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Second language and heritage learners in mixed classrooms
\"This book addresses the complexity of mixed language classroom learning environments in which heritage learners and second language learners are concurrently exposed to language learning in the same physical space. It offers best practices and reproducible pedagogical initiatives and methodologies for different levels of instruction\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Sources of individual differences in the dual language development of heritage bilinguals
Bilingual children are a more heterogenous group than their monolingual counterparts with respect to the sources of variation in their language learning environments, as well as the wide individual variation in their language abilities. Such heterogeneity in both individual difference factors and language abilities argues for the importance of an individual differences approach in research on bilingual development. The main objective of this article is to provide a review and synthesis of research on the sources of individual differences in the second language (L2) and heritage language (HL) development of child bilinguals. Several child-internal and child-external individual difference factors are discussed with respect to their influence on children’s dual language abilities. In addition, the emergent research on individual differences in bilingual children with developmental language disorder is reviewed. Both the theoretical and applied relevance of individual difference approaches to bilingual development are discussed.
Journal Article
Understanding heritage languages
With a growing interest in heritage languages from researchers of bilingualism and linguistic theory, the field of heritage-language studies has begun to build on its empirical foundations, moving toward a deeper understanding of the nature of language competence under unbalanced bilingualism. In furtherance of this trend, the current work synthesizes pertinent empirical observations and theoretical claims about vulnerable and robust areas of heritage language competence into early steps toward a model of heritage-language grammar. We highlight two key triggers for deviation from the relevant baseline: the quantity and quality of the input from which the heritage grammar is acquired, and the economy of online resources when operating in a less dominant language. In response to these triggers, we identify three outcomes of deviation in the heritage grammar: an avoidance of ambiguity, a resistance to irregularity, and a shrinking of structure. While we are still a ways away from a level of understanding that allows us to predict those aspects of heritage grammar that will be robust and those that will deviate from the relevant baselines, our hope is that the current work will spur the continued development of a predictive model of heritage language competence.
Journal Article
The Results of the National Heritage Language Survey: Implications for Teaching, Curriculum Design, and Professional Development
: This article reports on a survey of heritage language learners (HLLs) across different heritage languages (HLs) and geographic regions in the United States. A general profile of HLLs emerges as a student who (1) acquired English in early childhood, after acquiring the HL; (2) has limited exposure to the HL outside the home; (3) has relatively strong aural and oral skills but limited literacy skills; (4) has positive HL attitudes and experiences; and (5) studies the HL mainly to connect with communities of speakers in the United States and to gain insights into his or her roots. We argue that a community‐based curriculum represents an effective way to harness the wealth of knowledge and experiences that HLLs bring to the classroom and to respond to their goals for their HL.
Journal Article
Input effects across domains
A recurring question in the literature of heritage language acquisition, and more generally of bilingual acquisition, is whether all linguistic domains are sensitive to input reduction and to cross-linguistic influence and to what extent. According to the Interface Hypothesis, morphosyntactic phenomena regulated by discourse–pragmatic conditions are more likely to lead to non-native outcomes than strictly syntactic aspects of the language (Sorace, 2011). To test this hypothesis, we examined subject realization and placement in Greek–English bilingual children learning Greek as a heritage language in North America and investigated whether the amount of heritage language use can predict their performance in syntax–discourse and narrow syntactic contexts. Results indicated two deviations from the Interface Hypothesis: First, subject realization (a syntax–discourse phenomenon) was found to be largely unproblematic. Second, subject placement was affected not only in syntax–discourse structures but also in narrow syntactic structures, though to a lesser degree, suggesting that the association between the interface status of subject placement and its sensitivity to heritage language use among children heritage speakers is gradient rather than categorical.
