Overview: Heritage Language Learners
A defining distinction between heritage and foreign language acquisition is that heritage language acquisition begins in the home, as opposed to foreign language acquisition which, at least initially, starts in a classroom setting (Heritage Language Research Priorities Conference, 2000).
The following table from Schwartz (2001, p. 233) of discussion presented in Campbell & Rosenthal (2000) presents typical differences between foreign language students after 2 years of study and heritage students. It should be regarded as a rough guide and does not specify language or level.
Comparison of Heritage Language and Traditional Language Learners |
| Knowledge and Competencies |
Typical Heritage Language Learners |
Traditional Foreign Language Learners |
| Phonology |
Pronunciation, stress, and intonation conform to educated native speaker level. |
Have acquired 75-85% of the phonological system of a prestige dialect; pronunciation is accented. |
| Grammatical Rules |
80-90% of their grammatical competence is consistent with the rules of a prestige dialect. |
Are aware of many grammatical rules, but cannot use them fluently nor comprehend them fully in real-life communication. |
| Vocabulary |
Have acquired extensive vocabulary, but range is limited to home, community, and religious institutions; a large number of �borrowings� from the majority language are noted. |
Vocabulary is extremely limited, but consistent with the prestige dialect. |
| Sociolinguistic Rules |
Control registers relating to verbal interactions with family and community members; competence is limited by range of social interactions. |
Have very limited knowledge and control of sociolinguistic rules except for those appropriate to the classroom. |
| Culture |
Have learned and adopted the culture of their ethnolinguistic communities, but the customs, values, and traditions may be hybridized with those of the majority culture. |
Have superficial understanding and sensitivity to the target culture; have few opportunities to interact in the target culture communities. |
| Literacy Skills |
Have not developed literacy skills beyond elementary levels. |
Have a good to very good foundation for development of literacy; will depend on the writing system of the target language. |
Campbell, R. N., & Rosenthal, J. W. (2000). Heritage languages. In J. W. Rosenthal (Ed.), Handbook of undergraduate second language education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Schwartz, A. M. (2001). Preparing teachers to work with heritage language learners. In J. K. Peyton, D. A. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 229-252). McHenry, IL: Delta Systems.
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