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This online workshop is intended for teachers of secondary learners and above. The overarching goal  is to demonstrate the major differences between heritage language learners (HLLs) and foreign language learners (FLLs) and explore pedagogical implications.

To that end, we will explore the following topics:

  • General characteristics and initial abilities of HLLs
  • Ways to use differentiated instruction in the classroom

By the end of the workshop participants will understand:

  1. the terminology and principles used in the heritage language field;
  2. characteristics of the heritage language learner;
  3. principles of differentiated instruction to teach multi-level classes (i.e. either HLLs at different levels of proficiency or classes that enroll both HLLs and FLLs);

This online workshop builds on themes developed during the StarTalk/NHLRC Workshop for teachers of heritage less-commonly taught languages that was held at UCLA in July 2009.  The on-site workshop contained 35 hours of instruction, classroom observations, and participants' presentations.  It was highly interactive and helped us understand what topics are of most importance for teachers of heritage languages (HL).

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