Innovative Strategies for Heritage Language Teaching : A Practical Guide for the Classroom

Heritage language (HL) education has as its primary aims to help learners regain, develop, or maintain their HL while gaining deeper understanding of their cultural heritage. The topic has gained traction in recent years, as the interest in bilingual education and the numbers of people speaking English as a second language have grown. Teachers play a vital role in advancing HL learning (HLL). This edited volume presents them with the knowledge and tools necessary to overcome common obstacles in HLL based on cutting-edge research. In twelve chapters, contributors address the various types of challenges faced in trying to transfer research findings into new teaching approaches and encourages teacher innovation. Part I reviews fundamental issues in curricular, teacher, and program development, while Part II addresses pedagogical strategies, techniques, and approaches. The book seeks to answer questions such as, What are the best ways to help HLL aquire language for use in professional settings? How should HL learners' skills be assessed? How should new HL programs be designed? How do we define HL learners? How do we prepare teachers to meet their needs? While many HLL books focus on Spanish, information on multiple languages is included in this book.