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This paper presents an overview of research on the ‘heritage scholar’, a heritage language learner on a study abroad or exchange program in the ancestral homeland. It first discusses recent work on the significance of intercultural communicative competence for foreign language learners in intercultural contexts like study abroad. It then turns to four studies of heritage language students in the ancestral homeland: two from Mexico and two from Japan. This research shows that being a heritage scholar is a high stakes venture crucially tied to one’s perception of their own identity and proficiency in the heritage language along with whether that perception is acknowledged or rejected by hosts in the ancestral country. In light of the Mexico and Japan research, the paper suggests that the notion of intercultural communicative competence be revised so that it more adequately fit intercultural experiences involving the heritage language speaker and the native speaker. In concluding, the paper argues that the heritage scholar experience should be considered more closely by researchers in study abroad and language education.
