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DIRECTIONS IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

b ANGUAGE
Course Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski
Copyright 2014 by McGraw-HillEducation. All rights
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Contents

1. Heritage Language Teaching in the United States: An Introduction 1

2. General Sociolinguistic Considerations 13
3. Who are Heritage Language Learners? 32
4. Goals and Principles in Heritage Language Instruction 58
5. Developing Listening and Speaking Skills 82
6. Developing Literacy Skills: Reading 104
7. Developing Literacy Skills: Writing 120
8. Approaches to Grammar Instruction 153
9. Developing Cultural Proficiency 178
10. Program and Administrative Considerations 193
A. Bibliography 219
Index 237
Credits

1. Heritage Language Teaching in the United States: An Introduction: Chapter 1 from Heritage
Language Teaching: Research and Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 1
2. General Sociolinguistic Considerations: Chapter2 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and
Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 13
3. Who are Heritage Language Learners?: Chapter 3 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and
Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 20 15 32
4. Goals and Principles in Heritage Language Instruction: Chapter 4 from Heritage Language Teaching:
Research and Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 58
5. Developing Listening and Speaking Skills: Chapter5 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and
Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 82
6. Developing Literacy Skills: Reading: Chapter 6 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and
Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 104
7. Developing Literacy Skills: Writing: Chapter 7 ftom Heritage Language Teaching: Research and
Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 120
8. Approaches to Grammar Instruction: Chapter 8 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and
Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 20 15 153
9. Developing Cultural Proficiency: Chapter 9 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice
by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 20 15 178
10. Program and Administrative Considerations: Chapter 10 from Heritage Language Teaching: Research
and Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski, 2015 193
A. Bibliography: Chapter from Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice by Beaudrie, Ducar,
Potowski, 2015 219
Index 237 -
- -- - - -- --- - -. - -
 Heritage Language Teaching:Research and Practice 1
- .

CHAPTER 2

Heritage Language Teaching

in the United States:
An Introduction

T h e r e are "significantly more" bilingual or multilingual people in the world

than there are monolinguals (Tucker, 1999). Although only 21% of U.S. resi-
dents report speaking a language other than English in the home (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2012), the country is quite linguistically diverse. Over 300 languages
are spoken within our national boundaries, and the number of speakers of
many non-English languages is on the rise. For example, between the Census
reports of 2000 and 2010, the Spanish-speaking population grew by 32%,
the Chinese-speaking population grew by 39%, the number of Vietnam-
ese speakers grew by 37% and the Russian-speaking population increased
by 21%.
One of the areas most impacted by this growth in linguistic diversity is
education. The number of school-age children who spoke a language other
than English at home rose from 4.7 to 11.2 million between 1980 and 2009-that
is, from 10% to 21% of the population between the ages of 5 and 18 (National
Center for Educational Statistics, 2012). Some groups of educators, typically
categorized under the fields of bilingual education or English as a Second
Language (ESL), focus on helping these children learn English as well as their
school subjects. Typically, when these students arrive at high school and col-
lege, they encounter the possibility of engaging in formal study of a "foreign"
language. The teachers of these students in these classes, to whom this book is
primarily addressed, work in the field that is referred to by names including
"foreign" language, "second language" (L2), and "world" language education
(in this book, we use the terms "second language" or "L2"). When these
students choose to study a language that they grew up hearing and/or speak-
ing, they are usually referred to as "heritage speakers" or "heritage learners" of
their heritage language (HL). This term was widely adopted after appearing in
the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Stan-
dards of Foreign Language Learning (1996).'

'1t should be noted that some researchers reject the term "heritage"learner and prefer terms like
"bilingual" instead (e.g., Garcia, 2005).
* I
Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski

One of the most commonly cited definitions of "heritage language learner"

(HLL) or "heritage learneru-now canonical in the field--comes from Valdes
(2000). She defines the HLL as an individual who "is raised in a home where
a non-English language is spoken. The student may speak or merely under-
stand the heritage language and be, to some degree, bilingual in English and
the heritage language" (Valdes, 2000, p. 1).As we will see in more detail in
Chapter 3, this definition is referred to as "narrow" because it excludes those
individuals who were raised with a strong cultural connection to a particular
ethnolinguistic group and have a "heritage motivation" to study the language,
but who do not speak or understand the language at all. These latter individu-
als fall into the "broad" definition of HLLs and, as we will see in this book, are
often linguistically indistinguishable from traditional L2 learners (though their
affective needs may differ from those of their L2 peers). Those HLLs who fall
under Vald#slsnarrow definition have developed some proficiency in the heri-
tage language due to exposure to linguistic input in that language during child-
hood. They may be able to understand the language but not speak it, which
we acknowledge by using the term heritage learner rather than speaker; they
may be able to speak it but not read or write it; or they may have proficiency
in all areas. This definition also excludes students who arrived from a Spanish-
speaking country after the age of 12, who typically have developed adult-like
proficiency (Silva-Corval611, 1994; Montrul, 2008) and are usually considered
"native" or "homeland Spanish speakers.
Thus, the primary factor that differentiates HL from L2 learners is that
they learn their heritage language starting at birth from their family members.
What differentiates HLIs from homeland speakers is that HLLs spend a por-
tion of their prime language-learningyears immersed in an environment where
English, not the heritage language, is dominant. Many HL learners' linguistic
trajectories follow a common course: they receive input in the heritage language
in the home, sometimes exclusively, but sometimes combined with exposure to
English, until they begin preschool or kindergarten. Once schooling begins, the
amount of input changes drastically in favor of English, while the heritage Ian-
guage usually remains confined to the home and community. This means that
the HL did not have the same exposure to the wide variety of linguistic and
social experiences that a homeland speaker did, usually resulting in a different
linguistic system.
Even this narrow definition of HLLs yields a heterogeneous group. These
individuals can vary along many dimensions that will be explored in this book.

THE NEED FOR HERITAGE LANGUAGE

EDUCATION
Some people ask, "If a person grew up speaking X language (Spanish,Chinese,
Arabic, etc.), why does he need to study it in school?" A clear answer to this
question lies in an analogy with English classes: all native English speakers in
the U.S. are required to take English classes in elementary school, high school,
and college-even though they already speak English. Such classes, often
referred to as language arts, tpically focus on literature and literary analysis,
 Heritage LanguageTeaching:Research and Practice i 3

formal writing, vocabulary development, spelling, grammar, and sometimes

media literacy and public speaking. Heritage learners, too, can and should fur-
ther their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing their heritage lan-
guage, as well as broaden their cultural knowledge, through formal study of
their heritage language. It is also the case that not all native English speakers
have the same levels of proficiency in reading and writing the language. We
will see in this book that heritage learners, too, differ widely in terms of what
they can do with their heritage language.

