Finding Your Voice: Language, Identity & Belonging with Maria M. Carreira

Episode Summary In this episode of The Multiliterate Mind, Dr. Liza Trejo and Marnina Falk Colman welcome Maria M. Carreira, Executive Director of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and co-founder of the National Heritage Language Resource Center, for a deeply human conversation about heritage language learning, multilingual identity, student voice, proficiency, and AI. Episode Notes Maria shares her own journey as a heritage speaker of Spanish, from being born in Cuba and moving through Spain before arriving in the United States at age 11, to eventually becoming one of the leading voices in heritage language education. Together, they explore why identity sits at the center of heritage language learning and why educators should focus not only on what learners lack, but on the communication skills, cultural knowledge, pronunciation, listening ability, and lived experiences they already bring into the classroom. The conversation also tackles the realities of mixed classrooms, where heritage speakers and second-language learners may each feel intimidated by the other's strengths. Maria explains how AI tools such as ChatGPT may help level the playing field through individualized conversation practice and language support, while also warning that AI can homogenize writing and potentially strip away one of the most important parts of communication: voice. The episode explores: Heritage language identity Native, heritage, and second-language learners Mixed language classrooms Student confidence and insecurity AI and language learning Preserving student voice Language ownership Register and code-switching Proficiency versus perfection Long-term language development Communication across cultures One of Maria's most powerful messages is simple: Your languages belong to you. Learners do not need to imitate an idealized native speaker in order to have the right to communicate. Language becomes truly meaningful when it helps people express who they are, connect with others, and understand their place in the world.