March 2026 · Inclusive Teaching
Heritage speakers are students who grew up with a language other than English at home but are educated in English. They often have strong oral skills in their heritage language but limited literacy, and their English proficiency varies widely. In ESL classrooms, heritage speakers present unique opportunities and challenges that differ from both native speakers and traditional ESL students.
Heritage speakers typically have: conversational fluency in the heritage language (especially informal register), cultural knowledge and lived bilingual experience, varying degrees of literacy in the heritage language, English proficiency that may be strong orally but weaker in academic writing, and code-switching abilities that demonstrate sophisticated linguistic competence.
They differ from typical ESL students because their language learning happened naturally at home, not through formal instruction. They may struggle with academic vocabulary and formal register in both languages while being perfectly fluent in casual conversation.
Many heritage speakers need support bridging casual English (which they may speak fluently) to academic English. They may write how they speak: contractions, informal vocabulary, run-on sentences, and conversational structures. Teach academic register explicitly: formal vs. informal vocabulary choices, academic sentence structures, impersonal constructions, and hedging language.
Activities: Take a student's informal text and collaboratively transform it into academic register. Compare newspaper articles with text messages on the same topic. Practice "code-switching" exercises: write the same message informally and formally.
Some heritage speakers speak a non-standard variety of English (e.g., African American English, Chicano English) alongside Standard American/British English. These are legitimate linguistic systems, not errors. Teach Standard English as an additional register, not a replacement for the home variety. Frame it as expanding their linguistic repertoire, not "correcting" their language.
Heritage speakers often have complex linguistic identities: they may feel "not Mexican enough" and "not American enough," or struggle with being placed in ESL classes when they consider English their primary language. Validate their multilingualism as a strength. Use identity text projects where students explore their linguistic biography. Avoid making assumptions about proficiency based on appearance or heritage.
Create opportunities for students to use their full linguistic repertoire: translanguaging activities, bilingual presentations, comparative language analysis. When heritage speakers see their multilingualism valued in the classroom, engagement and confidence increase dramatically.
It depends on their needs. Some heritage speakers benefit from ESL support, especially for academic literacy. Others are better served in mainstream classes with additional support. Ideally, heritage language programs exist that develop literacy in the heritage language alongside English. Placement should be based on assessment, not assumptions.
Heritage speakers often need different things: academic register development rather than basic vocabulary, literacy skills rather than oral fluency, identity affirmation rather than cultural orientation. Use flexible grouping: pair heritage speakers together for register-focused tasks, or pair them with ESL students for authentic bilingual exchange.