Pause to consider. ..
. . . the areas in which heritage learners likely feel stronger and weaker in
their heritage language. For example, do you think they feel stronger in lis-
tening and speaking or in reading and writing the heritage language? Why
might this be?

Another answer to the question of why heritage speakers should study

their heritage language lies in the fact that most high schools and colleges/
universities require a certain amount of study of an L2. As a nation we invest
copious time and resources in L2 instruction, totaling nearly 1.7 million enroll-
ments in colleges and universities in 2009 according to the Modem Language
Association (Furmin, Goldberg, & Lusin, 2010). Yet consider the amount of
time it takes for the traditional L2 learner to reach high levels of proficiency.
The Foreign Service Institute estimates that the average student needs 2,400
to 2,760 hours to reach a level of working professional proficiency in Chinese.
Translated into classroom seat time, this is 80 to 92 weeks of 30 contact hours per
week (McGinnis, 1994), or 18.4 years of typical high school instruction (under-
stood as 5 hours per week for 36 weeks). Clearly such exposure is rarely possi-
ble, given the typical language-learning opportunities available in the U.S. But
students who already have a degree of naturalistically acquired competence in
a language can often be brought to very high levels of proficiency and literacy
through formal study. Many heritage learners need less time than L2 learners
to develop similar levels of proficiency, if their needs are met with appropriate
instruction. In addition, they often possess rich sociocultural knowledge that
L2 learners can develop only by spending time living abroad. Thus, it makes
great sense as a nation to maintain and develop the skills of heritage learners.
Profiles and needs of heritage learners are increasingly appearing in main-
stream news outlets. Faulx (2013), for example, quoted Professor Taoufik Ben
Amor, coordinator of the Arabic program at Columbia University in New York .
City, who claims that the popularity of the school's Arabic for heritage learner
courses has been driven by first- and second-generation Americans looking to
reclaim or maintain a link to their family's homeland. This is in part because
their families "[immigrated] at a time when the idea of the melting pot has dis-
appeared a little bit." Faulx (2013) also noted that in Portland, Oregon, a group
of Vietnamese university students in 2004 were frustrated by a lack of advanced
Vietnamese classes and started holding their own class every Saturday. This
- 4
I
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Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski
_. . . . . .. . . . . . . - -- .. . . - . .. . ._ -- _
.._. - ... . .. . .- . -... - - - - -

prompted the university to offer a heritage Vietnamese course and then, as

Professor Linda Godson stated: "Several other people came forward and said,
'What about us?"' Her department now offers five different heritage language
courses, including Spanish and Hindi, and the demand is growing.
Enrollments in language courses also show that the presence of heritage
learners nationwide continues to increase. According to the Modern Language
Association report (Furmin, Goldberg, & Lusin, 2010), Spanish continues to be
the most widely studied L2 in U.S. high schools and postsecondary institutions,
accounting for 52% of all postsecondary L2 enr~llrnents.~ But the greatest
growth in the number of students in 2002-2009 was in Arabic, which grew by
46% in those years, adding to the already substantial increase of 127%in the
2006 survey. In 2006, Chinese enrollments had grown by 51% (and by an addi-
tional 18% in 2009) and Korean enrollments by 37% (with another 19%growth
by 2009). Given the growth of the Arabic-, Chinese-, and spanish-speaking
populations, it is reasonable to assume that the increase in enrollments in these
three languages is due in part to an increase in the population of heritage learn-
ers of these languages. This is further attested to when one looks at the reality
of English language learners (ELLS)in this country. It has been projected that
by the year 2025, one in every four students will be an ELL, due not entirely to
an increase in immigration but to the fact that the language used in the home is
not English alone (Van Roekel, 2008). These same students often also fall into
the category of heritage language learners, and as their numbers continue to
climb, so too will their enrollment in English and other language classes.
Heritage learners are a very heterogeneous group and are different from
traditional L2 learners in ways that will be explored throughout this book.
Whether HL students are mixed into L2 courses or enrolled in separate courses
for heritage learners, educators need to accommodate instructional materials
and methodologies in order to address their needs appropriately. Although
increasing numbers of high schools and universities around the nation now
offer heritage learner courses specifically designed for these students, the
majority of heritage learners do not have access to such specialized courses.
At the secondary level, just 9% of schools surveyed in 1997 offered Spanish
heritage learner instruction (Rhodes & Branaman, 1999). In the early 2000s the
National Foreign Language Center and the American Association of Teachers
of Spanish and Portuguese found that only 18% of the college and university
programs surveyed had "Spanish for native speakers" classes (Ingold, Rivers,
Tesser, & Ashby, 2002). A more recent study (Beaudrie, 2012),however, found
that 40% of universities nationwide are now offering Spanish heritage learner
courses-an increase of 45% since 1990, but still leaving 60% of universities
without such programs.
Based on demographics, this book will make frequent reference to the
teaching of Spanish. Over 60% of all the non-English language speakers in
the U.S. (and three out of every four English Language Learning students) are
Spanish-speakers (Van Roekel, 2008). The U.S. Latino/Hispanic population
growth accounted for more than half of the increase in the total U.S. population

2 ~ h next
e most numemus are French (13% of postsecondary enrollments), German (6%), and
American Sign Language (5%).
 Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice
- 5

between 2000 and 2010, and there is a long history of research and pedagogy
on Spanish as a HL. We also include specific examples from other heritage
languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Korean, and Russian.

