Cover not available

In:Multifaceted Multilingualism
Edited by Kleanthes K. Grohmann
[Studies in Bilingualism 66] 2024
► pp. 270–291

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 11
Heritage language education

 | University of California, Irvine
Published online: 4 April 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.66.11tor
Abstract
This chapter provides a brief overview of heritage language education and its potential role in supporting heritage language learners’ bi/multilingualism. We begin by considering the multifaceted nature of heritage language education programs and courses to address heritage language learners’ goals and needs. The chapter then outlines five major dimensions that currently contribute to the design and implementation of curricula for heritage language learners: grammar properties, pedagogical models, critical language awareness, policies, program development and institutionalization. The remainder of the discussion focuses on future directions by examining four critical areas that can help advance the effectiveness of education programs for heritage language learners. The overview of the chapter stems from scholarly perspectives, initiatives, and efforts with diverse heritage language learner populations across a number of international settings.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The importance of a needs analysis
  • 3.The main goals of HL education
  • 4.Five dimensions in HL education programs
  • 5.Future directions in HL education
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
References (99)
References
Aalberse, S., Backus, A., & Muysken, P. (2019). Heritage languages: A language contact approach. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anderson, J. (2008). Pre- and in-service professional development of teachers of community/heritage languages in the UK: Insider perspectives. Language and Education, 22(4), 283–297. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aravossitas, T., & Oikonomakou, M. (2018). Professional development of heritage language instructors: Profiles, needs, and course evaluation. In P. P. Trifonas & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education (pp. 75–113). Springfield International Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bayram, F., Prada, J., Pascual y Cabo, D., & Rothman, J. (2018). Why should formal linguistic approaches to heritage language acquisition be linked to heritage language pedagogies? In P. P. Trifonas & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education (pp. 187–206). Springfield International Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beaudrie, S. M. (2016). Building a heritage language program: Guidelines for a collaborative approach. In M. Fairclough & S. M. Beaudrie (Eds.), Innovative strategies for heritage language teaching: A practical guide for the classroom (pp. 80–98). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021). Curricular and programmatic language-development opportunities for university-level heritage language learners. In M. Polinsky & S. Montrul (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of heritage languages and linguistics. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beaudrie, S., Ducar, C., & Potowski, K. (2014). Heritage language teaching: Research and practice. McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beaudrie, S., Amezcua, A., & Loza, S. (2019). Critical language awareness for the heritage context: Development and validation of a measurement questionnaire. Language Testing, 36(4), 573–594. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benmamoun, E., Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M. (2013). Heritage languages and their speakers: Opportunities and challenges for linguistics. Theoretical Linguistics, 39, 129–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blake, R., & Zyzik, E. (2003). Who’s helping whom? Learners/heritage speakers’ networked discussions in Spanish. Applied Linguistics, 24, 519–544. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowden, H. W., & Issa, B. (2018). Neurolinguistic approaches to Spanish as a heritage language. In K. Potowski (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 203–220). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowles, M. (2011). Examining the role of modality: L2-heritage learner interactions in the Spanish language classroom. Heritage Language Journal, 8(1), 30–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Outcomes of classroom Spanish heritage language instruction. In K. Potowski (Ed.), The Routledge handbook on Spanish as a heritage/minority language (pp. 331–344). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowles, M., Adams, R., & Toth, P. (2014). A comparison of L2-L2 and L2-heritage learner interactions in the Spanish language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 497–517.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bowles, M., & Torres, J. (2021). Instructed heritage language acquisition. In M. Polinsky & S. Montrul (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of heritage languages and linguistics (pp. 826–850). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brinton, D. M., Kagan, O., & Bauckus, S. (Eds.). (2008). Heritage language education: A new field emerging. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4–5), 585–614. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Callahan, L. (2010). U.S. Latinos’ use of written Spanish: Realities and aspirations. Heritage Language Journal, 7(1), 1–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Canagarajah, S. (2013). Reconstructing heritage language: Resolving dilemmas in language maintenance for Sri Lankan Tamil migrants. