María Luisa Parra, Senior Preceptor in Spanish in Harvard’s Romance Languages and Literatures Department, tells us why Hispanic Heritage Month is important. She also discusses teaching Spanish to Latinx students and the other courses she has developed to promote Latino culture. And what terms does she prefer—Hispanic, Latino/a, Latinx or Latine? Listen to find out!
June:
María Luisa Parra is the Senior Preceptor in Harvard's Romance and Literature department. For many years, she has taught Spanish as a heritage language to college Latinos and Latinas. She has written extensively on second language acquisition and bilingualism. Welcome María Luisa.
María Luisa Parra:
Thank you, June.
June:
As you know, we're celebrating the month of October as Hispanic Heritage Month, what does that mean to you?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, thank you, June. It's a pleasure to be here with you and thank you for starting with this important question, because as you know, my work centers around heritage and the recognition of Latino heritage and its contributions in our daily lives and identities. So for me to have this month, which is also a beautiful month in New England, as the Hispanic Heritage Month, it's a wonderful reminder of the presence of Latinos in this country and their contributions in terms of history, culture, and of course, language.
June:
Well, as you know, Hispanic Heritage Month actually grew out of that day that we used to call Columbus Day.
María Luisa Parra:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
June:
And it was just a day and now it's a month. Why do we need a whole month to celebrate Hispanic heritage?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, I think that the month speaks to the great contributions of Hispanics or Latinos in this country. According to the census in 2020, we are now more than 60 million Latinos, and around 45 million are Spanish speakers. And Spanish was spoken in this country as a colonial language before English, and now is a second... I don't very much the word minority language, but it's the second language after English in this country. So I think that we need a whole month to celebrate the diversity of Latino cultures in this country. And it's also the youngest and the fastest growing group in the US.
June:
Uh-huh (affirmative). Now, when you say diversity, what are you referring to?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, the Latino community in this country is diverse because we have people from all countries of the Spanish speaking world, Latin American, the Caribbean, and also we have people from different regions within each one of those countries. So that's what I refer as diversity.
June:
That's really interesting. You've been teaching a course for years on Spanish for Latino students. Could you tell us a bit about how that course came about?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, that's a long story. But long story short, when I became a senior preceptor, when I was hired as a senior preceptor in my department, I already had experience working with young Latino children in Somerville public schools. I was the program coordinator of a program called the Home-School Connection program that was based at Tufts University. The director was Dr. Marta [inaudible 00:03:59] Garcia [inaudible 00:04:00], and in that program, I worked with Latino families with young children transitioning from home to kindergarten.
María Luisa Parra:
And it was when Massachusetts had bilingual program still. It was 2003 more or less, yeah, 2002. And I knew that Spanish was a very important asset for this community so when I came to Harvard, I didn't see any courses for Latino students and I decided to pilot one. And at the time I had a wonderful language program director that allowed me to pilot this course in 2013. And since then, I have been teaching it every fall and with a different course in the spring too. So I have two courses.
June:
Could you tell us a bit about the course?
María Luisa Parra:
Of course. So the course, my courses always aim to build on student's strengths and previous knowledge of Spanish. And in one of the courses, we explore the relationship between their Spanish language practices and their Latinx identities. And we understand a language like Spanish as a way of knowing the world, and making meaning through oral and written exchanges, uses with the community, in the family, or professional academic context.
María Luisa Parra:
So the course is designed for students to share, reflect critically around the history of the Spanish language, their family heritage, the impact of immigration, and the Latinx, cultural and linguistic traditions and innovations that have flourished in this country.
June:
But what do you actually do in the course? Could you tell us about a class day?
María Luisa Parra:
Of course. So I design specific activities and questions that I bring to the students for them to answer them. And in that exercise of answering questions, for example, around a piece of art, or a movie they watch, or a reading they made as homework, we start reflecting on different topics that are important for them as members of the Latino community.
María Luisa Parra:
So for example, if we watch a movie, we reflect on what are the social relations that the movie is presenting? If the movie is from Latin America, what does that mean in terms of your Latinx experience here in the US? How is language used or portray in the movie? If we're talking about art, we analyze who did this piece of art, what is the message, what images are being presented there? What is their symbolism? And if this literature, what are the authors trying to convey with the story, or their poetry, and how that speaks to them as Latinx.
June:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Just curious, what was the last movie you watched with your class?
María Luisa Parra:
The last movie that we watched was Nosotros, los Nobles from Alazraki in Mexico and we are about to watch Frida, the Frida movie, of course.
June:
Ah, you're kind of an expert on Frida, aren't you?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, kind of, you said it right. Because I'm not an art historian, but I definitely have studied a lot about Frida and especially about the historical context. That's what my class is about at the extension school.
June:
Ah. Well I've had the opportunity to be with you in your class and I've noted that you sometimes have the children of Latino know Harvard professors and then of Mexican migrant workers. So what are the challenges of teaching across race, and class, and nationality?