WHAT A R E "MINORITY LANGUAGES "1

It is important to note that in the U.S., heritage languages are also considered
minority languages, because English is the numerically dominant language of
society. Despite the fact that the U.S. does not have an official language, approx-
imately 79% of the nation's population reports speaking only English in the
home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). English is the language of government, mass
media, and, importantly for our focus, education. The most widely spoken
minority/heritage languages in the U.S.are listed in Table 1.1.
Though the U.S.does not have an official language, English is clearly the
most prevalent national language and has a great deal of power associated
with it. Much like individual people who belong to minority groups, minority
languages often suffer from prejudice. Many monolingual English speakers in
the U.S., for example, associate Spanish with poverty, immigration, and crime,
despite the fact that Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the
world and is used daily as a language of economics, literature, and government.
Often the status of a language is directly related to the status of the people that
speak it. Thus, if people view certain groups in a negative light, they usually
view the languages of those groups negatively as well. Some people, including
the almost 2 million members of the organization called Official English, wish

TABLE 1.1 Language Other Than English Spoken in the Home by Those 5
and Older in the U.S.
% of Total U.S. Metropolitan Areas with
Number of Population High Concentrations of
Language Speakers (308,745,538) Speakers
Spanish 37,579,787 12.2% Los Angeles, New York,
Miami, Chicago
Chinese 2,882,497 0.9% New York, Los Angeles,
San Francisco, San Jose
Tagalog 1,594,413 0.5% Los Angeles, San Francisco,
New York, San Diego
Vietnamese 1,419,539 0.5% Los Angeles, San Jose,
Houston, Dallas
French 1,301,443 0.4% New York, Washington,
DC, Boston, Miami
Korean 1,141,277 0.4% Los Angeles, New York,
Washington, Chicago
German 1,083,637 0.4% New York, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Washington
Source: Based on U.S. Census Bureau, "Language Spoken at Home" table, Americail
r ?,..C I \ I - _ . .P-1: ...-L - - / m n - I l \
6 Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski

to see the U.S. as an "officially English" nation, regardless of their opinions on

any particular non-English languages; they do not value the idea of public edu-
cation taking place in any language other than English (interested readers can
consult Crawford, 2000; Pavlenko, 2000).
As a result of this landscape, almost all children receive their formal edu-
cation in the U.S. entirely in English. Speakers of non-English languages-
particularly when they are young children--often internalize strong messages
about the inferiority of their family's language. It is no surprise, then, that with
very few exceptions the grandchildren of immigrants to the U.S. (commonly
referred to as the third generation) use English exclusively and retain very little
productive proficiency in the heritage language. We will explore the processes
of language loss in greater detail in Chapters 2 and 3.

Pause to consider. ..
...the ways in which linguistic repression takes place. Have you ever heard
someone say "You're in America, speak English" (or "speak American") or
other signals that non-English languages are not welcome in the U.S.?What
might be the historical and ideological basis of such messages? How does
the educational system promote the superiority of English?

ORIENTATIONS TO LANGUAGE
According to Ruiz (1984),societies tend to view languages from one of three per-
spectives: (1) language-as-problem, (2) language-as-right, and (3) language-as-
resource. It is useful to consider the ways in which these three perspectives can
manifest within the H L classroom, because they result in very different out-
comes. The language-as-problem orientation can manifest itself negatively in
the classroom in many ways:
When H L students lack some of the academic skills valued in formal
school settings, their home language is often incorrectly blamed, lead-
ing some educators to argue that these students should take additional
English classes instead of HL classes.
When teachers are trained only in methods designed for L2 learners,
which often do not work well with HL learners (as we will see through-
out this book), they tend to view Hl.students as problematic because their
language skills do not match those of the textbook or the other students.
As we will see in Chapter 2, the variety of the language spoken by many
heritage learners is sometimes stigmatized. Teachers who view stu-
dents' variety of the language negatively can unintentionally contribute
to students' decision to abandon it altogether rather than suffer shame
through criticisms of their ways of speaking.
An example of the language-as-problem orientation comes from the 19th
century. The U.S. treated indigenous languages as a problem and created
boarding schools to eradicate students' native languages and replace them with
 Heritage LanguageTeaching:Research and Practice 1I
!

English. Our aim in this book is to help all language educators, L2 and HL
alike, to see the value of understanding the H L as a resource. The language-
as-resource orientation acknowledges that all natural forms of language have
value and can be used as resources in a number of different ways, including but
not limited to:

Intellectual resource: All human knowledge is constructed in and through

language. Thus, intellectual functioning of any high order is inextricably
involved with language. Research on the intellectual effects of bilingualism
consistently finds that when bilinguals also develop biliteracy, they reap
significant cognitive advantages beyond those of nonliterate bilinguals.
Cultural resource: Language is a critical resource of cultural vitality, both
for the arts and for developing ways to appreciate, speak about, and par-
ticipate in understandings of new forms of representation. Having insider
knowledge of another culture gives one access to different ways of viewing
and understanding the world around them, typically leading to improved
communication between diverse groups.
Economic resource: Globalization has spread wealth away from the 20th-
century colonial powers. New economic powerhouses have emerged in
Asia and in non-English native-speaking parts of Europe. In fact, most of
the world's economy does not function primarily in English. Thus, pro-
ficiency in non-English languages is an important economic and social
resource for heritage learners.
Social resource: Many political, legal, personal, and familial problems reside
in difficulties of communication. Popular culture frequently references
problems of youth and teenagers, family conflict, and political alienation
due to communication difficulties. Language is a central feature in a com-
munity's psychological and organizational well-being, so it deserves direct
attention and cultivation.

There have been some recent advances on the national level of the
language-as-resource orientation toward heritage languages. Starting in the
1990s, grassroots movements to promote HL teaching became more wide-
spread. The late Russ Campbell helped organize a series of meetings to discuss
current knowledge about heritage language maintenance, development, and
revitalization, as well as establish a research agenda. That momentum led to
the first national Heritage Languages in America conference in 1999. A year
later came the Heritage Language Research Priorities conference, followed
by the second National Heritage Languages Conference. Soon thereafter, the
Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages was officially estab-
lished. In 2002 the Heritage Language Jourrzal was founded. Finally, in 2006, the
National Heritage Language Resource Center was founded as one of the fifteen
language resource centers funded by the U.S.Department of Education, with
yearly research institutes, multiple conferences and workshops, and online
resources. Clearly, heritage languages are gaining increased recognition in this
country, and it is important that they garner the same respect and recognition
within our classrooms.
- 8
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Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski
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Pause to consider. ..
How can teachers-not only heritage language teachers but also teachers
of other content areas-promote the orientation of language as a resource?
Think of several concrete ways in which we can help the following groups
understand the value of all languages as well as the benefits of bi(or multi)
lingualism: students, colleagues, parents, the larger community.

