HERITAGE LANGUAGE SPEAKERS AND PRESERVING THE RUSSIAN HERITAGE LANGUAGE IN THE USA: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

This article examines the challenges of preserving heritage language and culture among a specific type of bilinguals – heritage speakers of Russian residing in the United States. The necessity for specialized heritage language (HL) learning programs is motivated by the recently growing interest in bilingualism and preserving heritage languages. Since heritage speakers often have deficits in reading and writing and display typical mistakes arising from unfavorable language transfer, they require specialized textbooks and language learning materials. This article describes the current state of HL learning among speakers of Russian and highlights areas where improvements are necessary for effective heritage language learning.