Advances in Spanish as a Heritage Language

Bringing together contributions from some of the leading experts in the field of Spanish as a Heritage Language, this volume aims to provide an in-depth understanding of current and emerging trends in research and praxis. To this end, the volume is divided into three thematic units. The first unit surveys the study of Spanish heritage speaker bilingualism from a formal/theoretical linguistic point of view. The second unit focuses on issues shaping the current state of affairs in heritage language education. Finally, the third unit maps out future lines of development within heritage language instruction. The wide topical scope within this single volume will undoubtedly provide a valuable resource for researchers, students, and professionals working in different areas of Spanish as a heritage language.

Antonio Martín Gómez, Purdue University, in Hispania, Volume 101, Number 2, June 2018, pp. 337-338:
Advances in Spanish as a Heritage Language is a pioneering work because it brings together linguistic and educational studies, perspectives, methodologies and debates, in an effort to find connections among these fields and thus better serve the academic community devoted to the study of heritage languages. This work gives a unique chance for both beginner and experienced scholars in various disciplines to get an objective and thorough review of the current state of Spanish, the heritage language par excellence in the United States. One major advantage is that the findings of this work can also be applied to other heritage languages in the world, for example to Polish in the United Kingdom or to Turkish in Germany. [...] My overall opinion is very positive. This book is well organized, the list of topics covered is comprehensive, and it addresses multiple audiences. Novice scholars in linguistics, K–12 and postsecondary education will find the discussion of the most important debates given at the beginning of each unit especially useful. For the experienced linguist, new data on recurring themes in heritage language acquisition studies is presented. Finally, language coordinators and course administrators will benefit from the suggested tips on how to expand and enhance their heritage language curricula. This work is indeed a landmark that will help specialists to further advance their knowledge in the field of heritage languages.