HERITAGE LANGUAGE EDUCATION

As we have mentioned, in the U.S.it is unfortunately still common that non-
English languages are treated as a problem. Even most programs labeled
"bilingual education" have as their primary goal to transition the children to
all-English instruction as soon as possible; that is, there is no simultaneous goal
for students to maintain or develop their heritage language. Most elementary
school years in the U.S.are thus devoted entirely to education through English.
By the time students get to high school and are permitted to study a second lan-
guage, their heritage language has often atrophied considerably (this pheno-
menon will be explored in greater detail in Chapters 2 and 3). Such a policy of
neglect is counterintuitive when we consider how greatly individual students
as well as the nation collectively could benefit from HL speakers who are also
formally educated in their HLs.
Even though the language-as-right philosophy embraces students' heritage
languages as something they have a right to speak, many language teachers
still view heritage learners' varieties of that language as a problem, often "cor-
recting" them with criticisms such as "You don't say X; you say Y." We will
discuss an in-depth approach for how to deal with the variation present in HL
learners' language varieties in Chapter 2. Traditional L2 courses are especially
ill-suited to these students' strengths and needs, and can even be detrimental to
their self-esteem. This issue is explored in greater depth throughout this book.

Pause to consider. , .
. ., the case of a proficient English speaker who seeks; to fulfill his Eng-
lish requirement in high school or college through an English as a Second
Language (ESL) course. Would the school permit him to do so? Would the
student necessarily get an "easy A" because he already speaks English? Do
you think this is similar to the case of a heritage learner with strong profi-
ciency in the heritagelanguage taking a course designed for second
language learners?

There is a growing presence of educational programs designed for heritage

learners of many different languages. To date there has not been a national sur-
vey of the presence of heritage language programs at different course levels
 --
Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice
~ ..
9

and in different languages. We mentioned earlier that 9% of high schools and

40% of U.S. colleges and universities offer Spanish as a heritage language
(Rhodes & Branaman, 1999; Beaudrie, 2012). At the elementary school level,
researchers have estimated 84 hoshuukoo Japanese programs (Kataoka, Koshi-
yama, & Shibata, 2008), 600 Chinese programs (Chao, 1997) with approxi-
mately 258,000 students enrolled (Kondo-Brown et al., 2013, p. 29), and 1,000
Korean programs (Shin, 2005) in the U.S. Some of these are within state school
districts; others are community-based. As these types of educational oppor-
tunities continue to grow, along with the population of students who benefit
from them, addressing the pedagogical concerns of HL students and teachers
becomes an important issue.
Despite their linguistic and cultural potential, heritage language students
present a number of daunting challenges to language programs. This book
addresses many of the issues and questions that teachers of heritage learners
should consider, including the following:

What is my role as a language instructor for heritage learners? How do I

help them strengthen their HL? Should I correct their language produc-
tion, and if so, how do I do so without sending a message that their way
of speaking is a problem rather than a resource?
How do I help heritage learners transfer academic and linguistic skills
from English to their heritage language?
How do I meet the needs of my heritage learners when they have no alter-
native but to enroll in L2 classes and are mixed together with L2 learners?
What teaching approaches would work best for heritage learners?

As we will explore throughout this book, HL students have different lin-

guistic and affective needs than L2 students, and as a result, instruction should
occupy itself with a very different knowledge base and set of skills. However,
there is a perturbing erroneous assumption evident in schools throughout the
United States: that teachers who have studied second language acquisition
and have been trained in L2 methodology will automatically make good HL
teachers. This occurs even at institutions that are responsive enough to heritage
learners to offer a separate HL track. It is useful to illustrate the fallacy of this
assumption through a comparison with the field of English teacher training.
Nearly all postsecondary English departments maintain a clear curricular dis-
tinction between those studying to become ESL teachers and those studying to
become native English language arts teachers. It is not assumed that ESL teach-
ers will be successful native language arts teachers, nor vice versa. In fact, state
requirements demand separate coursework and award different endorsements
and certifications in these two fields.
The L2 field is in dire need of recognizing a similar important distinction.
Table 1.2 suggests the content areas in which HL teachers should be knowl-
edgeable in order to teach successfully, using examples from Spanish but likely
applicable to other HLs as well.
Based on these descriptions of teacher competencies, Potowski and Carreira
(2004) sought to determine whether traditional L2 teacher training programs
are adequate to prepare teachers to work with heritage learners. They analyzed
10 Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski

TABLE 1.2 Necessary Teacher Competencies for Teaching Heritage Learners of Spanish
Teachers of heritage learners should meet the requirements expected of all teachers of
Spanish. In particular, teachers of heritage learners should demonstrate the following
competencies:
1. Advanced language proficiency
2. Knowledge of appropriate pedagogical principles in language expansion and
enrichment
3. Theories of cognitive processes that underlie bilingualism
4. Theories of social and linguistic processes that underlie bilingualism and
languages in contact
5. Knowledge of the sociolinguistic dynamics of the heritage language around the
world and as a viable system of communication in the United States
6. Knowledge and understanding of the connections of the students' home culture
with those of their families' countries of origin
7. Understanding the social, political, and emotional issues associated with having
various degrees of proficiency in one's heritage language
8. Ability to elicit and respond appropriately to students' attitudes toward studying
their heritage language
9. Differentiatinginstruction to respond to the diierent proficiencies and learning
styles of students
10. Knowledge of sound procedures in language course placement
11. Advocating for heritage learners and promoting the importance of the heritage
language program within the school
12. Knowledge of literacy development theories and best practices
13. Knowledge of theories and pedagogies related to the acquisition of formal registers
14. Knowledge of the local heritage cominunities with whom they will be working
Source: Based on Garcia and Blanco (2000), Potowski (2005), Webb and Miller (2000),
and AATSP (2000).

37 L2 methods course syllabi in 23 states3 and found that only one syllabus
mentioned heritage language issues, even though some of the universities were
located in areas with heritage Spanish-speaking populations large enough to
support Spanish HL courses for undergraduates at those very universities. Of
the seven most popular textbooks used in those syllabi, only two mentioned
HL issues, totaling eight pages of material. Thus, most of the areas in Table 1.2
appear not to be covered in typical L2 methodology courses, nor are these top-
ics likely to have been studied by teachers when they were undergraduates or
graduate students (particularly when their language degrees were awarded
from predominantly literature-based language departments).The present book
seeks to improve heritage language education by addressing these necessary
teacher competencies.
3~lthoughthe sample of syllabi is not large enough to make generalizationsabout L2 methods instruc-
tion across the United States, the courses represented by these syllabi are clearly insuffiaent to prepare
teachers who work with heritage language speakers. In addition, an informal survey taken of teach-
ers in twelve states revealed that only one state had requirements for HL teachers, and no state had
standards for heritage language instruction (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2001). No state currently
offers certification or endorsement for public school teachers who teach heritage language courses.
 Heritage LanguageTeaching:Research and Practice 1 11

Pause to consider. . .
. . . the fourteen areas of competency recommended in Table 1.2 for teachers
of heritage learners. Which three do you feel are most important, and why?
In what ways can teachers learn about those areas?

