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Mae Ryan

Giovanni Tempesta has taught Italian at Stanford since 1983.

Native speakers fill an increasingly significant portion of college-level language classes at Stanford, according to members of various foreign language departments.

Spanish Prof. Lisa Surwillo reports that nearly one-quarter of all graduating Spanish majors come from a Spanish-speaking background.

“I have noticed a consistent participation of native and heritage speakers in classes offered through the Spanish Department,” Surwillo said in an email. “Moreover, because the Spanish major is so flexible, many of these students who might plan on taking a course or two end up completing a major or, sometimes, a minor.”

The Spanish Department currently offers three specialized course sequences designed specifically for students with a Spanish-speaking background. These “heritage” speakers are very eager to further their language capabilities, said Spanish and Education Prof. Guadalupe Valdes.

“Students who enroll in [these] classes grew up with Spanish at home but may have taken another foreign language in high school,” she said in an email. “At Stanford, they are often eager to expand their existing abilities in order to use the language professionally.”

In addition to enhancing the language skills of native speakers, the department also promotes these courses as effective ways for Ph.D. Spanish students to learn to teach the language.

While native speakers can enroll in these specialized courses, Surwillo noted that a number of upper division courses also include students with proficiency in two or even three languages including Spanish.

Other departments also have large numbers of “heritage” speakers. According to German Prof. Charitini Douvaldzi, native speakers make up between 10 and 20 percent of all undergraduates in the German Department, while that number is higher among graduate students.

As demand among native speakers who want to further their language proficiency has increased, foreign language departments across the country have instituted more specialized programs to meet these students’ needs. If the demand continues to grow, Valdes said, “heritage” programs — such as those in the Spanish Department — will likely be expanded into other languages as well.

“Many universities around the country run heritage programs in Spanish,” Valdes said, “and [they] are eager to hire faculty who can design and implement such programs.”