Timeline2024 | Spring — Fall

Participants are students who have taken a language class at UW. This project involves an online survey with an optional follow-up interview.

Variables of interest include: Student language background including heritage language status | Student status: disability, gender | Classroom demographics | What was taught (different dialects of the target language / other geographic/national contexts where the language is spoken / power differences between language varieties / current political or historical factors that influence how, where and why the language is spoken in different contexts / language related to race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic class, disability | Course accessibility and acommodations | Anxiety, belonging, engagement, enjoyment, sense of value or respect, comfort with being open about one's identity

Before beginning the study, participants were provided with definitions for the following terms and concepts:

• Target Language - The language you are learning formally in the classroom.
• L2 - A second (or additional) language that you are learning.
• Heritage Learner - A ‘heritage’ learner is someone who grew up with the target language in their home and are now learning it formally.
• Belonging - being accepted, valued, included, respected and encouraged by others
• Accessible/Accessibility - This refers to how accessible and accommodating a class is for people who identify as disabled or have special learning needs and styles. This can include captions for video, special fonts for those with dyslexia, appropriate color contrast and color selections that are appropriate for those with color blindness, etc.
• Decolonization - This term is being used in this study in two ways: 1) as a political concept of decolonizing or recognizing the role of colonialism in a space/nation/region/culture (for example, Spanish in Nicaragua). 2) in a language classroom, decolonization can refer to speaking about all areas where a language is spoken and not just the most dominant nation. For example, Spanish is spoken all over the world and not just in Spain.
• Language/Linguistic Power - This refers to power differences between different languages and language varieties (e.g., English and French in the United States, or the most common dialect of English spoken in Los Angeles, CA compared to the most common dialect spoken in Atlanta, GA.

Timeline:2024 | Summer — Fall

Participants are students who have not taken a language class at UW. This project involves an online survey.

Variables of interest include: Language background | Whether they have considered taking a language course at UW | What, if any, language(s) they are interested in learning | Reasons why or why not they plan to take a language course | Whether certain factors affect their decision or ability to take a language course (e.g., credit load, timing, online/hybrid/in-person formats) | Awareness of scholarship activities | Interest in certificate and language for specific purposes programs | Factors they see as important for language learning

Timeline:2024 | Summer — Fall

Participants are UW language instructors. This project involves an online survey.

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Variables of interest include: role & level of courses taught | average enrollments | student goals and needs | instructor successes, challenges, and needs | freedom of course design | instructor comfort with teaching different formats (in-person, online, hybrid, hyflex) | techniques for balancing student workload and maintaining engagement | course promotion methods | perspectives on 'AI' and language teaching | perspectives on the future of their language program

The UW Volunteer Working Group
for Less Commonly Taught Languages