SUMMARY
Of the three views of linguistic diversity proposed by Ruiz (1984)-language as
a resource, language as a right, and language as a problem-the first two, language
as a resource and as a right, are the ones most commonly espoused by success-
ful modem educators. Using these perspectives to recognize and address the
linguistic and affective needs of heritage learners-which include developing
confidence in their heritage language skills, reconnecting with family members,
maintaining cultural traditions, and communicating with the larger heritage
community-are of primary importance. There are additional potential ben-
efits to working effectively with heritage learners. Their linguistic and cultural
skills can play a vital role in the security and economic prosperity of the nation.
Heritage language learners also represent a large potential source of enrollments
to L2 programs in the U.S., particularly in Spanish. Most importantly, equipping
HL students with additional skills in their HL will better prepare them for a
future in which they can effectively serve their own HL community as well as
interact with larger global communities that speak their HL.Encouraging stu-
dents to see the value in their HL and culture is a primary goal of I-IL education.
The fact that today's second language classrooms are increasingly popu-
lated by heritage language learners provides a strong argument that all lan-
guage teachers should receive professional preparation for working effectively
with these students - not just those assigned to the HL classroom. This is simi-
lar to recent movements in K-12 education that advocate for all teachers, not
just "bilingual" or ESL teachers, to receive professional preparation in working
with English language learning children (Samson & Collins, 2012). Valdes and
her colleagues caution us that "inappropriate instruction may actually have a
much greater impact on the abandonment of home languages by young peo-
ple" (Vald&s,Fishman, et al., 2008, p. 22), meaning that there is a lot riding on
effective heritage language instruction.
In this book we seek to offer concrete ideas on how to achieve this goal
of effective heritage language instruction. Wherever possible, we cite relevant
research on heritage learners. However, some areas of HL language develop- .
ment and instruction have not yet received research attention. In those areas
we cite research with L2 learners and sometimes with L1 native language arts
instruction as well, in an attempt to offer informed hypotheses about best class-
room practices with heritage learners. We hope to create dialogue between
teachers with their valuable classroom experiences and researchers who can
carry out qualitative and quantitative research on the many important aspects
of heritage language learning and development.
12
- .
I Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski - -
-- -

KEY CONCEPTS
1.Second/ World language 5. Official language/minority
education language
2. Heritage speaker/learner 6. Language as a problem/resource/
3. L2 learner right
4. Heritage language education

DISCUSSION QUESnONS
1. Think about the minority languages that are common in the area of the U.S.
in which you live. Are these languages generally treated as a problem, a
right, or a resource in the community and in the schools?
2. It is often the case that second language learners are praised for the language
skills they develop in Spanish, Chinese, French, Korean, and so on, while
heritage learners of these languages are criticized for the ways they speak
these languages. Why do you believe this occurs? How can this be changed?
3. Consider how you might justify to administrators, fellow teachers, and par-
ents the need for heritage language speakers to formally study their HL.
How might you use the ideas of language as a problem, right, or resource
to present your case? See the TEDx talk by Potowski called "No Child Left
Monolingual" for additional ideas.
4. Examine the websites of the National Heritage Language Resource Center
and/or the Alliance for Heritage Languages. Report on two or three concrete
activities of these groups that you find interesting.

FOR FURTHER READING

Brecht, R., & Ingold, C. (2002). Tapping a national resource: Heritage languages
in the United States. ERIC Digest. Washington, DC:ERIC Clearinghouse
on Languages and Linguistics. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/
fulltext/ED464515.pdf
Pavlenko, A. (2002). "We have room for but one language here": Language
and national identity in the US at the turn of the 20th century. Multilingua,
21(2/3), 163-196.
Peyton, J., Ranard, D., & McGinnis, S. (2001). Heritage languages in America:
Preserving a national resource. McHenry, IL: Delta Systems.
Potowski, K. (2011). Language diversity in the United States. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Valdbs, G. (1995). The teaching of minority languages as academic subjects:
Pedagogical and theoretical challenges. Modern Language Journal, 79(3),
299-328.
Webb, J., & Miller, B. (2000). Teaching heritage language learners: Voices frarn the
classroom. Yonkers, NY: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Languages.
 I
Heritage Language Teaching: Research and Practice

CHAPTER 2

General Sociolinguistic
Considerations

Chapter 1 introduced the idea that for teachers to work effectively with heri-
tage learners, their knowledge base must include sociolinguistic considerations.
This chapter explores such concepts, including dialects, registers, "standard"
language, languages in contact, and language shift. Throughout this chapter
we offer suggestions about how teachers can best apply knowledge of these
concepts to heritage language teaching.

"LANGUAGES" VERSUS "DIALECTS"

Some people understand the difference between "languages" and "dialects"
to be as follows. If two speakers can understand each other-say, an English
speaker from Canada and another English speaker from South Africa-then
they are speaking different dialects of the same language. This is referred to
as nzutual intelligibility. But if two speakers cannot understand each other-for
example, a French-only speaker from Paris and a Norwegian-only speaker from
Oslo-they are said to speak two different languages because they have zero
mutual intelligibility. Spanish is one of the languages with the greatest number
of different dialects in the world (for example, see http://dialectos.osu.edu/
default.cfm). Yet speakers from all Spanish-speaking nations can communicate
with each other with relatively minimal intelligibility issues.
However, this definition has several problems. First, there are situations
such as in China, where some parties, including the government, claim that
every mainland Chinese person speaks "a dialect of Chinese," although many
of these people cannot understand each other. This is an example of what are
really different languages being called dialects of one language, in an attempt
to create a sense of national unity. It must be recalled, however, that these
languages use a common orthography, which means they are "more related"
to each other than are other "unrelated" languages. A somewhat opposite
example comes from Catalonia (the northeast region of Spain that includes
Barcelona), where the Catalan language is widely spoken. Some people who
14 Beaudrie, Ducar, Potowski

