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Contexts of heritage language learning
Heritage language learning is generally an effort to recover one's cultural identity, and is therefore linked to the language loss experienced by immigrant and indigenous populations. Immigration and colonialism around the world have created communities of people who speak languages other than the dominant one at home. Their minority status means that they must navigate the the effects of linguistic difference, and of the expression of culture, ethnicity, and values through language. Heritage learners often cite a desire to connect with their cultural heritage as a major motivation for studying their heritage language. They may also be motivated by the global prominence and potential career advantages of some heritage languages. As both major immigrant destinations and exporters of the world's dominant language, the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia are home to large populations of heritage language speakers. Indigenous populations in Australia and the Americas also teach their own languages as heritage languages, attempting to revitalize them after the effects of colonial occupation.

The distribution of immigrant languages around the world largely reflects immigration patterns - for example, Spanish and Chinese are more likely to be taught as heritage languages abroad. The language profile of a single immigrant community can also vary due to the presence of different dialects, and when the language variety taught to heritage learners is different from the variety they speak at home, there is potential for tension. Ebb and flow in a country's immigrant populations can also lead to significant variation in the abilities of heritage learners in a single classroom. A study conducted by the National Heritage Language Resource Center shows that in the United States, heritage speakers' interest in their home language tends to wane as they enter school, but may rise again in the later teenage years, prompting the decision to study it in college.

The study and teaching of indigenous heritage languages stands at odds with colonial governments' earlier attempts at forced cultural integration. The process of language loss accelerated by colonial policies and practices means that many indigenous languages are faced with the threat of extinction, and the effort to teach them as heritage languages intersects with broader language revitalization projects . While learners of immigrant languages are likely to have at least partial knowledge of their language from an early age, indigenous language learners may never have spoken their languages before they began learning them in a formal setting. Education in these languages is further complicated by social stigma, and the feelings of shame or inadequacy that some indigenous people may associate with their language due to colonial intervention. Adult speakers coming from a legacy such as that of Canada's residential schools, whose negative psychological effects have been reported by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, may be unable or unwilling to pass their language on to their children.

Heritage language pedagogy
Heritage language learners have widely varying circumstances and educational needs that set them apart from foreign language learners. They may have little to no understanding of the language, or be able to speak but not read or write it. Formal education in heritage languages has existed since the nineteenth century, in immigrant communities and private and religious schools. Heritage languages did not attract the attention of public education and universities until the concept of heritage languages iself began to emerge as a separate field from foreign language learning. Heritage languages are also referred to as community, ethnic, ancestral, minority, or non-official languages, but the term heritage language appears to have originated with Canadian programs of this type.

Methods
When designing heritage language curricula and teaching methods, linguists and educators attempt to address the ways in which heritage learners are unique. In contrast to the teaching of foreign languages, heritage language teaching methods place more emphasis on literacy and experiential, content-based approaches. Because cultural identity is a definitive part of heritage language learning, languages are often taught alongside cultural practices. Teaching heritage languages is not limited to the classroom, either - it may be a part of other local community contexts, such as a volunteer work and internships,field trips, oral history projects, or Scout troops.

Heritage and Foreign Language Teaching
One question facing heritage language programs is the relationship of heritage language learners to foreign language learners of that same language. The two types of students have different educational, cultural, and psychological backgrounds, which can lead to uneven learning outcomes if they are taught together. Heritage language learners can be taught in entirely separate programs from foreign language learners, or in courses that are integrated in some way. They may also be taught alongside their foreign language counterparts with no distinction between them, as is usually the case in college language courses.