Framework for CLIL materials for Russian heritage language learners

The increasing number of immigrants made heritage language learning a crucial issue of 21-st century education. The neediness for an effective educational approach in this field leaded to CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). CLIL materials are high-contextualized by age, skills, language, subject content, etc. So, teachers ought to become materials designers to provide their learners with an effective tool of learning. Usually, teachers did not specifically train for materials design. Thus, easy-to-use framework for materials is essential to provide high-quality materials. This article provides a framework for CLIL materials design for Russian heritage language learners. The framework is based on the main materials design principles, heritage learners` pedagogical needs, and CLIL-specific materials design principles. It is written in the easy-to-use form of a checklist. The checklist has seven sections and 32 questions. The framework may be used in different contexts of teachers from different countries who use CLIL to teach the Russian heritage language.

Language Mixings in Heritage Language Education: A Systematic Review

The overarching research question for this paper is what work has been done on heritage languages worldwide through a language mixing lens. Given the increasing research interest in this topic and the scarcity of previous secondary studies, a systematic review was conducted on the empirical data at the intersection of language mixing and heritage language education, in and out of schools. Thematic analysis and frequency analysis were carried out on qualified empirical sources gathered from Scopus, Web of Science, and Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA). After sharing backgrounds on heritage language education and language mixing with relative terms and perspectives, the paper presents findings from the review based on 23 peer-reviewed empirical journal articles, focusing specifically on three aspects: (a) the main theoretical approaches and definitions employed for language mixing; (b) the characterization of language mixing for instruction and its impacts on heritage language education; (c) the parent and community language mixing activities for children’s heritage language learning. The limitations of the existing studies and the implications for educators and researchers are later discussed. It is hoped that this article will further our knowledge on this topic and provide pointed implications for future education and research.

A Yonsei’s Heritage Language Learning Journey

This autoethnography chronicles my journey of learning Japanese as a heritage language (HL). Scholarship on Japanese HL learning has explored the challenges of HL learning for Japanese and Japanese Americans (JAs); however, little research was conducted on late-generation (third, fourth) JA learners, and particularly on “receptive learners.” 2 This autoethnography addresses these gaps by answering the question: what external (historical, societal) or internal (ethnic identity) factors influenced the loss or motivation to relearn my HL in the autoethnographer, a late-generation JA? Data were collected from my literacy narrative and pedagogical artifacts (e.g., journals, quizzes and assignments, etc.) from the Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) courses I took, and analyzed thematically for influential factors and motivation patterns. Findings reveal that (1) racism and internment (as the historical and societal factors) and shame and the aspiration to reconnect with the heritage culture (as the internal factors) influenced my longitudinal course of learning Japanese; and (2) what motivated a late-generation JA to study my HL is not for professional reasons, as claimed in previous research, but to heal from a conflicted legacy and the desire to communicate orally with members of the heritage culture. However, my effort to realize these goals was thwarted by the curricular design of the JFL courses, which focused primarily on orthographic practices and insufficiently on oral proficiency, raising legitimate questions about the pedagogical appropriateness of JFL courses for HL learners.

Raising Children to Speak Their Heritage Language in the USA: Roles of Korean Parents

Parents play a significant role in fostering Korean-American children’s heritage language learning. This qualitative inquiry investigates Korean immigrant parents’ beliefs and the language practices they engage in to raise their children to speak Korean. Based on questionnaires completed by 40 parents and in-depth, open-ended interviews with 5 parents, this study specifically focuses on Korean parents residing in an area with a low Korean immigrant population and how they perceive, foster, and advocate for their children’s Heritage Language (HL) learning. The findings show that parents play crucial roles as active advocates of their children’s HL learning and positive belief in HL maintenance, making best efforts to help their children see the value of learning. In addition, the findings show that parents serve as HL educators, who create an HL learning environment, instruct HL reading and writing, and incorporate digital tools and popular culture for HL learning.

Drama, Music and Media in Heritage Language Learning

This paper discusses the role that drama, music and media can play in heritage language learning. The authors will present findings from a project that took place in a community Greek school in London and explore how creative approaches can enhance students' heritage language learning, by bringing together different disciplines as well as different environments such as school, home and community. The project was part of Critical Connections: Multilingual Digital Storytelling Project, a collaboration between Goldsmiths, University of London and different community and mainstream schools in four countries.

Teacher's code-switching and bilingual children's heritage language learning and cognitive switching flexibility

To code-switch or not to code-switch? This is a dilemma for many bilingual language teachers. In this study, the influence of teachers’ CS on bilingual children's language and cognitive development is explored within heritage language (HL) classes in Singapore. Specifically, the relationship between children's language output, vocabulary development, and cognitive flexibility to teachers’ classroom CS behavior, is examined within 20 preschool HL classrooms (10 Mandarin, 6 Malay, and 4 Tamil). Teachers’ and children's utterances were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for CS frequency and type (i.e., inter-sentential, intra-sentential). 173 students were assessed with receptive vocabulary and dimensional card sort tasks, and their vocabulary and cognitive switching scores assessed using correlational and mixed effects analyses. Results show that inter-sentential and intra-sentential CS frequency is positively and significantly related to children's intra-sentential CS frequency. Overall, findings revealed that teachers code-switched habitually more often than for instructional purposes. Neither inter-sentential nor intra-sentential CS was significantly related to children's development in HL vocabulary, and intra-sentential CS was found to positively and significantly relate to children's growth in cognitive flexibility. These findings reveal the multi-faceted impact of teacher's CS on children's early development.