live in the Catalonian region of Valencia say that they speak "Valencian" and
claim that it is a separate language from Catalan, although there is almost
100% mutual intelligibility with the Catalan spoken in the rest of Catalonia. In
this example, opposite from the Chinese example, people are seeking to distin-
guish themselves from others with whom they share the same language.
There are at least two additional problems with the "mutual intelligibility"
yardstick. Many speakers of Spanish and Italian say that they can communi-
cate rather well with each other-but linguists typically agree that Spanish and
Italian are in fact two different languages. Finally, there can be asymmetrical
degrees of "intelligibility" between groups of speakers. For example, Norwe-
gians report understanding Danish and Swedish much better than Danes and
Swedes report understanding Norwegian.
Another approach to understanding the difference between language and
dialect is that of power and prestige. Yiddish sociolinguist Max Weinreich is
credited with popularizing the phrase "A language is a dialect with an army
and navy." This underscores the role of social and political conditions in the
way people understand the status of ways of speaking: when a group of people
controls military power, their way of speaking enjoys elevated status. Similarly,
it is sometimes mistakenly thought that the prestigious variety of a language is
"the language" in some true sense of the word (for instance, a more pure or
more correct version), while less prestigious varieties are called "dialects" of
that language. This is not true. In linguistic terms, everyone speaks a dialect of
a language.
The following analogy about ice cream can be helpful in understanding
the linguistic relationship between dialects and language. If you walk into
an ice cream store and simply order "ice cream," the person working behind
the counter will not be able to serve you anything. This is because you did
not specify whichflavor you want. "Ice cream" is a generic concept, and while
we can all agree, in a general sense, on what ice cream is, it really only exists
and can be consumed through its different flavors. Similarly, "language" is a
generic concept, and while we can all agree on what "Vietnamese," "Italian,"
and "English are, these languages only exist and can be spoken through their
dialects. For example, the "English language" (like "ice cream") is an abstract
concept that no one actually speaks! You can only speak a dialect, such as
Australian English, U.S. English, Indian English, or Irish English. Dialects are
like ice cream flavors; everyone speaks at least one of them.
Furthermore, national dialects can be broken down further into regional
and ethnic dialects. U.S.English has many dialects, such as New York English
or Chicano English, and UK English includes dialects like Yorkshire English
and Black Country English. A few other examples, with some concrete gram-
matical differences, are shown in Table 2.1. An asterisk "*" before a sentence
means that it is not grammatical in a particular dialect.
Thus, every single person who speaks a language by definition speaks a par-
ticular dialect of that language. Linguists have long underscored that all dialects
are rule-governed and equal in value (we will return to specific examples later
in this chapter). But from a sociopolitical perspective, some dialects are accorded
higher prestige than others. This chapter explores the relevance of this issue in
the HL classroom because, in the case of HL learners, the dialect acquired in the
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Aunt Patty's
paying guests
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Aunt Patty's paying guests

Author: Eglanton Thorne

Illustrator: W. Rainey

Release date: September 29, 2023 [eBook #71761]

Language: English

Original publication: London: The Religious Tract Society, 1907

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUNT

PATTY'S PAYING GUESTS ***
Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.

PAULINA THREW HERSELF ON HER KNEES BESIDE ME.

Frontispiece.
 AUNT PATTY'S
PAYING GUESTS

BY

EGLANTON THORNE

Author of "Her Own Way," "The Blessedness of Irene Farquhar,"

"My Brother's Friend," etc.

WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY W. RAINEY, R.I.

 LONDON

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY

4 Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard E.C.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. AN UNWELCOME DECREE

II. MY EQUIPMENT

III. "GAY BOWERS"

IV. LAYING OUR PLANS

V. A RESPONSE TO THE ADVERTISEMENT

VI. THE FIRST ARRIVAL

VII. THE AMERICANS

VIII. A PRINCELY GIFT

IX. MISS COTTRELL'S ALIAS

X. COUSIN AGNETA'S LOVE STORY

XI. THE UNFORESEEN BEFALLS

XII. AT HOBBES'S COTTAGE

XIII. OLIVE'S HAPPINESS

XIV. A PICNIC

XV. AN ACT OF INDISCRETION

XVI. MISJUDGED

XVII. A GALA DAY AT GREENTREE

XVIII. AN ELOPEMENT

XIX. MISS COTTRELL'S ELATION

XX. A PROPOSAL

XXI. THE RETURN OF THE AMERICANS

XXII. CALAMITY

XXIII. TWILIGHT TALKS

XXIV. WEDDING BELLS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAULINA THREW HERSELF ON HER KNEES BESIDE ME.
Frontispiece

"YOU SHOULD SEND HER INTO THE COUNTRY AND GIVE HER
A BICYCLE."

AUNT MET PROFESSOR FAULKNER IN THE HALL.

"OH, I WRENCHED MY SHOULDER A BIT," HE SAID.

JOSIAH DICKS AND MISS COTTRELL PACING ARM IN ARM.

 AUNT PATTY'S PAYING GUESTS
CHAPTER I
AN UNWELCOME DECREE

"NO books for twelve months at least," said Dr. Algar, our family
physician. "This overworked little brain needs repose. So remember,
Nan—no books."

"No books?" I repeated in utter dismay. "But that is impossible—quite

impossible, Dr. Algar!"

"Oh, I do not mean that you may not read a storybook now and then,
or amuse yourself with the magazines," he said calmly, "but anything
like study I absolutely forbid."

His words fell on my ears like a sentence of doom. How could I give
up my studies? My intellectual work was more to me than anything
else, though of late it had become a burden, and I could not bear to
renounce the hopes and ambitions on which my heart was set. For
months I had been working my hardest in preparation for
Matriculation. I wanted to take honours, for I thought that distinction
would help me to obtain a good post as teacher in a school. I worked
under disadvantages, for I had a daily engagement as governess
which occupied the best part of each day. My pupils were very
young, and their instruction did not involve for me any mental strain;
but they were tiresome, spoiled children, and I often returned home
from teaching them feeling irritated. Tea generally revived me, and I
devoted the evening to study.
As the time fixed for the examination drew nearer, I sometimes rose
at six, and did an hour's work before breakfast. It was not easy to
leave my bed in the raw cold of the early morning and dress by
gaslight. In spite of the little oil-stove which I used to kindle in my
room, the cold seemed to benumb all my faculties. After a while I
decided that it was better to work late at night, and I would sit up
wrestling with some mathematical problem long after the other
members of the household were wrapped in slumber. Soon I began
to be conscious of a sick, dizzy sensation when I rose; severe
headaches often interrupted my studies; it became increasingly
difficult for me to concentrate my thoughts.

"How cross Nan is!" I used to hear my younger sisters whisper to

each other, and my conscience told me that the words were true,
and reproached me also for the way in which I lost patience with my
little pupils.

At last there came an hour when everything faded from me as I sat

at my desk. My spirit seemed to go away to the very bounds of
existence. As from a great distance I came back to consciousness,
with a singing in my ears and a feeling of deadly sickness, and
beheld the faces of mother, Olive, and our maid-of-all-work looking
down on me.

