“We need to be seen, if there were some way to make us more visible in society. So many of us, and not just Latinos, but so many ethnic types are contributing on a daily basis to this country, and also face challenges by virtue of their linguistic background, their life experiences, et cetera. I wish there were a way for people, mainstream people, to become more aware of our life histories, as well as how we contribute to American society.”
Maria Carreira’s Bio
Maria Carreira is a professor of Spanish at California State University, Long Beach and co-director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA. Her research focuses on U.S. Spanish and heritage language pedagogy. She is a co-author of five Spanish textbooks published by Cengage and a book about U.S. Latinos (Voces: Latino Students on Life in the United States, Praeger, 2014). Her most recent book publication is a co-edited book with Olga Kagan and Claire Chik on heritage language teaching around the world. With her colleagues at UCLA and with a grant from STARTALK, Professor Carreira is currently developing an online certificate on HL teaching.
Maria Carreira’s research focuses on heritage languages, with a concentration in Spanish in the US as well as the less commonly taught languages. Her recent work focuses on identity, resilience, and heritage language development and maintenance. She is also co-director of the National Heritage Language Resource Center at UCLA, Chair of the SAT Spanish Committee, and Associate Editor of Hispania.
Resources
- The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
- The UCLA National Heritage Language Resource Center
- Alianzas
- STARTALK Workshop for Heritage Language Instructors
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