Systematic heritage language programs that include formal instruction in the written language, standard or prestige usage, and technical or professional domains are necessary to maintain heritage languages at professionally useful levels of knowledge and skill. Those ethnic groups with little recent immigration are likely to provide mostly cultural programs with limited substantive language content. For many groups, however, including most Hispanic cultures, heritage language schools have not been part of their community structure in the United States. Where such schools exist, they generally face substantial obstacles in supporting language learning. Most often, their teachers and administrators are volunteers and, while often highly educated, are not trained language teachers.
Appropriate materials are scarce.
Funding, teacher training, instructional materials, and administrative infrastructure are all problematic. Moreover, students entering high school often rebel against time spent in heritage school programs, where they do not receive credit, which reduces the time available to do the work required by their formal schooling. Efforts to gain formal recognition of learning in heritage schools are ongoing but have had limited success. To address these issues at the systemic level, some ethnic communities have formed national or regional organizations for their heritage language schools. The Formal Education System.