ABSTRACT
This chapter draws from experiences of teaching Hindi-Urdu too primarily, but not exclusively, heritage language learners (HLLs) at several levels. After one decade of teaching HLLs and second-language learners in mixed classrooms, in 2015–2016, the launched Hindi-Urdu HL stream is moving from the implementation to the institutionalization phase. The transition from the implementation of the Hindi-Urdu heritage stream to its institutionalization is embedded in larger efforts of internationalization of York University's faculties and departments. The Hindi-Urdu HL stream at York University received administrative and pedagogical support from the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics during the initiation and implementation phases, and from the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, who approved the innovation. Hindi-Urdu for heritage speakers is not only designed to meet the specific needs of HLLs, but also to increase the pool of students who will advance to the subsequent second-year language course, in which both streams from the first-year language level merge.
