Writing Proficiency Profiles of Heritage Language Learners of Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Spanish
The following material is informed by a research project conducted at the Center for Integrated Language Communities (CILC) from 2014 to 2018 with 187 heritage learners of Mandarin Chinese (henceforth “Chinese”), Korean, and Spanish. For this research, the definitions of writing proficiency were based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines 2012 – Writing. This study sought to address the following three research questions:
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of writers at the Intermediate and Advanced levels of proficiency?
- What prevents writers at the Intermediate and Advanced levels from consistently functioning at the next higher level of proficiency?
- What are the implications of the proficiency profiles for instruction?
For full descriptions of profiles identified by the study, as well as for details on research methods and participants, please go to the “Publications” button on the left panel.”