The United States has one of the largest Spanish-speaking populations in the world. According to the U.S. Census' 2019 ACS Supplemental Estimates, there are over 15.3 million Spanish-speaking households and over 41.7 million Spanish speakers over five years old in the United States. In Nebraska, 7.6% of the population speaks Spanish (2018: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates).
After English, it is the most spoken language in the state. As the population of bilingual/heritage speakers increases throughout the country and across the state of Nebraska, so does our responsibility as educators to address their needs, which differ from those of monolingual English-speaking students and students learning a second language.
About the Graduate Certificate in Teaching Spanish to Heritage/Bilingual Learners
The graduate certificate in Teaching Spanish to Heritage/Bilingual Learners provides training to educators working with bilingual/heritage learners of Spanish through courses that focus on the study of sociolinguistic and pedagogical (theory and practice) subjects relevant to the intricacies and challenges of teaching Spanish to bilingual learners (children who are bilingual) and heritage learners (bilingual adults).
The graduate certificate in Teaching Spanish to Heritage/Bilingual Learners is an 18-credit certificate program. Courses can be completed entirely online (asynchronously); however, students also have the opportunity to participate in face-to-face or remote learning (synchronous virtual learning) if they prefer those modalities.
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Admission Requirements
Application Deadline
Applications for this program are accepted on a rolling basis with a priority deadline of June 30 for Fall admission, November 15 for Spring admission, and April 15 for summer admission.
- The UNO Graduate Studies Application can be found on the UNO Graduate Studies website.
- All materials must be submitted prior to the beginning of the semester in which the student has elected to begin coursework.
Program-Specific Requirements
- Bachelor's degree with a 3.0 average or above (on a 4.0 scale).
- International applicants must score 550 on the paper-based (pBT) Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), 80 internet-based (iBT) TOEFL, 6.5 International English Language Testing System (IEL TS), 53 Pearson Language Tests (PTE), or 105 Duolingo.
- Official transcript from all previous institutions (except UNO).
- Two letters of recommendation.
- If Spanish was not the applicant's major and it is not his/her native language, he/she must schedule an oral entrance interview with a MALT faculty member. Applicant needs to be rated as advanced-low (based on ACTFL guidelines).
Required Courses
Required courses (9 credits)- FLNG 8050: Heritage Language Pedagogy
- FLNG 8900: Directed Readings
- FLNG 8060: Teaching Methods
- SPAN 8076: Hispanic Bilingualism
- SPAN 8125: Hispanic Sociolinguistics
- SPAN 8136: Spanish in the US
- SPAN 8076: Hispanic Bilingualism
- SPAN 8125: Hispanic Sociolinguistics
- SPAN 8136: Spanish in the US
- FLNG 8030: Second Language Acquisition Theory
- FLNG 8020: FL/TESOL Research
- FLNG 8040: Assessment and Materials Design
- SPAN 8176: Intro to Latin American Literature
- SPAN 8226: Structure of Spanish
- SPAN 8086: Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
- FLNG 8960: Special Topics
- SPAN 8026: Language enhancement through vocabulary learning
Students are encouraged to take more than the minimum number of required courses and may not repeat any courses already taken at the undergraduate level unless the content has changed.
Program Contact Information
Cecilia Tocaimaza-Hatch, Ph.D., Graduate Program Advisor
World Languages and Literature, 301 ASH
Phone: 402.554.4841
Email: ctocaimazahatch@unomaha.edu