Mis abuelos dicen: Ethnography in Spanish for Heritage Speakers courses

Elena Foulis, Ph.D. Department of Spanish & Portuguese

Pilot study introduction

Over the past two years, three writing courses
for Heritage speakers and one with a
combined group of Second Language learners
and Heritage speakers, were given four
different types of writing assignments:
A) Autobiography

Essay excerpts
Jos y Valentina nacieron en Jalisco, Mxico. l naci en
San Luis, y ella en Ayutla. Jos naci en un rancho, e
inmediatamente despus de ser bautizado, l y su mam
cruzaron la frontera. Valentina era una de siete hijos. Ella
fue la primera que naci en el pueblo y no en nuestro
rancho. Ella recuerda que la vida en Ayutla era muy
tranquila, bonita, pacifica y limpia.

B) Ethnography

C) Argumentative
D) Creative (short story)
For the ethnographic essay, students were
given the following instructions:
Desarrollar un estudio etnogrfico de 2 a 3
pginas donde hablars con una persona
hispanohablante que ha inmigrado a este pas.
Debes escoger un aspecto de su experiencia,
por ejemplo:
Un momento importante en su vida
Su experiencia con el lenguage

Todos hemos odo del sueo americano pero nadie vive

esta historia mejor que Cristine Fredericks. Cristine, una
inmigrante de Ecuador, dej su amada tierra natal para
poder dar una mejor vida a su familia en esta, la tierra de
oportunidades. Vino a este pas enfrentando muchas
dificultades pero nunca se olvid de sus metas personales
y de sus sueos. Al final, su dedicacin a la familia, a los
estudios, y al trabajo le permitieron que saliera victoriosa.

Considerations

A) Do students produce higher quality writing

[Kimberly Vargas] contaba que experiment muchos

momentos difciles donde se cuestionaba siempre como
salir de cada situacin. Aun se le haca difcil buscar
mentores y superar el temor de pedir ayuda creyendo que
otros estudiantes dudaran de su capacidad.

through the process of collecting

ethnography/family history work?

transcribing, and interpreting)?

C) How does critical ethnography prepare students

for research writing assignments?

Students demonstrate a greater

connection and commitment to
ethnographic essay writing.
Drafting questions, recording and
transcribing the interview gives
students additional practice with
listening, mechanics, and an
opportunity to interpret and be creative
in the way they compose their essay.
While students were not told to
interview a family member, most chose
to interview a parent, grandparent or a
mentor.
Students get close to the everyday
experiences of other people and
Spanish in non-academic settings; this
requires a deeper immersion in other
peoples worlds, even when they might
be family members, to understand what
others consider to be meaningful and
important experiences for them.
Ethnography is a great way to
introduce students to capturing
speakers emotions, points of view and
using citations.
Ethnography allows close encounters
with family history.

Readings

B) Do all the tasks involved provide additional

insights into language input (writing questions,

Conclusions

Delgado-Bernal, D. Critical Race Theory, Latino Critical Theory, and Critical Raced-gendered Epistemologies:
Recognizing Students of Color as Holders and Creators of Knowledge, Qualitative Inquiry 8.1 (2002) : 10526.

Felcita Sueiras, considera que su historia no es muy

distinta a la de muchos otros puertorriqueos. La
participacin de los puertorriqueos en el servicio militar
de los Estados Unidos ha sido extensa desde que en el
1917 se firm el Acta Jones, la cual dio la ciudadana
americana a los puertorriqueos, y asimismo autoriz el
servicio militar obligatorio.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. NY: Continuum, 1970

Freedman, Diane, ed. Autobiographical Writing Across the Disciplines: A Reader. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2003.
Leeman, Jennifer, Lisa Rabin, and Esperanza Romn-Mendoza. "Identity And Activism In Heritage Language
Education." Modern Language Journal 95.4 (2011): 481-495. Communication & Mass Media Complete.
Nez, Guillermina Gina. Writing While Participating: Incorporating Ethnography in Service-Learning Across the
Curriculum. Service-Learning and Writing: Paving the Way for Literacy(ies) through Community Engagement.
Studies in Writing, Volume 26, 83105. 2012
Robinson-Stuart, G., & Nocon, H. Second culture acquisition: Ethnography in the foreign language classroom. The
Modern Language Journal, 80.4 (1996). 431-449.
Street, B. Social Literacies: Critical Approaches to Literacy Development, Ethnography and Education. London and
New York: Longman.,1995