| In light of immigration patterns of the Latino (or Hispanic) population over the past two decades, the maintenance of Spanish as a heritage language in the southeastern United States has become a topic of interest for researchers, policy makers, and educators alike. This qualitative study investigated the perspectives and instructional practices of an entire Spanish language faculty (five teachers) at a suburban high school in a southeastern state that has emerged as a new gateway state for immigration. The study explored factors that may impact teachers' pedagogical practices in meeting the perceived needs of heritage language learners (HLLs) and traditional foreign language learners (TLLs) in mixed Spanish as foreign language (SFL) classes (i.e., classes comprised of both HLLs and TLLs).;Findings suggest that although the teachers had additive, pluralistic views of acculturation and language maintenance, those views were not always reflected in the planning and implementation of instruction. Instead, mixed SFL classes often catered to the needs of TLLs and imposed subtractive practices on HLLs. These outcomes were due to numerous factors at the societal, familial, institutional, and classroom level.;Based on the findings, the researcher makes several recommendations for supporting pre-service and in-service Spanish teachers with experiences relating to sociolinguistics, effective acculturation practices, and differentiated instruction for HLLs. This study has direct implications with regard to teacher education programs, curriculum design, and school practices and policies. |
