ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine the challenges of learning and teaching Cantonese as a heritage language, the experiences of 1.5- and second-generation Cantonese heritage speakers living in the Netherlands, and offer suggestions to tailor it to the Dutch context. Educators active in the community and/or mainstream schools encounter unique challenges while teaching heritage learners in a transcultural environment. Varying levels of linguistic and cultural knowledge among heritage speakers and unrelatable textbook material make it challenging for both educators and learners to enjoy the language-learning process. Without addressing these unique challenges, teaching and learning a Sinitic language might lead to exclusion. By highlighting this, educators can align their learning activities, learning outcomes, and assessments more closely to the interests, needs and objectives of heritage learners. Educators may, then, utilize the heritage learner’s knowledge to enrich the classroom while also respecting the heritage learner’s ownership and China’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Administrators, educators and learners can only establish an inclusive classroom by being aware of the uniqueness of teaching and learning Cantonese as a heritage language in the Netherlands. This chapter contributes to the broader debate on Cantonese teaching and learning, as well as heritage language teaching from a Dutch teaching perspective.
