Heritage language learning

Heritage language learning or heritage language acquisition is the act of learning a heritage language from an ethnolinguistic group that traditionally speaks the language, or from those whose family historically spoke the language. According to a commonly accepted definition by Valdés, heritage languages are generally minority languages in society and are usually learned at home during childhood. When a heritage language learner grows up in an environment with a dominant language that is different from their heritage language, the learner appears to be more competent in the dominant language and often feels more comfortable speaking in that language. Along with the term "heritage language," other terms that are considered to be interchangeable with this one include, "community language," "home language," and "ancestral language."

A heritage language learner is someone who is learning a language which is culturally tied to them and which has not been the first or dominant language during their language acquisition. Heritage languages can be learned in different ways, such as through public school instruction or even through language courses organized by a community which speaks the particular language during after school hours or on the weekend. When someone is engaging in heritage language learning or acquisition informally, they are learning a language from a particular ethnolinguistic group that traditionally speaks the language, or from someone whose family historically spoke the language. Formal heritage language instruction typically happens inside of a classroom where learners are taught a language that is being used inside of the home or among members of their own ethnic group. There are also different kinds of heritage language learners, such as learners who have varying levels of proficiency in the particular heritage language, and also those who learn a "foreign" language in school which they have some connection with. Polinsky & Kagan label heritage language learners on a continuum that ranges from fluent speakers to individuals who speak very little of their heritage language. As pointed out by Valdés, a connection with a heritage language does not have to be made only through direct previous exposure to the language or a certain amount of proficiency in the language. For instance, monolingual English-speaking students of Armenian ancestry in the United States could consider themselves to have a heritage language of Armenian.

There are some common problems among heritage language learners, which are related to incomplete acquisition in childhood, or possibly even related to learning a different dialect of the heritage language than the dialect which is being instructed. For children who may have acquired a different dialect of the heritage language, they would require a specifically unique type of instruction that may differ from styles of instruction that would be most beneficial for students who experience incomplete acquisition at an early age.

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