"What is the matter? What is it all about?" I asked vaguely.

"You fainted, darling—just an ordinary fainting-fit, nothing more,"

mother said.

It was such an unusual thing for mother to use terms of endearment

that I knew when she called me "darling" that I must have alarmed
her very much, and I almost fainted again from the shock of finding
myself such a centre of anxious interest. Mother gave me a strong
dose of sal-volatile, which soon brought me round. I was put to bed,
but for the rest of the evening, some one kept watch beside me. My
swoon had lasted a long time, and, since even ordinary fainting fits
do not occur without a cause, Dr. Algar was on the morrow called in
to examine me, with the result recorded above.
"I hate story-books," I said crossly. "Cannot you give me a tonic that
will pick me up?"

He shook his head as he smiled on me with a very kindly look in his

eyes.

"The tonic you need, my dear, is rest and play, or at least the change
of work which is said to be as good as play. She wants to go out to
grass, and kick up her heels like a young pony, Mrs. Darracott. You
should send her into the country, and give her a bicycle, or let her go
where there are golf links, and learn to play. In fact, she needs to live
an open-air life as far as that is possible in our climate."

I looked at mother and tried to smile, but merely succeeded, I

believe, in making a dismal grimace. How unreasonable the old
doctor was! He might as well have ordered champagne and oysters
for a dweller in the slums. How could my parents afford to send me
into the country for an indefinite period? Mother's face wore a
troubled expression as she said gently:

"I understand, doctor. I will talk it over with her father, and we will see
what we can do. I blame myself for not seeing that Annie was doing
too much; but she takes such delight in her studies that I fancied
they would not overtax her strength. You will not, then, give her
medicine?"

"Yes," he said, "I will write a prescription for her that will steady her
nerves and help her to sleep. You have not been sleeping well of
late, my dear."

I looked at him, wondering how he knew this, for it was true. I had
not been actually wakeful, but my work had followed me into the land
of dreams, and I had been adding up never-ending columns of
figures or struggling with incomprehensible problems in a state of
semi-consciousness. Tears sprang to my eyes as I admitted that he
was right.
"Never mind, my dear," said the old doctor as he patted me on the
shoulder, and looked down on me with eyes full of sympathy. "You
feel badly now, I know, but you'll soon be better. Do as I tell you, and
in twelve or fifteen months' time you will be able to take up your work
again."

Twelve or fifteen months! Had he the least idea how long a period
that seems to a girl of nineteen? And I had so counted on the result
of my examination. The aerial edifice I had reared on this foundation
tumbled in ruins about me and I was in despair.

He must have discerned my state of mind, for he said quickly, "Now

mind, you must not brood over your troubles, or you will retard your
recovery. Find some light employment that will occupy your thoughts.
Do you care for gardening?"

"I hate it," I said pettishly, as I recalled certain tiresome half-hours I

had spent in pottering round his garden with Uncle George and
undertaking irksome tasks at his request.

"Well, well," said the doctor soothingly, "you can't know much about it
here in London. Are you fond of needlework?"

I shook my head with a sense of disgust, and mother laughed a low,

mirthless laugh. She knew how I detested needlework.

Dr. Algar refrained from further suggestions, and presently took his
departure. When he had gone mother and I looked at each other for
a moment, and then I fell to sobbing. All my strength seemed to have
departed from me when I fainted, and I felt in a state of utter
collapse. Dr. Algar spoke of it as "nervous prostration."

"Come, come, Nan, this won't do," said my mother severely; "you
must be brave and face your trouble like a woman. It's a great
disappointment, I know, but crying won't help matters, and it might
be so much worse."

"I can't see how it could be worse," I cried perversely.

"Can't you?" said mother, with a quaver in her voice. "I can very
clearly."

Then, as I continued to sob, she fetched me a glass of hot milk and a

biscuit, for the doctor had advised my taking as much light
nourishment as possible. Certainly I felt better when I had taken it,
though the prospect of the future did not brighten.

"Mother," I said, "what nonsense Dr. Algar talks! How could you send
me away into the country? And I am sure I do not want to go. I
should be miserable away from you all."

"That would depend on where you went," said my mother. "I wish I
could ask your Aunt Patty to take you; but with her husband so sadly
she will not want another invalid on her hands."

"Oh, mother, don't call me an invalid!" I exclaimed impatiently.

She smiled and went on as if I had not spoken.

"No, if your uncle were well, it would be different; but as things are, I
cannot send you. I do not see what is to be done; but I must talk it
over with your father."

Then she went away to attend to her domestic duties, and I lay back
on my pillows, feeling utterly limp and wretched. Mother had bidden
me be brave, but I was far from brave at that hour. My mood was
one of flat rebellion against the doctor's decree. A whole year without
study! How could I bear it? It was preposterous. He need not think I
was going to obey him. It would mean that I should be earning
nothing all that time, a burden on my parents' straitened means, an
additional care to my mother, whose anxieties were so numerous.

I was the second in a family of five girls and one small pickle of a
boy. We lived in a long, uninteresting road, which, being treeless,
was called an avenue, running between Wandsworth Road and
Clapham Common. Ours was a refined but by no means a luxurious
home. My father was a man of science and the curator of a learned
society. His position was an honourable one, and brought him into
connection with many eminent and interesting persons, but,
unfortunately for his wife and children, the salary attached to the
office was small. So it was that in our home there was a never-
ending struggle to make ends meet. Sometimes the ends gaped
hopelessly wide apart, and strain as we would, it was impossible to
bring them together. Then it became a question of what we could do
without.

It is wonderful how many things with which we cumber our lives are
really unnecessary and can be dispensed with if we choose. I
remember that once we did without a servant for twelve months. It
was a question of doing so, or of taking me from school a year
sooner than my parents had intended, and there was no doubt in my
mother's mind as to which was the more important, the progress of
my education or the smoother running of the domestic machinery.
She and Olive did the work of the house with the help of a rough girl
who came in for a few hours every morning. Olive had been
attending a cookery class, and she hailed this opportunity of showing
her skill. So dainty were the dishes she set before us that we
children rather liked the change of administration.

It was a happy circumstance that we were all fairly gifted with a

sense of humour. As charity covereth a multitude of sins, so this gift,
said to be rare in womankind, enables one to combat successfully
with a host of petty annoyances. We laughed together over the
pinchings of our poverty, and we took pride in the contrivances by
which we presented a brave front to the world. Thus it was that our
pecuniary straits made us neither sordid nor sour. There are many
worse experiences than that of being poor. As I look back on those
old days, I am often moved to thank God that we had not an easy,
luxurious upbringing. The difficulties that marked our home life were
unheroic, but they drew us closely together and taught us many
useful lessons we might not otherwise have learned.

