ABSTRACT
One in five Americans speaks a language other than English at home and that many of these people are bilingual in English and their mother tongue. This chapter discusses reasons for promoting the bilingualism of these individuals and how doing so makes economic and political sense for the mainstream English-speaking society. It describes heritage language development efforts in both formal school systems and community-based schools and compares the degree of effectiveness of various program options. The chapter explores the importance of intergenerational transmission of heritage languages and why language minority parents should be encouraged to speak their native languages with their children at home as a first step in language maintenance efforts. It describes heritage and foreign language education in K-12 schools and universities. For language minority students with no opportunity to learn their languages during their K-12 years, college may be the first time they may be able to take formal coursework in their native languages.
