Heritage Languages

Over 57 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006-2010). Individuals exposed to a language spoken at home but educated primarily in English are heritage speakers of the home language.

White Paper on Heritage Languages
This paper presents an overview of the linguistic system characteristic of heritage speakers and discusses several competing factors that shape this system in adulthood.
Olga Kagan Quoted in Christian Science Monitor
The article “Bilingual and Struggling” profiles immigrant parents’ efforts to raise bilingual children in the U.S.
Heritage Language Journal Publishes First Conference Proceedings Issue
On August 8, 2011, the Heritage Language Journal published six papers in Volume 8, Issue 2, the first of two proceedings issues from the NHLRC First International Conference on Heritage and Community Languages, held February 19-21, 2010 at UCLA.
The Results of the National Heritage Language Survey: Implications for Teaching, Curriculum Design, and Professional Development
This article reports on a survey of heritage language learners (HLLs) across different heritage languages (HLs) and geographic regions in the United States. It is based on a survey conducted by the authors as a NHLRC project (2009).
NHLRC is renewed for four more years
We are happy to inform you that the National Heritage Language Resource Center was re-funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Language Resource Center Title VI grant. This means that we are funded for another 4 years, 2010-2014!
Education Secretary Praises NHLRC in Speech
In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan singled out the "innovative" work of the National Heritage Language Resource Center.

Upcoming Events

Sixth Heritage Language Research Institute
Institute runs from June 18 - 22, 2012. Registration is now open.
Registration Closes: 9 March, 2012. Notification of Application Status: 16 March, 2012