When the First Lesson Is Missing or Interrupted

Heritage Language Teaching between Expectations, Challenges, and Potentials

Abstract

The first lesson is often considered an important element and a crucial moment in language acquisition, capable of having a lasting impact on subsequent learning. Not only does it mark the beginning of a new learning phase, but it also lays the foundation for fostering learners’ motivation, shaping the relationship between learners and the teacher, and setting expectations for the course. In the context of promoting family or heritage languages, this first lesson is particularly important: for heritage speakers, it is often their first conscious encounter with the standard form of their heritage language, which is now to be developed explicitly and systematically. But what reasons prevent participation in this first lesson, and which factors lead to students dropping out after attending only once? While the reasons for participation have already been well researched, the motives and barriers to non-participation or early withdrawal from Russian language classes in Germany remain largely unexplored. The aim of this paper is to close this gap and to gain new insights into these aspects. Based on empirical data from a project on Russian in Germany in an intergenerational comparison, the perspectives of Russian-speaking heritage speakers aged 7 to 16, as well as those of their parents, are analysed and evaluated in relation to key influencing factors. Potential explanatory approaches are also discussed.