In search of more socially respon­sible (language) education for heritage speakers

Inspired by the invitation of Duchêne (2020:96) to think beyond the ‘celebratory discourse on multilingualism’ and ‘reclaim[ing] redistribution’, I will ‘…in order to better understand what is happening on the ground’ discuss some challenges bicultural bilinguals (Grosjean, 2015) face daily in a multilingual country like Switzerland, especially when it concerns heritage speakers with a migration background, defined for this context as speakers who grow up at home with another language than the dominant local language of instruction.

In this setting, we do not need to debate whether multilingualism or plurilingualism is good or bad, desirable or not: it's a fact (Cummins, 2018). The questions to be discussed are how we want to deal with this reality and find ways of more socially respon­sible (language) education for all members of society, especially those often neglected (Feller et al., 2023).

To engage critically with the challenges of the thus defined heritage speakers and their language repertoire(s), I will first depict the general legal framework of individual bilingualism within societal multilingualism and then discuss the implications for the concerned speakers in educational contexts in Switzerland, as described in Krompàk (2018) and Zingg & Gonçalves (2022) among others, and also in similar ways in other contexts (Goglin, 1994; García, 2009; Cummins & Lainio, 2023 among others). This discussion will be underlaid with statements by heritage speakers concerned.

‘To engage with, and participate in other imaginaries that fight and/or try to escape the current social order in which we operate’ (Duchêne, 2020:96), I will conclude with images from DEIAB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Belonging) studies with the aim of making the necessity of including all linguistic resources more understandable, the needs of heritage speakers more palpable and the urgency of appropriate measures comprehensive.