Determining the difference between Native vs. Heritage Speakers.
It is crucial to know how to differentiate between both students, in order to create adequate lessons. I did not know the differences between natives and heritage before taking this course. The school I worked out before titled the class for Heritage Speakers but in reality it was for Native speakers. It is important to understand that Heritage speakers often hear the language and know the culture. Knowing the culture can facilitate learning for students, either heritage or Native. One important statistic I can across throughout my reading was that students lose the language by the 3rd generation (Snow, 2017). In my own words I can say native speakers are those students who have another first language or have spoken the language since childhood. Heritage speakers are those students that are around the culture and the language but do not express themselves in that language or communicate in it.
Heritage Language Learners. (2017, June). Retrieved May 20, 2020, from https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Foreign-Language/World-Languages-Model-Curriculum/World-Languages-Model-Curriculum-Framework/Instructional-Strategies/Assessment/Heritage-learners_june6_2017.pdf.aspx