The ERASMUS+ project Your Language Counts! All languages matter in a multilingual society (YLC), funded by the European Commission, aims to assess and improve the implementation of heritage language education (HLE), and provide approaches and resources for teaching heritage languages in three Northern European contexts.

HLE has long-standing presence in Europe (cf. Guldenschuh et al 2024) and can play a central role in successful language development (Cantone et al. 2024). This can in turn contribute significantly to the important role of multilingualism as a resource for sustainable development (Anderson et al. 2024, Schroedler et al. 2023). Despite this relatively long tradition in a range of national and regional contexts, internationally comparative research on HLE remains scarce (cf. Reath Warren 2017, Löser & Woerfel 2018).  Existing empirical research HLE predominantly remains within given (national) boundaries. This is understandable, as HLE, like other school subjects, is mainly influenced by the national organisation of education. In this project we have gathered cross-border perspectives in order to consider how teachers can be supported in their work.

The core of the project is the piloting and evaluation of an international teacher education  program for HLE in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland. During the programme, national adaptations take into account different (country-specific) administrative and organizational factors in relation to  HLE. This project  focused upon six heritage languages (Arabic, Persian, Russian, Somali, Turkish, Ukrainian) spoken and taught in HLE in three different countries.

The focus is on the experiences of teachers and the methodological-didactic approaches that, from their perspective, are particularly well-suited for heritage language education (HLE). Through scientifically grounded teacher education and intensive co-constructive collaboration with 18 HLE teachers, best practices are being developed. To understand and optimize the quality of the initiative, the project is comprehensively evaluated. Initially, the status quo of HLE, represented by six different heritage languages in the respective national contexts, is assessed.

Building on this, the evaluation design includes three data gathering with the teachers. The data set includes 2x18 semi-structured interviews (data collection in September 2024 and June 2025), a corpus of written reflections by the teachers (after every monthly online meeting), a questionnaire about the professional background (September 2024) and another for an interim evaluation (in February 2025). Furthermore, the students’ perspective is included through questionnaires in several of the HL classrooms.

In this symposium, three aspects of the project are highlighted. Firstly, an theoretical backdrop of teacher educationfor HL teachers will be presented. The second presentation focuses on the implementation of the programme for HLE teachers. Here, the monthly online meetings, the collaboration between the teachers and the testing of different methodical ideas and approaches will be presented. Finally, results of the interview study with the 18 teachers will be discussed. The main focus will be put on the teachers’ professional view on HLE and their development through the project year.

Anderson, J., Argyri, E., Ashtari, N., Cannizzaro, G., Egnatz, L., Emilsson Peskova, R., Hristozova, M., Little, S., Mehmedbegovic-Smith, D., Nahodilova, J., Paulovicova, N., & Wahlin, M. (2024). Global Call for Action for Heritage Language Education. Heritage Language Global Think Tank. https://menntavisindastofnun.hi.is/is/global-call-hle Guldenschuh, S.; Weichselbaum, M.; Döll, M., Gouma, A. & Dirim, İ (eds.) (2024): Migrationspädagogische Perspektiven auf den erst-/herkunfts-/mutter-sprachlichen Unterricht. Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-45327-5 Löser, J. & Woerfel, T. (2017): Herkunftssprachenunterricht in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. In: B. Ahrenholz & I. Oomen-Welke (Hrsg.), Deutsch als Zweitsprache. Deutschunterricht in Theorie und Praxis 9, Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verl. Hohengehren, S. 577-589. Reath Warren, A. (2017). Developing multilingual literacies in Sweden and Australia: Opportunities and challenges in mother tongue instruction and multilingual study guidance in Sweden and community language education in Australia. [Stockholms universitet]. http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1116085&dswid=8210 Schroedler, T., Chik, A., & Benson, P. (2023). The value of multilingualism for sustainable development: a case study of languages in Australia. International Multilingual Research Journal, 17(4), 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2023.2208509