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...

From October 23 to 26, 2025, educators, researchers, and community leaders from across the world gathered to discuss Justice and Social Inclusion in the Teaching of Portuguese as a Heritage Language (SEPOHL) in Brussels, Belgium. The symposium celebrated the power of language to connect, resist, and empower, especially when community initiatives and universities work together to create a more equitable educational landscape. Some attendees from the final day of the VII SEPOLH in Brussels, 2025. From multiverses to multivoices The opening address by Dr. Ana Souza invited us to imagine the “multiverse ” of Portuguese as a Heritage Language — diverse, overlapping, and ever-evolving. She reminded participants that “the identity of POLH reflects the identity of its teachers”, and that linguistic justice depends on redistribution and political representation. Her words resonated strongly with the experiences of community educators across Europe, many of whom operate independently, often with...

For the last five years, FOHLC Europe has been collaborating with the U.S. Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools. Each October, the coalition holds its annual conference in Washington, D.C., now in a hybrid format, so participants from Europe can join online.  Participants learn about the recent developments in heritage language education in the U.S., and (re)connect. This year, several of us from FOHLC Europe attended the 12th Annual Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference: Better Together (October 3 - 5, 2025). As usual, the two days were packed with eye-opening presentations, discussions, workshops, panel discussions, and networking sessions. The conference is rich because the program not only includes talks from experts, but it also gives a podium to the language communities to showcase some of the things they are doing that are working.  Topics included teaching methods, certification, cultural literacy, heritage language learner identity and...

A new "Review Rubric" has been published for heritage language (HL) programs worldwide, designed to help managers, teachers, and administrators reflect on their organization’s practices and spark discussion on improvement strategies. It is simple, accessible, and will spark constructive discussions—even for programs new to self-evaluation. A new "Review Rubric" has been published for heritage language (HL) programs worldwide. It was developed by members of the HL Global Think Tank, building on years of international collaboration to define universal principles and good practices that can guide HL programs regardless of language or location. Who's it for? The rubric is designed for managers, teachers, board members, and volunteers who want to reflect on their organization’s values, operations, educational offerings, and community outreach. It is simple, accessible, and will spark constructive discussions—even for programs new to self-evaluation. Adaptable tool Th...

An interview with Constantine Ioannou, Executive Director at the International Languages Educators' Association of Ontario (ILEA Ontario) and key advocate for heritage language education in Canada. The Ontario model of “International Languages” education is admired within Canada – and within Ontario, Ottawa has emerged as the leading example. Discover how the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) uses funding to pay heritage language teachers, while at the same time collaborating with community-based language groups as essential partners. This interview is a re-post from the HLE Network website .    Constantine Ioannou, Executive Director at the International Languages Educators' Association of Ontario (ILEA Ontario) In Ontario, the public school system is responsible for organizing and funding heritage language education: Ontario’s “International Languages Programs” (ILPs) include the teaching of over 70 languages across the province! The Ontario model of the Interna...

  The start of the journey On February 6, FOHLC Europe organized another free online Café for people involved in heritage language education. The theme of the 2025 cafés is a "Journey around the World," to hear from educators from different language backgrounds. This time, we heard from Rita Dorneles from Universidade de Aveiro and Juliana Azevedo from the Universidad Internacional de la Rioja / Universidad Internacional de Valencia, who talked about their experience with training educators of Brazilian Portuguese as a heritage language. Paving a path Rita and Juliana were exceptional in articulating why it is a tricky task to prepare individuals to educate children in a heritage language. It is more than just learning a language, the lessons must be engaging, and the teachers must be willing to share what works and what does not work in order to develop a pedagogy for this target group. There have been positive developments, but there is still a lot of work to be done: In tr...