Interdisciplinary Links and Sustainable Approaches in Russian Heritage Language Instruction (HLI)

Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly understood as a cross-curricular task in school education. In this context, heritage language instruction (HLI) is of particular interest because it is inherently oriented toward multilingualism, language awareness, and connections between school subjects. Curricula for HLI in the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony emphasize coordination with other subjects and the development of metalinguistic competences. This makes HLI a potentially relevant context for addressing the aims of ESD.
The article examines, first, to what extent HLI curricula correspond to key ESD criteria (Wittlich, 2024), and second, how teachers of Russian as a heritage language establish interdisciplinary links in their teaching practice. The empirical basis of the study consists of ten semi-structured interviews with teachers conducted between 2022 and 2025.
The findings show that teachers employ different strategies. Some focus on developing Language Awareness through language comparison and metalinguistic reflection. Others integrate subject-related content from geography, history, or the natural sciences, drawing on CLIL-oriented approaches. These practices are not mutually exclusive and often occur in combination. Overall, heritage language instruction shows considerable potential to support key goals of ESD, including reflexivity, interdisciplinary thinking, and a reflective engagement with linguistic and cultural diversity.