Olive, the eldest of the family, was mother's right hand. She was not
only, as I have said, a clever cook; her skill in needlework surpassed
her culinary accomplishments. I have rarely seen finer sewing and
stitching than Olive could put into her daintiest work. Moreover, she
could boast a valuable attainment in a household of girls, the art of
dressmaking. It was wonderful how cleverly she would remodel old
garments and make them look like new ones. What we owed to this
gift of hers I cannot tell. Between us all we kept her needle busy.

Happily Olive had an engagement to act as reader and amanuensis

for an old lady, which took her from home every afternoon and thus
prevented her becoming a slave of the needle. Mrs. Smythe, who
lived in a large house overlooking the Common, was a cultured
woman, with a fine literary taste, so Olive learned much in her
society, and was saved from the narrowness and barrenness of mind
which is too often the fate of the domestic drudge.

Not that Olive was exactly one's idea of a drudge. She was a tall,
well-set-up girl, with fine, dark eyes, and an abundance of brown hair
which was always beautifully dressed. The last statement might be
made of Olive herself. Her clothes were never costly, unless the cost
had been defrayed by some one else, but they were always smart.
She knew how to wear them, as people say. Sewing or cooking,
whatever Olive was about, her appearance was sure to be neat and
trim, her dress adapted to the occasion and eminently becoming.

Dear old Olive! What a blessing she was to us all! Old she was not at
this time, though, for she had not yet passed her twenty-first
birthday. She and I were great chums. I think she understood even
better than mother what this disappointment was to me. I read it in
her eyes when presently she brought her work—a frock she was
finishing for Ethel, the youngest of the five—and seated herself
beside my bed, for the doctor had advised my lying still all that day.
But Olive did not say much by way of sympathy. Like mother she
bade me be brave. Mother herself was the bravest of women, and
we had all been trained to despise cowardice, physical or moral.

"After all, Nan, you won't need pity if you go into the country early in
the year," she said. "It's not very nice in London just now. You will
escape the dreadful March we get in town, and be able to watch the
gradual on-coming of the spring in the woods and lanes. I wish you
could go to 'Gay Bowers.'"

"Yes," I said drearily; "it would be more endurable if I were with Aunt
Patty."

She was our father's only sister, and our favourite aunt. We were
less fond of her husband, some twenty years her senior, and now
getting old and infirm. He was a great sufferer from gout, an affliction
that is not conducive to serenity and amiability of mind. I had always
admired the patience with which my aunt bore with his outbursts of
temper.

"Poor Aunt Patty!" said Olive. "I guess she is having a rough time of
it now. She said in her last letter, which came the day before
yesterday, that uncle was worse than she had ever seen him."

"Then she certainly does not want me there as I am now," I sighed.

"Oh, Olive, I feel like a washed-out handkerchief! It is awful to be
utterly useless, only a burden on father and mother, when I had
hoped soon to be earning a good salary and able to support myself
entirely."

"It seems hard, no doubt," said Olive; "but what you've got to do now,
Nan, is just to trust. This must be one of the 'all things' that are going
to work for your good. Now is the time to show that your faith in God
is real and not a mere profession."

I looked at Olive in surprise. Such words had never fallen from her
lips before. Frank and free of speech as she appeared, she was not
one to say much of the things she held most sacred. But I did not
need words to assure me of the reality of my sister's religion.

Just then mother's voice was heard from below calling urgently for
Olive. She ran off to obey the summons, and I lay still with closed
eyes, wondering whether I had any true faith in God. I had long
believed, as I thought, in the love of God, but to what extent had that
faith been a living influence in my life? Was it now weighed in the
balance and found wanting? The opening of the door made me look
up. There stood Olive wearing her hat and coat, and an expression
which told me something had happened.

"What is the matter, Olive?" I asked hastily.

"Where are you going?"

"To the museum to take father this telegram, which has just come
from 'Gay Bowers,'" she said. "It brings sad news, Nan. Uncle
George is dead."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, inexpressibly shocked, "and we were just talking

of him. How dreadful for Aunt Patty!"

"Yes; we think the end must have come suddenly," Olive said. "But I
cannot stay to talk now."

And she was gone.

 "YOU SHOULD SEND HER INTO THE COUNTRY,

AND GIVE HER A BICYCLE."

I saw nothing more of mother or Olive for some hours. Father came
home early, and they were busy speeding his departure to catch a
train at Liverpool Street, for he wanted to go to his sister in her
trouble without delay. The children, Dora, Ethel, and Fred, came to
visit me when they returned from their walk, and lingered in the room
longer than I desired their company. It seemed to gratify them to see
me lying in bed at that unusual hour. I do not think they believed
much in my illness.

They were disposed to discuss Uncle George's death from every

point of view. Fred particularly wanted to know whether uncle had
made a will, and if I knew who would have his horses and cattle and
the dogs, of which my young brother was particularly fond. He
leaned his whole weight on the footboard of my bed, and swung to
and fro as he asked those questions, thus inflicting the utmost torture
on my shattered nerves. I was summoning what little firmness I yet
retained in order to insist on their leaving me at once, when, to my
relief, father appeared and sent them away.

It was like father that in the bustle of departure, he found leisure to

come and sit beside me for a few minutes and express his tender
sympathy.

"I am very sorry for you, Nan," he said, "but you must not fret. It is a
comfort to me to know that the doctor says you have no organic
disease. It is just a question of taking it easy for a while, and, at your
age, you can spare the time."

"Oh, can I?" was my reply. "I don't think so, father."

"Perhaps not," he said, with a melancholy smile, "but when you are
my age you will know what a blessed thing it is to be young. All
things are possible to the young in the present age, it seems to me.
Think of your poor Aunt Patty now. What a sorrow to lose the one
who has shared her life for thirty years!"

"I am very sorry for her, father. Will you give her my love and tell her
so?"

He nodded gravely.

"She has been a good wife to George Lucas, and he was good to
her, though a bit grumpy at times," he said. "Poor fellow! I believe he
suffered more than we knew. And he had a good deal to worry him. I
don't know what your aunt will do. I am afraid she will be poorly off,
for farming has been so bad of late, and your uncle, owing to his ill-
health and growing infirmities, has let his affairs get into a sad
muddle. I should not wonder if she has to leave 'Gay Bowers.'"