scholarly journals TERMINOLOGY MATTERS ON THEORETICAL GROUNDS TOO!

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatih Bayram ◽  
Tanja Kupisch ◽  
Diego Pascual y Cabo ◽  
Jason Rothman
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
The Core ◽  
General Thesis ◽  
Ultimate Attainment ◽  
Incomplete Acquisition

AbstractHerein, we provide counterargumentation to some of Domínguez, Hicks, and Slabakova's claims that the termincomplete acquisitionis conceptually necessary on theoretical grounds for describing the outcome grammars of heritage language bilingualism. Specifically, we clarify their claim that previous challenging of the term in our and others’ work is primarily based on a misconceived belief that incompleteness is intended to describe heritage speakers. We contextualize and problematize their appropriation of descriptive constructs in the adjacent fields of child L1, child 2L1, and adult L2 acquisition as a basis for supporting their general thesis. Relatedly, we conclude that a fundamental blurring of development and ultimate attainment issues is at the core of what, in our view, is flawed reasoning. While we empathize with the well-intentioned spirit of Domínguez et al.’s article—to provide a forum for respectful discussion—we invite the field to engage more directly with the inherent quandary of labeling the coherent grammars of heritage bilinguals in their own right as “incomplete” on the basis of differences to standard varieties.

A Psychometric Approach to Heritage Language Studies

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Irina Sekerina
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Standardized Assessment ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
The Core ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Ultimate Attainment ◽  
Effect Of Age

The central goal of the heritage language (HL) curriculum is to facilitate ultimate attainment of the language by advanced speakers. However, the field of HL studies faces a problem in how to accurately and efficiently identify and measure weaknesses and strengths of advanced HL speakers on their way to ultimate attainment. So far, only the age of arrival to the country where the dominant language is spoken has been formally investigated as the most critical factor that influences full professional proficiency and ultimate attainment of the HL. The field of HL studies needs to embrace a formal psychometric approach that will allow us to go beyond the effect of age of arrival to uncover contributions of other naturally occurring factors, i.e., genetic, physiological, cognitive, developmental and environmental. At the core of this approach lies a comprehensive standardized assessment of (a) proficiency in HL and (b) general cognitive abilities.

Assessing Differences and Similarities between Instructed Heritage Language Learners and L2 Learners in Their Knowledge of Spanish Tense-Aspect and Mood (TAM) Morphology

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Silvia Perpiñán
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Classic Problem ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
L1 Acquisition

The acquisition of the aspectual difference between the preterit and imperfect in the past tense and the acquisition of the contrast between subjunctive and indicative mood are classic problem areas in second language (L2) acquisition of Spanish by English-speaking learners (Collentine, 1995, 1998, 2003; Salaberry, 1999; Slabakova & Montrul, 2002; Terrell, Baycroft & Perrone, 1987). Similarly, Spanish heritage speakers in the U.S exhibit simplification of the preterit/imperfect contrast and incomplete acquisition/attrition of subjunctive morphology (Merino, 1983; Montrul, 2002, 2007; Potowski, Jegerski & Morgan-Short, 2009; Silva-Corvalán, 1994). This raises the question of whether the linguistic knowledge of a developing L2 learner is similar to incomplete L1 acquisition in heritage language (HL) learners. Because heritage speakers are exposed to the heritage language from infancy whereas L2 learners begin exposure much later, Au et al. (2002, 2008) have claimed that heritage speakers are linguistically superior to L2 learners only in phonology but not in morphosyntax. The present study reexamines this claim by focusing on the interpretation of tense, aspect and mood (TAM) morphology in 60 instructed HL learners and 60 L2 learners ranging from low to advanced proficiency in Spanish. Results of four written tasks showed differences between the groups both in tense and aspect and in mood morphology, depending on proficiency levels. Implications of these findings for heritage language instruction are discussed.

Preposition Stranding in Spanish as a Heritage Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Pascual y Cabo
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
The Core ◽  
Preposition Stranding ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
Timing Of Exposure

Previous research examining heritage speaker bilingualism has suggested that interfaceconditioned properties are likely to be affected by crosslinguistic influence (e.g., Montrul & Polinsky, 2011; White, 2011). It is not clear, however, whether the core syntax can also be affected to the same degree (e.g., Cuza, 2013; Depiante & Thompson, 2013). Departing from Cuza’s (2013) and Depiante and Thompson’s (2013) research, the present study seeks to determine the extent to which this is possible in the case of Spanish as a heritage language. With this goal in mind, a total of thirty-three Spanish heritage speakers (divided into sequential and simultaneous bilinguals) and a comparison group of eleven late Spanish-English bilinguals completed a battery of off-line tasks that examined knowledge and use of preposition stranding (i.e., a syntactic construction whereby the object of the preposition is fronted while the preposition itself is left stranded), an understudied core syntactic phenomenon that is licit in English but precluded in Spanish. Overall findings reveal that the sequential heritage speakers pattern with participants from the control group. The simultaneous heritage speakers, on the other hand, seem to have a grammar that is not so restricting as they accept and produce ungrammatical cases of preposition stranding. Herein, we argue that these results do not obtain the way they do due to incomplete acquisition or L1 attrition but crucially because of the timing of exposure to the societal language. We propose that this property was completely acquired, although differently acquired due to the structural overlap observed between the two languages involved (e.g., Müller & Hulk, 2001), and most importantly, to the timing of acquisition of English (e.g., Putnam & Sánchez, 2013).

