Curriculum Development for Advancing Heritage Language Competence: Recent Research, Current Practices, and a Future Agenda

In the wider applied linguistics literature, the phrase heritage language (HL) learner is used in various ways that refer to a highly heterogeneous population with diverse historical, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds (for discussions on this subject, see Hornberger &Wang, 2008; Kondo-Brown, 2003). However, in the literature that specifically deals with HL acquisition and pedagogy issues, the term HL learners usually refer to those who have acquired some competence in a nondominant language as their first language (L1) mainly through socialization at home, but did not achieve full-control over it due to a switch to the dominant language (Kim, 2008; Polinsky, 2008; Vald´es, 1995).1 The reported or demonstrated proficiency levels of HL learners differ widely because of at least three main factors: their diverse L1 backgrounds, degree of HL use and contact, and related sociopsychological factors (such as identity, attitudes, and motivation; Kondo-Brown, 2006a).