María Luisa Parra:
That's right. Well, the way I approach those differences, it's more towards lens of opportunity for all of us to really learn about how those dimensions of race and class are part of our own Latinx community, in Latin America, in the US, and in the classroom.
María Luisa Parra:
So my experience has been that different students coming from different backgrounds are interested in listening to others stories. And interestingly enough, they notice that they share some commonalities, even when they also acknowledge the differences in backgrounds, maybe privileges, immigration stories. At the end, I work also for them to find common ground as young people, as Latinx, as bilinguals. Coming from a certain social class doesn't exclude challenges in terms of growing up bilingual, or parents' expectations, sometimes they are higher and greater when you have educated parents and that doesn't make it easier for children. So I make sure that they learn from other and find that common ground.
June:
That's great. You also teach a course called Spanish in the Community.
María Luisa Parra:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
June:
One doesn't think of Boston as a particularly Hispanic city. Could you give me some examples of where your students have volunteered?
María Luisa Parra:
Right. So it's true, we tend to think about Boston as more Irish, European immigrants, but now, according to some online publications like Boston Indicators, or The Boston Globe, Latino community makes up to 20% of the city population now. So we have a statewide Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorian, Colombians, Mexicans, and that community, it's growing. It definitely has grown in the last 20 years. And when we think about, for example, Boston or other cities like Somerville, Chelsea, Revere, then you start thinking about Latino community being more prominent. So I have built over the years relationships with organizations in those parts of those cities that work and serve the Latino community. And that's where the students go and do their service work.
June:
Uh-huh (affirmative).
María Luisa Parra:
In Spanish.
June:
In Spanish. Uh-huh (affirmative). You've told us about your work with Spanish as a heritage language, why did you decide to teach this course?
María Luisa Parra:
For the community. This course has also a long story, maybe older than the other class. And actually, it started as an invitation from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies to my then coordinator, Dr. [inaudible 00:12:53] Oleander. Dr. [inaudible 00:12:55] was interested in putting together a course with a community service component. And at the time, Dr. Oleander invited me to work with her in designing the course. So I was the TA who started building this community relations and actually the first one to teach this class.
María Luisa Parra:
Now I am the course head of that course, but it has been taught for more than 20 years. And one Fall when I was teaching my life Latino class, the class was so great, the students were so happy, they were so comfortable together that they wanted to continue together for another semester and they asked me to design the second part of that course. So what I did was to take my community class and made a version for Latino students. So now Latino students also have the opportunity to take this class and be engaged with their own communities.
June:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Can you give us a couple of stories about how this volunteer work has influenced students lives?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, I think that over the years, what we have noted is that once... Well, first of all, many students already come with experience with a community, and they really like it and connect with that. But many of them, once we do the work in Spanish with the Latinx community, some of them have geared their academic paths and interests to become more involved in, for example, immigration law or medicine. We don't have yet enough in education, but we have to work on that. So I think that being in contact with Latino people in Spanish gives students a lot of material to work and reflect, and some of them have changed their career paths to be able to include in their professional future the work with Latino community.
June:
That's really interesting. I was thinking that that class is also very unusual because Harvard students tend not to get out in the community.
María Luisa Parra:
Right.
June:
And do you feel that's made a change in the way that they approach coursework, or the way that they look at their identity?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, definitely the advantage that I have had over the years is that the students that come and take this course kind of select because are already interested in doing that. However, I know that courses with what now is called engaged scholarship component, have grown throughout Harvard. And now you have, for example, the Mindich Program for Engaged Scholarship under the direction of Flavia Peréa who supports and encourages faculty to design courses with community or engaged scholarship component. So I think that that pedagogical model is growing and teachers are becoming more invested in designing courses like that. And of course now students have more options and also very interested in expanding their learning experience beyond Harvard Yard.
June:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Seeing all this tremendous work around heritage speakers, and bilingualism, and Latinos in the community, I'd like to ask you how you identify yourself, are you a Mexican, a Mexican American, a Hispanic, a Latina, a Latinx, or even Latine?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, I think that's a great question. Definitely Mexican. I would identify as Mexican, and also now as Latina. I feel very fortunate and proud to I've been able to be part of a community that has really embraced my work and embraced me and my sons. And now I think that I have not only an understanding of the experience of being Latina in the US, but also the experience myself after living here in this country 25 years. I think that it took me a while to identify myself as Latina because I didn't think I had the lived experiences that would allow me to feel and to be part of that community, but now I think that I do. And I'm the very happy to feel that way.
June:
When did that happen for you?
María Luisa Parra:
I don't know if there was a specific moment. I think that it has been the result of different events over the time. Definitely the fact that Latina, particularly Latina students, but also Latinos, have come to me to talk and that we have relationships beyond... I'm always their mentor, but it grows beyond academic connection and grading. It's, "Profe, how are you?" And, "Profe, we want to invite you." And, "Profe, we want to ask you." So I think that they have made me feel that I also part of this community and for that I have been very grateful and honored.
