This chapter examines the historical evolution, current landscape, and future prospects of Greek heritage language (HL) education in Canada as a distinctive case of language maintenance and intergenerational transmission. Drawing on historical migration patterns, census data, and programmatic developments across provinces, we map the institutional ecology of Greek language education, including community-run Saturday schools, trilingual day schools, publicly funded International Language Programs, university courses, and post-pandemic online initiatives. The analysis situates Greek HL education within Canada’s multicultural policy framework and provincial jurisdiction of schooling, highlighting both enabling conditions and persistent challenges in funding, teacher preparation, and curriculum renewal. We argue that the vitality of Greek language education depends on three interdependent pillars: family language policies that support bilingual development, accessible and well-designed community or public programs, and a policy environment that recognizes heritage languages as part of Canada’s cultural capital.

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Greeks and Greek Language Education in Canada

  • Themistoklis Aravossitas,
  • Michael Damanakis

摘要

This chapter examines the historical evolution, current landscape, and future prospects of Greek heritage language (HL) education in Canada as a distinctive case of language maintenance and intergenerational transmission. Drawing on historical migration patterns, census data, and programmatic developments across provinces, we map the institutional ecology of Greek language education, including community-run Saturday schools, trilingual day schools, publicly funded International Language Programs, university courses, and post-pandemic online initiatives. The analysis situates Greek HL education within Canada’s multicultural policy framework and provincial jurisdiction of schooling, highlighting both enabling conditions and persistent challenges in funding, teacher preparation, and curriculum renewal. We argue that the vitality of Greek language education depends on three interdependent pillars: family language policies that support bilingual development, accessible and well-designed community or public programs, and a policy environment that recognizes heritage languages as part of Canada’s cultural capital.