The Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication on Foreign ...

dealing with deeply felt issues <strong>of</strong> identity. Krashen (2000) adds: “Heritage language [HL]
speakers are in a no-win situation in foreign language classes. If they do well, it is expected. If
HL speakers do not do well in foreign language classes, the experience is especially painful” (p.
441). This can result in a lack <strong>of</strong> motivation, low academic achievement, high absenteeism, and
a high percentage <strong>of</strong> dropouts.
Roca (2000) points out that many heritage students use Spanish at home and with peers,
but lack formal training in the language and have a limited bilingual range. As a result, their
literacy skills in Spanish (most obviously, their non-standard spelling), their registers,
vocabulary, and general ease and fluency with the language, need attention and expansion.
Gutiérrez (1997) states: “<strong>The</strong> foreign language teaching pr<strong>of</strong>ession should clearly understand
that these students need an approach that builds on what they bring to the classroom rather than
one that begins at ground zero” (p. 34).
Heritage Students and Foreign Language Anxiety
Although many studies have been conducted on the effects <strong>of</strong> foreign language anxiety
on second language learners, most <strong>of</strong> this research has been done with the more “traditional”
foreign language learners. To date little research has been conducted on its effects on heritage
students. However, there is some anecdotal evidence. For example, Levine (2003) looked at
student and instructor beliefs and attitudes about target language use, first language use, and
anxiety. He states that the findings in his study suggest that “students who come from bi- or
multilingual backgrounds may tend to feel less anxious about TL [target language] use than
students from monolingual backgrounds” (p. 354). Mejías, Applbaum, Applbaum and Trotter
(1991) found that some <strong>of</strong> the Hispanic students in their study experienced anxiety when
speaking Spanish, especially in more formal, less personal contexts.
Tallon (2003) found that the mean anxiety score on the Foreign Language Classroom
Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope, 1986) was significantly higher for nonheritage
students (cf. 104.6) than for heritage students (cf. 87.1) in first-semester Spanish classes.
It was noted in that study that the anxiety score for the heritage students was somewhat high
(considering that no anxiety is represented by a score <strong>of</strong> thirty three). In a later study, Tallon
(2004) found that the mean anxiety score on the FLCAS for heritage students in a secondsemester
Spanish class was 97.0, considered “mildly anxious.” In addition, this study showed
that heritage students <strong>of</strong> Spanish can also experience other types <strong>of</strong> anxiety, including listening
anxiety, reading anxiety, and writing anxiety. Finally, it was suggested that the anxiety could
lead to less language output, both orally and in writing, and both in terms <strong>of</strong> quantity <strong>of</strong> language
and quality in language, for the heritage students.
In a qualitative study <strong>of</strong> self-assessed anxious heritage and non-heritage learners, Coryell
& Clark (2009) examined how and why some adult learners experienced anxiety while studying
Spanish online. <strong>The</strong>ir participants experienced anxiety because their previous language learning
experiences enforced the concept <strong>of</strong> language as performance, with a focus on grammatical
correctness and precision. <strong>The</strong>y concluded that “the findings <strong>of</strong> this study suggest that
traditional instructional practices online and a lack <strong>of</strong> social language interaction will likely
underserve anxious, interculturally minded learners” (p. 499), advocating instead for personal
and sociocultural connections and intercultural communications as the focus <strong>of</strong> online language
courses.
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