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 222, 131–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carreira, M. (2007). Spanish-for-native-speaker matters: Narrowing the Latino achievement gap through Spanish language instruction. Heritage Language Journal, 5(1), 147–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Supporting heritage language learners through macrobased teaching: Foundational principles and implementation strategies for heritage language and mixed classes. In M. Fairclough & S. M. Beaudrie, Innovative strategies for heritage language teaching: A practical guide for the classroom (pp. 123–142). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carreira, M., & Chik, C. H. (2018a). Making the case for heritage language instruction: A guide to meeting the needs of learners in the classroom and beyond. In S. Baukus & S. Kresin (Eds.), Connecting across languages and cultures: A heritage language festschrift in honor of Olga Kagan (pp. 3–26). Slavica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018b). Differentiated teaching: A primer for heritage and mixed classes. In K. Potowski (Ed.), The Routledge handbook on Spanish as a heritage/minority language (pp. 359–374). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carreira, M., & Kagan, O. (2011). The results of the national heritage language survey: Implications for teaching, curriculum design, and professional development. Foreign Language Annals, 44(1), 40–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Heritage language education: A proposal for the next 50 years. Foreign Language Annals, 51, 152–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cobb, B., Vega, D., & Kronauge, C. (2009). Effects of an elementary dual language immersion school program on junior high school achievement. MGRJ, 1(1), 27–47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Correa, M. (2011). Advocating for critical pedagogical approaches to teaching Spanish as a heritage language: Some considerations. Foreign Language Annals, 44(2), 308–320. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davis, J. M., McKay, T. H. (2018). A guide to useful evaluation of language programs. Georgetown University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Diskin, C. (2019). New speakers in the Irish context: Heritage language maintenance among multilingual migrants in Dublin, Ireland. Frontiers, 4, 163–174.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duff, P., & Doherty, L. (2019). Learning “Chinese” as a heritage language: Challenges, issues and ways forward. In C. R. Huang, Z. Jing-Schmidt & B. Meisterenst (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of Chinese applied linguistics (pp. 149–164). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekberg, L. (2018). Finnish, Meänkieli, Yiddish, Romany, and Sami in Sweden. In C. A. Seals & S. Shah (Eds.), Heritage language policies around the world. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elder, C. (2005). Evaluating the effectiveness of heritage language education: What role for testing? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8(2–3), 196–212. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2012). Methods for researching second language classroom. In R. Ellis (Ed.), Language teaching research and language pedagogy (pp. 21–50). Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (2001). Why is it so hard to save a threatened language? In J. A. Fishman (Ed.), Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift, revisited: A 21st century perspective (pp. 1–22). Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foster, P. (1998). A classroom perspective on the negotiation of meaning. Applied Linguistics, 19, 1–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fuller, J. M., & Torres, J. (2018). Spanish in the United States. In C. A. Seals & S. Shah, Heritage language policies around the world (pp. 13–29). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fuller, J. M., & Leeman, J. (2020). Speaking Spanish in the US: The sociopolitics of language. Multilingualism Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S., Mackey, A., & Ross-Feldman, L. (2005). Task-based interactions in classroom and laboratory settings. Language Learning, 55(4), 575–611. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goo, J., Granena, G., Yilmaz, Y., & Novella, M. (2015). Implicit and explicit instruction in L2 learning. In P. Rebuschat (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 443–482). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
He, A. W. (2006). Toward an identity theory of the development of Chinese as a heritage language. Heritage Language Journal, 4(1), 1–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hedgcock, J., & Lefowitz, N. (2011). Exploring the learning potential of writing development in heritage language education. In R. M. Manchón (Ed.), Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language (pp. 209–233). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henshaw, F. (2015). Learning outcomes of L2-heritage learner interaction: The proof is in the posttests. Heritage Language Journal, 12(3), 245–270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holguín Mendoza, C. (2018). Critical language awareness (CLA) for Spanish heritage language programs: Implementing a complete curriculum. International Multilingual Research Journal, 12(2), 65–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jang, E., & Brutt-Griffler, J. (2019). Language as a bridge to higher education: A large-scale empirical study of heritage language proficiency on language minority students’ academic success. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(2), 322–337. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, D. C., & Ricento, T. (2013). Conceptual and theoretical perspectives in language learning and policy: Situating the ethnography of language policy. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 219, 7–21.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kagan, O. E., & Dillon, K. E. (2009). The professional development of teachers of heritage language learners: A matrix. In M. Anderson, & A. Lazaraton (Eds.), Building contexts, making connections: Selected papers from the 5th International Conference on Language Teacher Education (pp. 155–175). CARLA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kagan, O. E., Carreira, M. M., & Chik, C. H. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge handbook of heritage language education: From innovation to program building. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kang, E. Y., Sok, S., & Han, Z. (2019). Thirty-five years of ISLA on form-focused instruction: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research, 23, 428–453. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kang, H. (2010). Negative evidence and its explicitness and positioning in learning Korean as a heritage language. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 582–599. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, M., Lee, H., & Kim, Y. (2018). Learning Korean honorifics through collaborative tasks. In N. Taguchi & Y. Kim (Eds.), Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics (pp. 27–54). John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kisselev, O., Dubinina, I., & Polinsky, M. (2020). Form-focused instruction in the heritage language classroom: Toward research-informed heritage language pedagogy. Frontiers, 5(53), 1–10.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kissling, E. (2022). La investigación-acción para maestros de hablantes de herencia. In D. Pascual y Cabo & J. Torres (Eds.), Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia (pp. 233–244). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kondo-Brown, K., & Brown, J. (Eds.) (2008). Teaching Chinese, Japanese and Korean heritage language students. Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kurata, N. (2015). Motivation selves of Japanese heritage speakers in Australia. Heritage Language Journal, 12, 110–131. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leeman, J. (2012). Investigating language ideologies in Spanish as a heritage language. In S. Beaudrie & M. Fairclough (Eds.), Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field (pp. 43–59). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Heritage language education and identity in the United States. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 100–119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Critical language awareness and Spanish as a heritage language: Challenging the linguistic subordination of US Latinxs. In K. Potowski (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 345–358). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leeman, J., & King, K. (2015). Heritage language education: Minority language speakers, second language instruction and monolingual schooling. In M. Bigelow & J. Ennser-Kananen (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of educational linguistics (pp. 210–223). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leeman, J., & Serafini, E. J. (2016). Sociolinguistics for heritage language education and students: A model for critical translingual competence. In M. Fairclough & S. M. Beaudrie (Eds.), Innovative strategies for heritage language teaching: A practical guide for the classroom (pp. 56–79). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loza, S., & Beaudrie, S. (2022). Heritage language teaching: Critical language awareness perspectives for research and pedagogy. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyyke Nielsen, H. (2017). “Arabic-as-resource” or “Arabic-as-problem”? Arabic heritage language learners in Danish postsecondary education. In O. E. Kagan, M. M. Carreira, & C. H. Chik (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of heritage language education: From innovation to program building (pp. 363–378). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, P., Bhatt, A., Bhojani, N., & Cresse, A. (2006). Managing bilingual interaction in Gujarati complementary school in Leicester. Language and Education, 20(1), 5–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martínez, G. (2012). Policy and planning research for Spanish as a heritage language: From language rights to linguistic resource. In S. M. Beaudrie & M. Fairclough (Eds.), Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field (pp. 218–227). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mellinger, C. D., & Gasca-Jiménez, L. (2019). Challenges and opportunities for heritage language learners in interpreting courses in the U.S. context. Revista de signos: Estudios de lingüística, 52, 950–974. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2009). Heritage language programs. In M. H. Long & C. J. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching (pp. 182–200). Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). The acquisition of heritage languages. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M. (2021). The Cambridge handbook of heritage languages and linguistics. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, J. M. (2016). Language program evaluation. The Modern Language Journal, 16, 169–189. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417–528. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Watanabe, Y. (2013). Program evaluation. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), Encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ortega, L. (2019). The study of heritage language development from a bilingualism and social justice perspective. Language Learning, 70, 15–53. