Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>For many heritage language learners, the heritage language is their first language. Despite being native speakers of the language, heritage language learners' speech is often perceived as accented by nonheritage native speakers of the language (e.g., immigrant parents, homeland speakers). While having an accent distinct from the standard variety is not equivalent to having a nonnative accent, heritage language learners often demonstrate low confidence in pronouncing certain words, especially words that are used outside their social domains, and feel anxious when speaking with nonheritage native speakers. Thus, some heritage language learners may be motivated to learn about the pronunciation of their heritage language, since “good” pronunciation is essential not only for successful communication but also for affiliation with the heritage culture. Although pronunciation change in the speech community, especially change related to majority language influence, are often perceived negatively, the goal of heritage language pronunciation courses should not be to teach the “correct” way of pronouncing sounds or to “fix” phonetic divergence from standard variants. Rather, teachers of heritage language pronunciation should incorporate critical language awareness in their courses to dismantle the deficit framework, by highlighting that variation is a natural feature of living languages, and to encourage students to exercise agency in making their own decisions about their language use. Such positive attitudes toward sound change would be beneficial for developing heritage language fluency and, ultimately, for language revitalization and maintenance.</jats:p>