This volume examines issues in the research, theory, and practice of teaching Spanish as a heritage language in the United States. It addresses questions that have surfaced as an increasing number of Latinos have sought to become more proficient in a language to which they have had some exposure to in childhood but in which they are not fluent. Each chapter includes a section on pedagogical implications. Heritage language learners encompass a wide range of proficiency, from those who have a low level of listening comprehension from hearing their parents speak to those who are nearly, but not quite, bilingual or fully literate in Spanish. These learners have needs that differ from students learning Spanish as a second language with no prior knowledge of it. The members of the AATSP have identified teaching heritage learners as the second greatest area of concern (after proficiency testing). This book was developed (the essays were commissioned for it, not resulting from a conference) in response to a perceived hunger for this kind of information. The AATSP and ACTFL have each published a book on the subject (both in 2000, I think), but not much else is available except for Roca's work and journal articles. Some of the essays (5 of 13) are written in Spanish, which is common practice in collections of essays in the field of Spanish linguistics.
About the Author:

Ana Roca is a professor in the Modern Languages department at Florida International University, Miami. She is chair of the Spanish for Native Speakers Committee of the AATSP. Her main areas of teaching and research interest are Spanish, Spanish in the United States, bilingualism and heritage language education issues in Spanish, language teaching, language education policy issues, and Hispanic culture and film. Roca is the author or coeditor of many books, including Research on Spanish in the United States; Nuevos Mundos (text & workbook); Spanish in Contact: Issues in Bilingualism (co-edited with John B. Jensen); and Spanish in the United States: Linguistic Contact and Diversity (co-edited with John M. Lipski).

M. Cecilia Colombi is a professor in the Department of Language and Classics and Associate Language Director at the University of California-Davis. Her research interests include second language acquisition, educational linguistics, and sociolinguistics with emphasis on Spanish in the United States. She is the coauthor of Palabra Abierta (with Jill Pellettieri and Mabel Rodríguez), and the coeditor of both Developing Advanced Literacy in First and Second Language (with Mary Schleppegrell) and La Enseñanza del Español a Hispanohablantes: Praxis y Teoría (with Francisco X. Alarcón).