Journal Article

Heritage Spanish Speakers’ Writing Development: Online vs. In-Person Peer-Tutoring Interventions

Lozano, Claire Julia, Carando, Agustina

2022

Overview

This article analyzes the writing development of heritage speakers (hs) of Spanish in an intermediate level composition course at the University of California, Davis. The data comprised 480 essays written by 80 students from two groups: one who received face-to-face peer tutoring before the covid-19 pandemic (Fall 2019), and one who received online tutoring during the pandemic (Fall 2020). These data were analyzed in terms of lexical richness as measured by (a) lexical density, (b) lexical sophistication, and (c) lexical variation in both in-person and online settings. Findings revealed that lexical density and lexical sophistication were similar in both groups. However, the online group had higher levels of lexical variation throughout their essays. We conclude that online tutoring is an effective alternative to face-to-face tutoring, showing no disadvantages in terms of students’ lexical richness and offering a significant advantage with respect to lexical variation. Finally, we offer suggestions for hs tutor training in an online setting.

• Publisher: Universidad de Antioquía,Escuela de Idiomas, Universidad de Antioquia,Universidad de Antioquia
• Subject: academic writing / bilingual education / College students / Colleges & universities / COVID-19 / Cultural heritage / Density / educación bilingüe / educação bilingue / escrita académica / escritura académica / falantes de espanhol como língua de herança / First generation students / hablantes de español como lengua de herencia / Heritage language / heritage spanish / Higher education / Internet / Language / LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS / Learning / Literacy / locuteurs de l’espagnol en tant que langue patrimoniale / online tutoring / Pandemics / Pedagogy / peer / Peer instruction / Peer tutoring / Peers / Sophistication / Spanish language / Student writing / Students / tutorats en ligne / tutorats entre pairs / tutoria de pares / tutoriais virtuais / Tutoring / tutorías entre pares / tutorías virtuales / Writing instruction / écriture académique / éducation bilingue