Encouraging the Use and Activation of Heritage Languages in the Broader Educational System

Abstract

This chapter briefly reviews the literature in which heritage languages (HL) and heritage language education (HLE) is defined and positioned and identifies some of the terminology used by scholars and policy makers to describe notions of HLE. Challenges and opportunities that emerge from HLE practices as they are organized for school-aged children and youth in Ontario’s International Languages Program are described and presented to provoke further inquiry into HLE in Ontario and in other school systems. While each HL context will determine a vision and specific objectives, overall goals of supporting HLE and integrating it into the education system might include strategies to encourage students’ minority language literacy as an integral component of their overall literacy. The next steps for both researchers and practitioners include finding a viable implementation of plurilinguistic approaches that activate each learner’s full range of linguistic competencies through authentic, action-oriented forms of deeper learning.