"I Guess I'm a Heritage Speaker": Preservice Spanish Teachers Indexing Identities and Imagining Classroom Communities

• In Event: 58.082 - Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: 58.082-2 - Examining Motivation and Investment in L2 Research

Abstract

While there are a growing number of studies on heritage language learner identity and on pre-service language teacher identity, there is significantly less research examining identity in heritage language learners/users who are pre-service language teachers. Using interview and coursework data, this multiple case study examined concepts of identity and imagined communities in two pre-service Spanish language teachers. Each participant indexed his identity differently in relation to the language and to Spanish-speaking communities, and both participants imagined their future classroom communities as similar to ones they experienced as learners. On a broader scale, participants’ narratives illustrated the complexity of applying terms such as heritage speaker to language learners and teachers.

Author

• Katie Romportl Cook, Michigan State University