Creating and implementing open educational resources for the Spanish as a Heritage Language classroom

Abstract

The development of language courses designed specifically for Spanish heritage learners has recently gained much attention at all levels of education in the US. Since heritage learners started to acquire the language since childhood at home, their needs are different from those of students in the traditional foreign language classroom. To fulfill these needs, Spanish heritage teachers at all levels are creating programs and materials to serve this student population. The Heritage Spanish web-based community (https://heritagespanish.coerll.utexas. edu), hosted by the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL), was created as a space for Spanish teachers to collaborate, share, and communicate about the teaching and learning of Spanish as a heritage language (https://www.coerll. utexas.edu/coerll/about-coerll). A specific example of the design and implementation of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in a Spanish as a heritage language course is found at Lehman College from the City University of New York (CUNY), which serves a significant student population of Hispanic origin.