Journal Article
DIFFERENTIAL OBJECT MARKING IN SPANISH, HINDI, AND ROMANIAN AS HERITAGE LANGUAGES
Erosion of DIFFERENTIAL OBJECT MARKING (DOM)—the overt morphological marking of animate direct objects—has been observed in Spanish heritage speakers who are second-generation immigrants in the United States (Montrul 2004, Montrul & Bowles 2009). We investigated whether DOM is similarly vulnerable in heritage speakers of Hindi and Romanian, two other languages that also exhibit DOM, as well as in first-generation immigrants, adults who are presumably the main source of input to heritage speakers. We report the results of three experimental studies testing acceptability of DOM through a bimodal judgment task in first- and second-generation Spanish, Hindi, and Romanian speakers in the US and native speakers in Mexico, India, and Romania matched for age and socioeconomic status. Our results show structural changes with DOM in all of the heritage speaker groups to different degrees. Acceptance of nontarget DOM omission was more extensive in Spanish than in Hindi and Romanian. First-generation Hindi and Romanian immigrants did not differ in their grammatical proficiency and acceptance of DOM omission from the Hindi and Romanian speakers tested in India and in Romania. However, the first-generation Mexican immigrants displayed similar performance to the Spanish heritage speakers, suggesting that Spanish DOM is prone to L1 attrition in the first generation as well. We discuss linguistic and experiential factors relevant to the three languages and the three immigrant communities to explain these findings.
Journal Article
What modulates the acquisition of difficult structures in a heritage language? A study on Portuguese in contact with French, German and Italian
Several studies on heritage language (HL) acquisition investigate a single linguistic structure, showing how language exposure or cross-linguistic effects affect its acquisition. Here, we consider HL speaking children's mastery of several linguistic structures using a cloze-test. We examine how their language competence is affected by language exposure variables and age. We tested 180 children between the ages of 8 and 16, living in Switzerland and speaking European Portuguese as HL and French, German or Italian as their societal language. The items of the cloze-test cluster around two levels of difficulty, with the items at the second level corresponding to structures that are acquired late in Portuguese monolingual acquisition. Older age and a greater amount of formal instruction in the HL lead to better performance. The role of the amount of formal instruction varies based on the level of difficulty of the target structures. Cross-linguistic influence does not affect the results.
Journal Article
Research on university‐based Spanish heritage language programs in the United States: The state of affairs in 2022
Research on Spanish heritage language (SHL) education has grown exponentially in the last two decades. The most recent nationwide study on SHL programs in US postsecondary institutions was conducted a decade ago. To continue this line of research, the primary aim of this study is to provide an update about the current state of SHL course offerings at 4‐year universities in the United States. SHL programs can promote academic success for Latinx students who see their language and culture asserted. In turn, valuing their heritage language skills and supporting their language development can help Latinx students expand their multilingual abilities for use with their families and communities, as well as in professional contexts. Results reveal that the last decade (2012–2022) witnessed tremendous increase in the availability of SHL programs, although some of the challenges reported in prior research still remain nationwide. The Challenge Research on Spanish heritage language (SHL) education has grown exponentially in the past two decades, underscoring the benefits of SHL programs. However, the impact of this research on the spread of SHL programs is unknown. The main question that guides the present study is, given the surge of the Latinx student population in higher education and the mounting evidence supporting SHL education, what is the current state of university‐based SHL programs?
Journal Article
Acquiring morphology through adolescence in Spanish as a heritage language: The case of subjunctive mood
The present study tested Spanish heritage speakers' (HSs') production and selection of subjunctive mood in volitional clauses. Four groups participated to expose the effects of age on subjunctive acquisition: Spanish-dominant bilingual adults (SDBA; n = 18), HSs in fifth grade (HS5; n = 41), HSs in seventh/eighth grades (HS7/8; n = 34) and HS adults (HSA; n = 34). SDBAs produced and selected the subjunctive more than HS groups. There were no differences in production and selection between the HS7/8 and HSA groups, both of whom produced and selected subjunctive mood more frequently than the HS5 group. These results point toward protracted heritage language development. HSs selected the subjunctive more than they produced it, supporting theories that dissociate between mapping forms onto morphology and underlying syntactic competence. Finally, proficiency and frequency of use modulated individual variability between HSs. Results are addressed relative to incomplete acquisition, protracted development and feature reassembly.
Journal Article