Heritage languages as resources and opportunities for active multilingual societies (Conférence par Antonella Sorace, 25 September 2026)

Multilingualism in any languages, regardless of their status, prestige, and worldwide diffusion, can potentially give children and adults a range of linguistic, cognitive and social benefits – although not in all contexts and not in all cases. When are the benefits most likely to be seen? Research on heritage languages – both migrant and indigenous – shows that more attention should be paid by families, researchers, educators and policy makers to children’s and young people’s attitudes and perception of their languages. In order to realise the potential multiple benefits of multilingual communities we need supportive and informed attitudes around multilingual families: these can contribute to building firm community foundations for inter-generational language transmission (the only process that keeps languages alive) and enable positive decisions in all sectors of society. I will illustrate these facts and show how the public engagement centre Bilingualism Matters enables families, teachers, and policy makers – in Scotland and internationally – to make decisions on bilingualism informed by research.