Issues for Heritage Speakers in Slavic LCTL Classrooms Laura A. Janda UNC-CH

Issues that pertain to heritage students: Mismatches of language and dialect Wide range of abilities Need to provide appropriate challenges and avoid demoralizing others

Issues that pertain to heritage students: Mismatches of language and dialect More prevalent in the non-Russian classes Mismatches of language: Slovak speakers in Czech classes, Ukrainian speakers in Russian classes, etc. Mismatches of dialect: Moravian speakers in Czech classes Wide range of abilities Need to provide appropriate challenges and avoid demoralizing others

Issues that pertain to heritage students: Mismatches of language and dialect Wide range of abilities: proficiency, literacy, and culture From near-native fluency to none at all From full literacy to none at all From rich cultural background to none at all Need to provide appropriate challenges and avoid demoralizing others

Issues that pertain to heritage students: Mismatches of language and dialect Wide range of abilities Need to provide appropriate challenges and avoid demoralizing others Vocabulary often comes easy for heritage speakers (often with a big gap between active and passive) Grammar & Orthography often is harder for heritage students than for non-heritage Teaming the two types of students can be beneficial for both Heritage students will need special assignments

Strategies for Teaching Heritage Students Linguistic Empowerment Social Empowerment Cultural Empowerment

Strategies for Teaching Heritage Students Linguistic Empowerment Accept their linguistic code as a valid means of communication in certain contexts Learn about their linguistic code and how it differs from the target code Focus them on systematic differences between their code and the target code Social Empowerment Cultural Empowerment

Strategies for Teaching Heritage Students Linguistic Empowerment Social Empowerment Put them in contact with the appropriate Slavic-American milieu (newspapers, clubs) Encourage them to communicate with “old country” relatives Cultural Empowerment

Strategies for Teaching Heritage Students Linguistic Empowerment Social Empowerment Cultural Empowerment Run a film series Provide access to pop and high-culture material (music, etc.) Field trips to relevant sites (cf. Old Salem) Information on famous/local Slavs/Slav- Americans