Heritage Language Maintenace and Revitalization: Key Factors for Success

The topic of heritage language maintenance and revitalization is an area of much current research. The research has explored a number of factors that support heritage language use. These factors include: age of speaker, amount of time in host country, attitudes of family around the heritage language, size of the heritage community in the host area, the attitudes of the host community around the heritage culture and language, and the school support for the home language. While each of these factors has been identified as playing a role in the maintenance and revitalization of heritage languages, two factors have been shown to be critical. These factors are the transactional family attitudes and expectations around the home language and institutional support for the home language.

The most crucial variable in sustaining a heritage language has been identified as the family attitude around the home language and expectations around how the language is used. Children who live in a home where parents have a positive feeling about their home language, speak it in the home, and hold the expectation that children will also use it, tend to have offspring that maintain their home language skills. In contrast, families that do not hold a positive attitude toward the home language, do not use it consistently in the home, and do hold clear expectations that their children should use this language, may have children who lose aspects of their home language.

While family attitudes and expectations are most significant in predicting how well home languages will be maintained by children, the school and institutional support for the home language are also important factors that can support home language maintenance. Specifically, schools that have language classes for heritage language learners and are receptive to the home language (i.e., have interpreters in the home language at school events, acknowledge the cultural traditions and holidays of the home nation, and are sensitive to cultural differences of the heritage nation) support the maintenace of the home language in chidlren.

Learning more about what factors support home language maintenance is an important aspect of programatic development around heritage language learning. As research continue to investigate these questions, we may develop better tools to support heritage language learners and revitalize home languages.

Phot Credit: Twofiqu Barbhuiya on Unspalsh.