Tracing Language Paths: Heritage Language Schools in the United States

Abstract

Our Asia Beyond Asia project investigates the landscape of Asian heritage language (HL) education in the United States, examining how these programs emerge, operate, and serve their communities. Asian HL schools range from public multilingual programs to non-profit Saturday schools to private academies. They provide important opportunities for linguistic and cultural education, but at the same time, they often reflect broader inequities in access, funding, and selectivity, revealing how language education can reinforce existing social hierarchies.

The final product is a college course syllabus that introduces students to the history, structures, and politics of Asian HL education in the United States. The syllabus includes a course description, learning objectives, a weekly schedule, curated readings, and original class activities and assessments designed to broaden the perspectives of our hypothetical students. Weekly modules address topics such as the historical development of Asian HL programs, HL pedagogy, community-run weekend schools, and cross-linguistic comparisons among Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Tamil, and Persian.

Research for the project draws on multiple sources, including formal peer-reviewed articles, school websites, creative (non)fiction, and personal experiences. Through this interdisciplinary approach, we aim to develop a holistic perspective of how Asian language schools function, who they serve, and how they negotiate cultural representation.

The project ultimately addresses guiding questions about pedagogy, teacher and student identity, institutional control, accessibility, and program outcomes. By synthesizing these topics into a cohesive syllabus, we aim to illuminate both the benefits and limitations of Asian HL education and to propose solutions to create more equitable, effective, and community-centered models.

*Images on this page are all sourced from the Library of Congress Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project

Syllabus

Instructors: Nathaniel Dozier, Gwen Hilson, Tommy Sporte, Tait Tavolacci

Course Description

This course will explore Asian HL schools in the U.S. through literature, history, social theory, and psychology. The interdisciplinary approach to this topic aims to give students a well-rounded understanding of HL schools and their significance. Students will be presented with scholarly readings and accounts of personal experience to provide a foundational understanding necessary to participate in class meetings. Students’ learning will be supported in the classroom through full-group discussions, small-group discussions, small-group work, and independent reflection. No prior knowledge of the topic is required. In fact, varying levels of familiarity could be an asset in enriching our class discussions!

Learning Outcomes

Skills: Students will practice research, writing, and reading
Intellect: Students will learn the climate of HL schools in the United States
Criticality: Students will examine and recognize oppressive structures surrounding HL schools and come up with ways to combat those structures
Identity: Students will explore how their identity affects their personal experiences with HL schools (or lack thereof)
Joy: Students will bring creative solutions and ideas to their final projects and class discussions; they will find ways to healthily express their emotions around HL schools

*five objectives inspired by Gholdi Muhammad’s Unearthing Joy

Course Structure

This class meets once a week for 90 minutes, every Saturday morning for eight weeks. Holding class on Saturdays serves as a nod to the heritage language schools, which are the focus of our study, as many meet on Saturdays and are known as “Saturday schools” or “weekend schools.” Each class session will have readings to be completed beforehand, sometimes with an additional assignment. This course is designed to have about 14 students, to allow for both smaller group work and engaging whole-class discussions.

Final Assignment

In pairs, give an 8-10 minute presentation on an HL school website (in the U.S.), covering information such as the language taught, the location of the school, price, activities other than language classes, etc., as well as an analysis of the website itself (target audience, language of the website's text, graphic design). For a more complete list of factors to include, see the Website Presentations Lesson Plan.

Each group will choose a language from the following list of the 20 most common Asian languages spoken in the U.S.* (below) to find a HL school in the U.S. to study. If you are having trouble finding an HL school, focus your search on cities with high populations of Asian migrants. No two groups may choose the same language.