Abstract :
As awareness of the unique abilities and needs of heritage language learners has
grown, so too has recent research deepened our understanding of the dynamic
between language policy and heritage language education (HLE). In this article, I
review HLE policy research conducted in various international contexts. I begin
by reviewing ongoing debates in the policy literature over definitions and adopt a
broad understanding of the term so that we can glean as much insight as possible
from the comparison of international contexts. I then turn to six international
regions and countries that have been the focus of recent HLE policy research.
Within each region, I apply the analytic framework proposed by Ricento and
Hornberger (1996) to differentiate the multiple levels at which language policy
functions. Finally, I identify common themes emerging across the research in
these varied contexts and conclude with suggestions for future policy-oriented
HLE research.