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parra, M. L., Otero, A., Flores, R., & Lavallée, M. (2018). Designing a comprehensive curriculum for advanced Spanish heritage learners: Contributions from the multiliteracies framework. In G. C. Zapata & M. Lacorte (Eds.), Multiliteracies pedagogy and language learning: Teaching Spanish to heritage speakers (pp. 27–66). Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peyton, J. K., Ranard, D. A., & McGinnis, S. (2001). Heritage languages in America: Preserving a National Resource. Language in Education: Theory and Practice. Delta Systems Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, M. (2016). Looking ahead. In D. Pascual y Cabo (Ed.), Advances in Spanish as a heritage language. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Heritage languages and their speakers. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, M., & Scontras, G. (2019). Understanding heritage languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22(5), 1–17.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Porte, G., & McManus, K. (2019). Doing replication research in applied linguistics. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prada, J. (2019). Exploring the role of translanguaging in linguistic ideological and attitudinal reconfigurations in the Spanish classroom for heritage speakers. Classroom Discourse, 10(3–4), 306–322. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prada, J., & Pascual y Cabo, D. (2022). Towards an understanding of the relationship between heritage language programs and Latinx student retention and graduation: An exploratory study. In M. A. Bowles (Ed.), Outcomes of university Spanish heritage language instruction (pp. 169–188). Georgetown University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rolstad, K., Mahoney, K., & Glass, G. V. (2005). A big picture: A meta-analysis of program effectiveness research on English language learners. Educational Policy, 19(4), 572–594. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sanz, C., & Torres, J. (2018). The prior language experience of heritage bilinguals. In P. A. Malovrh & A. G. Benati (Eds.), The handbook of advanced proficiency in second language acquisition (pp. 179–198). Wiley. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sato, M., & Loewen, S. (2019). Do teachers care about research? The research-pedagogy dialogue. ELT Journal, 73(1), 1–10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seals, C. A., & Shah, S. (2018). Heritage language policies around the world. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silva-Corvalán, C. (1994). Language contact and change: Spanish in Los Angeles. Clarendon. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Språklag (Language Act). (2009). SFS 2009-600.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J. (2018). The effects of task complexity on heritage and L2 language development. Canadian Modern Language Review, 74, 128–152. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020a). Heritage language learners’ written texts across pair types and interaction mode. Language Teaching Research, 27(1). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020b). Heritage language learners’ written texts. OASIS Summary of Torres (2020) in the Language Teaching Research. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). Modality matters! A look at task-based outcomes. In M. A. Bowles (Ed.), Outcomes of university Spanish heritage language instruction (pp. 19–38). Georgetown University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., Pascual y Cabo, D., & Beusterien, J. (2017). What’s next? Heritage language learners shape new paths in Spanish teaching. Hispania, 100(5), 271–276. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., & Cung, B. (2019). A comparison of advanced heritage language learners’ peer interaction across modes and pair types. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 815–830. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., & Baralt, M. (2022). El enfoque por tareas en el aprendizaje del español como lengua de herencia. In D. Pascual y Cabo & J. Torres (Eds.), Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia (pp. 81–96). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trifonas, P. P., & Aravossitas, T. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education. Springfield International Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(Eds.). (2014). Rethinking heritage language education. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valdés, G. (1978). A comprehensive approach to the teaching of Spanish to bilingual Spanish-speaking students. The Modern Language Journal, 62(3), 102–110.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). From language maintenance and intergenerational transmission to language survivance: Will heritage language education help or hinder? International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 243, 67–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vergara Wilson, D., & Pascual y Cabo, D. (2019). Linguistic diversity and student voice: The case of Spanish as a heritage language. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 2, 170–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wiley, T. G., Peyton, J. K., Christian, D., Moore, S. C. K., & Liu, N. (Eds.) (2014). Handbook of heritage, community, and Native American languages in the United States: Research, policy, and educational practice. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zapata, G. C., & Lacorte, M. (2018). Multiliteracies pedagogy and language learning: Teaching Spanish to heritage speakers. Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue