Course Content: Literature
Heritage literary passages are versatile tools for language study. They illustrate HL in use (a wide range of styles, genres, registers, and varieties); they provide meaningful and memorable contexts for vocabulary expansion and grammar practice; they can serve as the basis for listening, reading, speaking, and writing activities; and they develop students' ability to think critically by inferring meaning, making interpretations, and expressing their own ideas and emotions (Lazar 1993: 19).
- Vocabulary comprehension and expansion. Heritage learners can expand their vocabulary by reading a variety of literary selections. In each text, the instructor will highlight the lexical items related to the chapter's topic or theme. He/She may also point out idiomatic expressions (to foster understanding of cultural commonalities and differences), literary words, regionalisms, cultural connotations, words/phrases coined by the author and adopted by the language, etc. Students will then be able to analyze the key structural features of the language of the selection.
- Grammar identification and practice. Heritage literary texts can illustrate grammatical structures taught in class. Students identify the target structures in the passage and then practice them as they appear in that context or give examples related to their own lives (personalization). A wide range of grammatical structures, sentence types, and cohesive devices, especially those characteristic of the written language, can be taught or reviewed.
- Spelling. Depending on the HL, "troublesome" words can be targeted in literary texts to help learners improve their orthography or eliminate the interference of English spelling.
- Reading comprehension. Students can answer questions based on content. They can fill in missing words, find synonyms for key words, paraphrase sentences, summarize paragraphs or the text as a whole. Literary characters can be matched to actions or facts related to them. Student drawings or collages based on the text will help students visualize and remember the characters in the story.
- Oral and written literary assignments. A multitude of literary tasks empower students to think and act critically and develop an appreciation of literature while developing language proficiency (McKay 2001: 321-326). Such tasks include: describing the features of a literary genre and identifying them in the reading; analyzing the characters' and/or the author's point(s) of view; relating the text to the work it has been excerpted from, and the work to the personal/historical circumstances in which it was written; analyzing the literary techniques/ language/style used by the author; placing the text/author within the heritage literary tradition; writing a literary analysis of the piece; describing the relevance of the selection for contemporary readers in general and for heritage learners in particular; and writing an argumentative essay about the literary passage.
- Cultural understanding and appreciation. Heritage literature helps students understand themselves, their families, and their communities better as members of a particular culture. By reading folk tales and legends, for example, they learn about "the origin of traditional cultural values and beliefs" (Diamond & Moore 1995: 221).
- The understanding and appreciation of culture that results from the study of literature helps students develop a positive self-image and attitude toward their heritage language and culture.
- If heritage literary works are compared to writings from the dominant culture or other, heritage or non-heritage, cultures, students gain a deeper understanding, acceptance, and respect for other systems of traditions, beliefs, values, and behaviors.
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