Community Language Schools Conference

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Latino parents and the role of Spanish in their children's lives

Focusing on recent research on the grammatical systems of heritage language speakers, this presentation will start out by considering how community language schools contribute to HL maintenance and development. Following this, it will take up the situation of Spanish, which has very few community language schools. However, this situation does not mean that Spanish-speaking parents are not engaged in activities that contribute to language maintenance. In fact, many Latino children participate in activities that fulfill many of the linguistic and social functions of community language schools. These range from religious education classes, to special-interest clubs, after-school arrangements, and extended stays in their country of origin. These options speak to different visions by Latino parents for the role that Spanish should play in the lives of their children.