This book contributes to building the research knowledge that language teaching professionals need in developing curriculum for the large population of East Asian heritage students (including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) in countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia, where speakers of East Asian languages are among the fastest growing populations.

Providing theoretical and practical information about heritage-language instruction in terms of curriculum design, learner needs, materials development, and assessment procedures, this book aims to promote research about heritage students in East Asian languages and improve the teaching of these students in various educational settings. "...this book provides a much needed contribution to the understanding of East Asian HL learners. Indeed, much of this work is relevant to foreign language educators in general. Those interested in needs assessment and curriculum development will particularly enjoy this text." -- Tim Newfields, TESL-EJ, June 2008, Volume 12, Number 12