June:
Now we've been using a lot of different labels, like Hispanic and Latinx, and do these labels matter?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, Juan Flores would say they do. In his book, From Bomba to Hip-Hop, right? He has a chapter where he talks about the Latino imaginary, and he specifically talks about these labels. I think that they should not matter, but the reality is that they do matter because they have different connotations for different people. And that's what I think makes some agreements within the Latino community very complicated because they are charged. For different people that were Hispanic, would trigger some sentiments around that word and Latinx triggers the other sentiments for other groups. So we are such a, again, I'm going to use the word, diverse community, not only in terms of coming from different regions or countries, but generations and social class, and all these labels have specific meanings for different groups. So how do we connect? How do we address the other? I think it's becoming a fascinating, but very integrated discussion within our own community.
June:
Do you have any personal preferences?
María Luisa Parra:
Do I have any... I like Latinx and Latino. Yes, I like that more.
June:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Spanish is such a gendered language. When you're teaching Spanish, when you're teaching these Latinx students, how do you deal with that?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, I think that this topic of inclusive language is a topic that is being discussed throughout the languages. Romance languages has a particular challenge of being a language that has a strong gender load that is integrated into the morphology and syntax of the language. As you know, the community is trying to find ways to express gender diversity within the language. And the language itself has its own constraints.
María Luisa Parra:
So what I do in my classes is to use the X strategically in a symbolic way to signal students that I'm for being inclusive, my classroom is inclusive. However, we can still not use that X, or that E through out our text, or our conversations. I don't penalize if students say something with the X, or the E, or play a little bit with it in the texts, but we talk about it, and it's clear that we cannot... I mean, we can do it, but we also need to know that outside our classroom and this discussion in other places, the language is still functioning as has always done.
June:
Where do you stand on Spanglish?
María Luisa Parra:
Where do I stand on Spanglish? Well, I'm all for creativity and I think that Spanglish is part of the linguistic repertoire that Latinos have in this country. And as such, should be acknowledged, and respected, and recognized as language use. And at the same time, that doesn't mean that students don't want to enrich their repertoire because they do, that's why they take classes. And they're interested in learning the grammar, or that they already have a solid internal grammar, many of them, but they want to learn the grammar, the proper uses of the language.
María Luisa Parra:
And what I teach in my classes, and my stand on Spanglish is that Spanglish is pretty proper in the context where it's used. I can't speak Spanglish so I don't consider myself proficient enough because I don't know how to do it. So we go to the rules. Now, once we get into learning the rules, or formal uses of the language, that doesn't mean that Spanglish is less viable, or important for communities. So I see Spanglish as part of the whole repertoire that Latinos in this country have to know to be able to communicate with different communities.
June:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). One more question. There was recently a letter published in the medium Axios, which was signed by more than 100 prestigious authors in intellectuals from Latin American and United States, including [inaudible 00:26:16] director Steve Levitsky. It asked the New York Times publisher to continue its opinion section in Spanish. Do you think it's important to have Spanish language sections in major US newspapers, and why when most educated readers have some working knowledge of English?
María Luisa Parra:
Right. I think it's an important thing. It's a wonderful thing to have Spanish written in prestigious newspapers because that is assigned to all the community, not only Spanish speakers, that Spanish is a language that is used to write about important topics and is part of a prestigious publication. And I think that that sends a powerful message to not only Latino children and youth, but policy makers, educators, that we need to open up more opportunities for Latino students to engage with written Spanish.
María Luisa Parra:
How to do that, it's a matter of another question because it's not only about putting together classes where students are going to get penalized for the way they use their Spanish, it's how also to design those classes where students are going to engage with the written language as a process. And you and I know for our experience in teaching together that students want to do that. It takes time, it would take me a lot of time too, to write [foreign language 00:28:16] or [inaudible 00:28:19] for the New York Times in Spanish so students have to go through that process. But if we tell them, "Hey, you can publish in Spanish in the New York Times." That's a wonderful message for them.
June:
We started off talking about Hispanic Heritage Month, is there anything you would like to add?
María Luisa Parra:
Well, I think that I hope that the month continues to be an opportunity for everybody to feel proud of their heritage, not to feel ashamed in any way because we have less heritage or more heritage. The heritage is there, the seed is there, the roots are there. And every time I give some assignments, creative assignments to my students, they take the opportunity to represent the language as a tree, or as a flower that has roots, has branches, has leaves, and they see it as a growing and living thing. So I think that the heritage month should be the soil ground to nourish all those trees to keep growing and Spanish has to be part of that.
June:
Thank you, María Luisa. María Luisa Parra is a Senior Preceptor in Harvard's Romance Languages and Literature's department. For many years she has taught Spanish as a heritage language to college Latinos and Latinos. She has written extensively on second language acquisition and bilingualism. Thank you for being with us in this Faculty Voices.
María Luisa Parra:
Thank you, June, it has been a pleasure.