Clubs Ground Students in Language of Their Roots

Suzette Wyhs, supervisor of the foreign language program for Loudoun schools, understands the complexities of teaching heritage speakers. She was born in New York to parents from Puerto Rico. As a child, she heard lots of Spanish but didn't speak it well. "When my mother talked, I understood, but I couldn't string three words together," she said.

"We're looking for bi-literacy, not bilingualism," Wyhs said of Loudoun's program. "Many of the students speak and understand well, but they are functionally illiterate; they never learned to read and write."

Education experts are seeking to find the best ways to teach this population. The National Heritage Language Resource Center, formed in 2006 and affiliated with UCLA's Center for World Languages, has obtained $1.3 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The center plans to design a curriculum after surveying instructors and college-age heritage speakers.

Many parents turn to heritage language programs to help children connect with their culture and communicate better with family members in other parts of the world. Rose Yong's children -- Apollo, 8, and Ashley, 7 -- have been learning Mandarin in an after-school program at Arlington Traditional School.

Yong and her husband have family roots in China, although both grew up elsewhere. "I feel like they can embrace their heritage, be thankful of who they are and where they came from," she said.

Educators say the programs also can help students boost their performance in the classes they take in English. "If they don't have a firm base in a first language, it becomes harder to learn a second language," said Stephanie Fillman, who coordinates the heritage literacy club at Bailey's.

About 225 Bailey's students meet after school once a week to practice reading and writing in Spanish. About 100 middle and high school students work as tutors.

With help from George Mason University, the school is studying how students in the heritage club progress academically in comparison with Spanish-speaking counterparts who don't participate. They'll review student grades, test scores and English proficiency.

Lisa Rabin, a GMU Spanish professor, has started a similar program at Arlington Traditional School. The students read and write, but they also have fun playing games such as hangman. "We thought this would be a place for them to appreciate their Spanish and have fun with it and not be embarrassed to speak it," Rabin said.

On a recent afternoon, the Arlington County students celebrated the last class of the year with doughnuts and gifts of bilingual dictionaries. Teacher Candace Frank told them she didn't mind the excited chatter. But she did mind that it was in English.

"Chicos, ustedes saben como hablar español," Frank said. "Es una fiesta, pero todavía es clase." (Children, you know how to speak Spanish. It's a party, but it's still class.)

Karla Valentin, 9, has learned new words and improved her writing. Now she knows that "profesora" means teacher. "And before this, I didn't know how to say giraffe" -- la jirafa, she added.