Teaching heritage learners is not the same as teaching learners of a foreign language. Heritage languages are languages other than English that are spoken in homes, communities, and extended families. Although many of our students come from vibrant multilingual contexts, unless bilingual options are available, youth seldom have access to expanding their home/community languages (and literacy in them) in schools, which are predominantly English environments. When students are given the opportunity to use, learn, and expand on their heritage languages, they are able to tap into an abundance of resources and knowledge.

Participants in this workshop will examine social justice topics, community-based learning for growing heritage language (literacy), and authentic assessments for heritage language development. Participants will collaborate; connect experiences of heritage teachers and learners to research on multilingual development; and learn how to bring communities, classrooms, and digital storytelling together to create powerful heritage language learning environments.

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