 5–8, who recently migrated to the city. This CE project enhanced L2 cultural sensitivity, linguistic proficiency, and literary knowledge while assisting newly arrived young Hispanic immigrants to integrate into their new community. Second language learners enrolled in upper-level Spanish language and literature courses worked cooperatively to develop a three-week program on Mexican history and culture for children enrolled in the Casa San José after-school program. They adapted authentic literary pieces in Spanish, such as Mexican Rodolfo Usigli's play Corona de sombra (1943), into dramatic scripts for the children to perform. Writing the scripts helped L2 learners develop their language skills with a purpose that transcended earning a grade. In addition, these culturally rich texts proved meaningful to the children and their families. Benefits for the children included: 1) exposure to L1 and their native culture in an academic setting and 2) personal growth through mentoring relationships with college students. Likewise, L2 learners reported gains in 1) oral, writing, and summarizing skills, and a nuanced appreciation of Hispanic culture; and 2) personal growth, as students reported working with Hispanic communities as one of their future career goals. Transforming group work practices through cooperative strategies following Johnson and Johnson's (1999) guidelines is a first step in eliminating hierarchies in the classroom and the community. Therefore, cooperative CE projects diminish the risk of uneven work dynamics and implicit hierarchies between students and the community.