A Heritage Language Hub: Connecting Users to Reading and Teaching Materials for LESLLA Learners

Abstract

With increasing rates of migration in nations around the world, official estimates reveal that there are around 750 million adults with limited or no education and literacy across the world. A high number of these migrants are female adults and their children. Given that migrants are expected to become part of social and economic life in the host country they have settled in, people with limited or no education and limited literacy skills are faced with greater challenges than educated individuals. Most second language and literacy education programs focus on adult migrants’ learning the language of the country they have settled in as part of their social and cultural integration, usually at the expense of losing their heritage language. On similar grounds, teacher education programs do not necessarily support migrants’ heritage languages. The aim of this chapter is to address issues in regard to this learner population and ways to support their own heritage language and literacy maintenance and their children’s bilingualism through creating access to online resources in their languages. The paper first gives an overview of the key terms in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts to pave the way for a better understanding of heritage languages in bi-multilingual communities. It then provides information about the heritage language resources hub, with special reference to reading and teaching materials for these learners.