Abstract:

This report presents a summary of the activities between 2011 and 2014 that comprise the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures’ (RL&L) Initiative on Teaching of Spanish as a Heritage Language. This initiative includes two symposia, one new course, two collaborative research projects, a permanent seminar, and a lecture series. This report intends to provide a model for developing similar initiatives that help practitioners and researchers form new communities of practice to advance the field of teaching Spanish as a heritage language.

Key words: Heritage Spanish, heritage language pedagogy, collaborative research, initiative, seminar.