Heritage Language Reading in

1. Heritage Language Reading in the University:
A Survey of Student’s Experiences, Strategies, and
Preferences
Pilar Mageau

2. Study about the reading experiences, strategies, and
curriculum preferences of university-level heritage
language students.
Participants: 128 students
Programs: UCLA heritage language programs
Background: Korean, Russian, Thai, and Vietnamese

3. Heritage Language in the United States
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Important shift in attitude towards HL both in public and private sectors.
Growing respect for the desire of immigrant and language minority
groups to preserve their language and heritage.
Developing appreciation of multilingual citizens as a national resource.
Growing population of HL in foreign language courses
Need to develop a clear and accurate picture of new population in U.S.
universities.
Positively affect the economic and academic opportunities of HL students
and their communities.

4. Number of survey Participants by HL
Group
Number of Students
Percentage
Korean
57
45%
Russian
12
9%
Thai
15
12%
Vietnamese
44
34%
Total
128
100%
Findings:
Heritage Language Use and Identity●
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77% of the students were born in the United States.
For the students not born in the US, the average age of arrival was 6 years old.
In terms of language use, 93% reported speaking English “most of the time”.
94% sated it was important to maintain their HL identity.
All students reported their listening ability to be higher than their other skills and writing their lowest.

5. Heritage Language Reading
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60% has newspapers in the home, 50% books, 34% magazines. Only 3% no HL print in their homes.
43% was read to in the HL as a child.
Only 58% reported reading in the HL ( about 64 minutes a week)
Outside of class assignments students read newspapers (16%), signs (7%), magazines (6%)
66% agreed with the statement that learning to write in the HL was necessary in order to read.
80% indicated to be interested in attaining college level academic reading skills in the HL.
Pedagogical Implications
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Survey attempted to gain deeper understanding of HL learners’ linguistic profiles
Designed to identify HL students’ goals regarding academic reading skills and other reading activities.
Survey revealed most students were confident with listening and speaking than reading and writing.
Majority interested in achieving college-level academic reading skills.
Even though most spent little time reading, they reported it was important for them to learn the HL.
Kagan(2005) proposes we use our heritage students’ motivation for learning the language as “a guiding
principle for materials selection and curriculum design”
Language programs should make more effort to sustain students’ motivation and interest.
In conclusion, preserving and promoting heritage language literacy is of utmost importance to the economic
and social development of HL populations.