FOHLC Café – Mother Language Day 2026
Heritage Language Learners: What Are Their Rights?
Date
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Time
19:00 GMT-London / 20:00 Central European Time
Location
Online (via Zoom)
Language
English
Cost
Free (registration required)
Registration
Organizers
Jana Nahodilova, Czech and Slovak School Okénko in London, England
Renata Emilsson Peskova, Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism & University of Iceland
Gisi Cannizzaro, Heritage Language Education (HLE) Network, the Netherlands
Agnieszka Pedrak, Trinity College Dublin, Polish School by the Embassy of Poland in Dublin, Ireland
Isabelle Barth, Association pour la Promotion et l'Avancement du Multilinguisme (A.P.A.M.), France
Sabine Little, University of Sheffield, England
Jessika Rabello, Educator of Portuguese as Heritage Language in the UK, founder of the Brazilian Library- Casa do Livro
Tereza Krymláková, Charles University, Czech Republic
Event description
In celebration of International Mother Language Day, we are hosting an online meetup to discuss topics that matter to heritage language educators. On Thursday, February 5, at 20:00 Central European Time, there will be a free, online meetup (“FOHLC Café”) for professionals in heritage language education across Europe. Anyone interested in exchanging ideas, reflecting on current tools and frameworks, and networking with others in the field is welcome to attend.
Program
This time, we plan on discussing the distinction between being allowed to maintain a home language and having a guaranteed right to it under international human-rights standards, and how this affects how we talk about and advocate for heritage language education
We will also share brief reminders of practical tools available to HL educators for program quality and advocacy, including the Review Rubric, Global Call to Action Checklist, and ongoing projects and collaborations such as Critical Connections.
Details
In this field, questions of rights and responsibility are central when seeking support, understanding, and resources. What does it mean to say that children may use their home language—and what does it mean to say they have a right to it? Understanding these distinctions is especially important when in dialogue with mainstream schools and government institutions.
Sue Gollifer and Renata Emilsson Peskova, along with FOHLC Café organizers and will discuss the concepts of human rights and human linguistic rights, based on international policy documents and research from Iceland at the FOHLC Café this time. Sue and Renata draw on findings reported in their publication ‘We can do much more and better’: Understanding gatekeepers’ perspectives on students’ linguistic human rights (2024).
Read a summary of the discussion here:
https://heritagelanguageblog.blogspot.com/2026/02/what-are-linguistic-rights-of-heritage.html
Tags
Online, Networking, Meetup
