AbstractThis article reports on a qualitative, exploratory study of 27 students—19 native
English speakers (NES) and 8 heritage Spanish speakers (HSS)—that examined
students’ perceptions of their second or heritage language learning and culture
learning as participants in a successful one-way high school Spanish immersion
program at a large public high school in Virginia. Implications for university language
program directors (LPDs) are also discussed. The study posed the following
research question: What are students’ perceptions of their language-learning
experience and their culture-learning experience within this program, and what
other aspects of the program do students believe constitute “value added” as a
result of their experience? The author posited that intensive exposure to the second
language (L2) or heritage language (HL) would enhance students’ confidence
as Spanish speakers and had the potential to spark cognitive, behavioral, and affective
changes in them as they dug deeper into the modalities of their first and
second cultures.
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