Narrative Guidelines
Introduction: In the fall of 2003, Portland State’s Department of Foreign Languages began to
respond to a community need for family focused language instruction by initiating the Heritage
Language Institute (HLI). Our goal is to facilitate the inclusion of immigrant families into American
life without losing the rich cultural diversity they contribute to our Democracy. Building civic
mindedness is one outcome of this initiative; however it is difficult to do this with immigrant
populations when they are struggling to maintain their native cultural identities. The HLI addresses
this challenge in two ways:

By recognizing the unique language needs of immigrant peoples.
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By valuing the strengths that can come of language diversity.
Participants: The HLI is led by Dr. Pat Wetzel, Professor of Japanese and Director of the Institute for
Asian Studies. The program is administered by Linda Godson, Ph.D. while instructors include Gladys
Perez and Manya Wubbold (Portland State) and Rosa Torres (Portland Community College).
Building Civic Skills by enhancing K-12 education and reducing the state’s urban-rural divide:
The HLI focuses on the needs of the family.
Anticipated Impacts of the HLI: The HLI is the first initiative of its kind in Oregon; as such it
represents an opportunity for Portland State to push service learning scholarship into a whole new area.
Because funding has been cut to so many survival English program, at it most basic level it helps
address that need. For those families interested in maintaining their language and culture, the HLI
Sustaining the HLI beyond the Grant Period: Although the HLI is unique to Oregon it represents a
national movement whose exemplars, list some are able to maintain list budget size on grants and
donations. HLI classes will be a mix of self support and credited classes for the immediate future until
we can successfully tap into the funding streams that are available for this type of venture. Given the
interest in Heritage Language and track records of existing academic programs we consider this grant
an investment in an enterprise that shows the highest potential for long term success.
Disseminating outcomes at PSU and beyond: Again, because the HLI is unique in Oregon, there is a
great deal of interest in its potential for scholarship. In fact, Dr. Godson has already been approached
by a national peer reviewed journal for article submissions based on her Heritage Language work.
From a community based service learning perspective, the HLI will be a perfect laboratory
environment, providing hands-on experience for language, linguistics and education majors in the
community but at the university. We envision the HLI as a center of excellence that will serve the
region and state while being a model for similar national efforts.
Project Timeline: The HLI has begun. In fall term 2004 the Department of Foreign Languages
offered the following HLI courses:
1. Spanish for Spanish Speakers (4-4). This course is designed for (semi-) native speakers who
wish to matriculate into the regular Spanish curriculum. (Most will be PSU admitted students.)
It provides them with the requisite formal training (grammar, literacy) for making that
transition.
2. Native Literacy in Spanish (non-credit). This program is underway at the Capital Center, led by
Rosa Torres. As Head Instructor, Ms. Torres leads classes in Spanish for adults, including GED
test preparation. In the past, Ms. Torres was a paid instructor at PCC for Adult Basic Education
in Spanish. When that program lost its funding, she continued providing her much needed
classes on a volunteer basis. Ms. Torres now teaches (unpaid) every Monday, Wednesday and
Friday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Capital Center (the space is sponsored by PSU). She is
assisted by PSU students who are enrolled in FLL 404, and for whom she provides training and
lesson plans. This is an example of how the HLI can help PSU students become directly
involved in their community while providing a critical service.
3. Heritage Vietnamese (4-4-4) (self-support). Vietnamese has been offered through Chiron for
almost ten years; it regularly enrolls 15-25 students. There are XXX students at PSU with
Vietnamese ethnicity. The Vietnamese Student Association is one of the most active on campus
and supports our efforts to establish a language program.
We will continue offering these classes as currently configured, however, as more funding becomes
available we intend to increase our offerings. In year two, the HLI plans to offer insert and by year
three we will have programs in Russian, Korean, Hindi and Arabic as well as more offerings in
Spanish and Vietnamese.
Recognizing the language needs of immigrants:
Language diversity is a mixed blessing. Language is the foundation of understanding other cultures,
but those who wish to do well in American society must be equipped with the English language skills
that go along with success. There are a number of populations whose language limitations stand in the
way of their achievement. They include:
a. Illiterate or semiliterate speakers of other languages. Example: the (primarily Mexican)
Spanish-speaking immigrant population. Because literacy in the first language is a
prerequisite to literacy in English, there is a critical need to build Spanish literacy in the
immigrant community. This needs to be tied to intensive training in English.
b. Bilingual speakers of English and some other language who need additional training in
their heritage language in order to make it useful in their lives. Example: children of
immigrants who speak but do not read Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, etc. Because
these individuals have no formal training in their heritage language, they do not fit
smoothly into the traditional academic curriculum. For adult (college-level) education, a
bridge or “heritage” curriculum is now recognized as best for meeting the needs of such
individuals. For K-12 learners, other kinds of intervention are rapidly being developed.
Strength in Linguistic Diversity
Besides the fact that language diversity adds to the richness of our cultural fabric and resources,
it has practical advantages:
a. With the right kind of instruction, heritage speakers are considered most likely to
succeed in developing a command of a foreign language at a level essential for
professional transactions, international trade, and national security;
b. Research shows that bilingualism is closely correlated with high performance on
standardized tests such as IQ tests and college entrance exams;
c. Heritage language learners provide hands-on experience for language, linguistics and
education majors at the university. The opportunities for community-based learning are
enormous for students, both undergraduate and graduate;
d. The need for speakers of many languages is already critical in the state’s judicial system
and in the health-care industry. There are jobs for bilingual individuals;
e. By addressing heritage language learner needs at PSU, we contribute to making the
university “transparent” to communities who might otherwise be fearful or mistrusting.
Even if people who struggle with literacy don’t themselves go to college, their children
will find it easier to aspire to higher education if parents have had positive learning
experiences with PSU-sponsored programs.