Heritage Language Blog ~ by HL Global Think Tank and FOHLC Europe

Authors: Dr Adeline Henry and Hannah Murphy A research team at Queen’s University Belfast  – led by Dr Emma Humphries and Professor Janice Carruthers –  is currently undertaking a project designed to make university admissions processes more equitable and inclusive with respect to home, heritage, and community languages (HHCLs). In this blog post, Dr Adeline Henry and Hannah Murphy (two members of the research team) demonstrate that tangible, practical measures can be implemented to address existing inequities and enhance the recognition and status of heritage languages.  These developments are especially relevant for heritage language programmes across the United Kingdom, which are well positioned to promote the Toolkit introduced in the project. Moreover, the initiative offers an instructive and inspiring model for institutions and policymakers in other global contexts. Across the UK, offers to study an undergraduate degree in a university are made on the basis of predi...

Heritage language schools are set up to provide space to maintain a community ’ s language and culture. This was the aim of the educators who founded the Hungarian School of Pafos. Using their experience from teaching in a diaspora context, the two founding teachers developed an approach that allows the dominant language to be used when teaching the heritage language. In this blog post, one of the two teachers tells the story of how the Hungarian school was founded; how theory shaped their practice, and how the everyday practices and experiences from teaching such a heterogeneous group formed their policies. They do this by showcasing the school’s most recent Christmas event. Christmas 2025 celebration in The Hungarian School of Pafos. The Hungarian School of Pafos was established in 2023 in Cyprus, through two educators’ collaboration. Kinga Photiou is a ballet dancer and teacher. Bernadett Jani-Demetriou is a teacher and a researcher. Their different professional backgrounds and teac...

The Sydney Institute of Community Languages Education ( SICLE ) organised the “ Heritage / Community Languages education: New directions Online Conference ” which took place over several evenings in November 2025. The latest research in the field of Languages education, including Community / Heritage Languages and TESOL was shared.   Kati Varela opening the conference on November 4, 2025. There were presentations from new and experienced researchers who talked about a range of topics including assessment, inclusivity, leadership, bilingualism, online learning, teachers’ professional learning, intercultural understanding, entrepreneurship, learner engagement, and challenges in languages education. Each presenter had 30 minutes, including question time, and there were two presentations per evening. These presentations were free and will be available online. We asked our director, Ken Cruickshank, to talk about how the conference came about: Dr. Ken Cruickshank closing the conference...