What is a heritage language?

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
1

I think I know, but want to double check as several people have made comments about it in my other thread.

2

I would define it as a language commonly spoken in the student’s home.

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3

Language spoken by parents and/or in the home (by grandparents, etc). That is how I would define it.

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4

Adding to the above:

The language is not the main language of the country. So a language other than English for residents of the US. The child may or may not receive formal instruction in the heritage language, but receives instruction primarily in the country’s main language.

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5

Thanks, you are all are confirming what I thought!

6

What about kids in immersion programs?

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7

If that’s not the language spoken at home, it’s not a heritage language; it’s simply language acquisition

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8

I know of families where, for example, the great-grandparents only speak Spanish, the grandparents speak English but do so with accents, the parents are most comfortable in English but are conversant in Spanish they learned at home and studied in high school, and the little children are enrolled in Spanish Immersion grade school with the hope of keeping the Spanish alive in the family.

In the case above, I would say that the great-grandparents and grandparents speak Spanish as their native tongue, and that the parents and children speak it as a “heritage language.”

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9

A family I was helping with some matters lived in a home with their great grandfather who spoke very little English (mostly Spanish). His daughter lived there and she spoke both English and Spanish. The father of the kids (about 25 years old) spoke English and Spanish, and the kids (ages 3, 5, 8 and 12) spoke English but understood a lot of Spanish. The TV was usually on in Spanish. The kids didn’t read or write Spanish at all (but also behind in English; this was covid times and online with the teacher flipping back and forth, recognizing the parents couldn’t help with any homework in English). The 3 and 5 year olds were in classrooms where the instruction was in English but with more Spanish spoken at home.