Sara 1

Describe the background of the students in your Korean class. Do you feel that the teacher makes instructional distinctions between the domestic and heritage language learners?

I: In looking at the, your pe:ers—

S: Mm-hm.

I: –how would you describe them? The people that you studied Korean with.

S: How do you mean?

I: I don’t know, uh, well, you have your background, do they, was there a variety of backgrounds?

S: Yes, there actually was. Um, like I said, my sister took Korean before me. Um, she actually finished before, like all four levels, before I started, um, and she was saying that there’s a lot of Asian students in the class. But when I came, I was shocked to see a lot more non-Asians, like we had, you know, all different types, so I was pretty shocked. Um, it was an equal level, but I had expected more like Koreans or Japanese or Chinese or whatever in there so.

I: Hmm.

S: Interesting.

I: Do you, uh, do you think that the teacher, um, u::h, makes any instructional differentiation (1) between those of you who come in with a little bit of K–more Korean than others?

S: U:m, (2) I don’t think so, um, it’s kind of hard to say because she would speak to us in Korean. Um, and then like those of us who didn’t know Korean, we’d answer back in English, and she, you know, was really engaging. Um, so I don’t think so, because, yeah, I don’t, I don’t think so to be quite honest. Like the Korean st—the native speakers would speak back in Korean, they’d (joke) and at that level, like we could pick up words, so we could kind of figure out what they were talking about, but, yeah.

Reflections – Compare the student impressions of if the teacher uses distinct instructional practices for domestic versus heritage language learners (Casey 1, Sara 1, Eric 2, and Li-Ting). What is your reaction? Do you find that you have different expectations for domestic learner performance than for heritage learner performance? Do you feel students should be held to the same standards for a specific course level? If not, what strategies do you use to assess individual student progress? Is there a relationship between a student’s perception of fairness and their learning investment in the class?

Sara 2

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