2025 AAAL Conference Presentation—Building Effective Heritage Language Programs: Training for K-12 Teachers, Administrators, and Families
March 24 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Building Effective Heritage Language Programs: Training for K-12 Teachers, Administrators, and Families
Date & Time: March 24, 2025 | 4:00–5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time
Location: AAAL, Denver, CO
Presenter(s):
Leslie Fink (Center for Applied Linguistics)
Jamie Morgan (Center for Applied Linguistics)
Elyssa Sun (Center for Applied Linguistics)
Description:
Experts agree that heritage language education should be provided in public schools (Potowski, 2021), but most heritage language learners in the U.S. are unable to access any form of education in their home languages in K–12 schools (Carreira, 2021), and there is limited guidance about how to start a K–12 heritage language program.
In this session, we will discuss a free, online self-access training program that will support teachers, administrators, and families in understanding best practices for and their roles in building and sustaining an effective K–12 heritage language program.
We will provide an overview of the findings from our initial research activities and share parts of the training program that were developed in the first year of this three-year project, as well as our plans for additional module and resource development.
This interactive roundtable will be designed to elicit feedback from attendees on the current state of and future plans for the training program. Presenters will invite attendees to share their experiences and perspectives on K–12 heritage language programs in U.S. public schools, with a focus on best practices for building and sustaining these programs. Information gathered will be used to improve the training program, which will in turn support the growth and development of research-based, high-quality heritage language programs.
Carreira, M. (2021). The vitality of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States. In S. Montrul & M. Polinsky (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics (pp. 230-251). Cambridge University Press.
Potowski, K. (2021). Elementary school heritage language educational options and outcomes. In S. Montrul & M. Polinsky (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics (pp. 761-776). Cambridge University Press.