scholarly journals Terminology matters! Why difference is not incompleteness and how early child bilinguals are heritage speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 564-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Kupisch ◽  
Jason Rothman
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Early Child ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
Heritage Language Acquisition ◽  
Formal Instruction ◽  
Bilingual Literature ◽  
Incomplete Acquisition

This paper integrates research on child simultaneous bilingual acquisition more directly into the heritage language acquisition literature. The child simultaneous bilingual literature mostly focuses on development in childhood, whereas heritage speakers are often tested at an endstate in adulthood. However, insights from child simultaneous bilingual acquisition must be considered in heritage language acquisition theorizing precisely because many heritage speakers demonstrate the adult outcomes of child simultaneous bilingual acquisition. Data from child simultaneous bilingual acquisition raises serious questions for the construct of incomplete acquisition, a term broadly used in heritage language acquisition studies to describe almost any difference heritage speakers display from baseline controls (usually monolinguals). We offer an epistemological discussion related to incomplete acquisition, highlighting the descriptive and theoretical inaccuracy of the term. We focus our discussion on two of several possible causal factors that contribute to variable competence outcomes in adult heritage speakers: input and formal instruction in the heritage language. We conclude by offering alternative terminology for heritage speaker outcomes.

Features of Portuguese as a heritage language: Morphosyntax and beyond

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gláucia Silva
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Incomplete Acquisition

AbstractThis paper reviews findings about linguistic features of Portuguese as a heritage language (PHL) in contact with English and German. The paper reviews some of the issues that have been uncovered in relation to morphosyntatic and sociopragmatic knowledge among heritage speakers of European and Brazilian Portuguese. The paper also discusses a few possible directions for future research in PHL that might shed light on morphosyntactic issues and on whether certain features illustrate examples of attrition or incomplete acquisition.

scholarly journals Israeli Russian: Case morphology in a bilingual context

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 886-907
Author(s):  
Natalia Meir ◽  
Marina Avramenko ◽  
Tatiana Verkhovtceva
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Case Morphology ◽  
Potential Factors ◽  
Ultimate Attainment

The current study investigates case morphology development in a bilingual context. It is aimed at investigating potential mechanisms driving divergences in heritage language grammars as compared to the baseline monolingual standards. For the purposes of the study, 95 bilingual and monolingual children and adults were compared. Bilinguals residing in Israel acquired Russian from birth, while the age of onset of Hebrew varied. The participants completed a production task eliciting accusative case inflections. Both child and adult heritage speakers of Russian with early age of onset of Hebrew (before the age of 5) showed divergences in the production of the accusative case inflections as compared to monolingual Russian-speaking controls (adult and child), whereas grammars of Israeli heritage Russian speakers with later ages of onset of Hebrew, after the age of 5, were found to be intact. On the basis of Russian in contact with Hebrew, the study discusses how heritage language grammars differ from the baseline grammars of monolingual speakers and which mechanisms are associated with heritage language ultimate attainment. The effects of the age of onset and cross-linguistic influence from the dominant societal language are discussed as potential factors affecting the acquisition / maintenance of linguistic phenomena in heritage language grammars.

scholarly journals French as a Heritage Language in Germany

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Johanna Stahnke ◽  
Laia Arnaus Gil ◽  
Natascha Müller
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Current State ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Incomplete Acquisition

Research on child heritage speakers (HSs) has shown successful language acquisition, comparable to monolinguals, whereas research on adult HSs often claims incomplete acquisition. This seems to be an evident contradiction in the current state of research, which may be explained by a possible language shift during adolescence or adulthood, but which does not necessarily have to be equated with a lack of competence. In an overview of the existing studies on child and adult HSs of French in Germany, we show that HSs are not incomplete acquirers of French and we suggest theoretical and practical implications following these findings. Our aim is to show, first, that HSs of French in Germany are not unanimously disadvantaged compared with French speakers in countries where French is a majority language, and second, that complete acquisition is independent of language dominance, a notion that has received particular attention in studies on multilingual and HL acquisition.

What’s so incomplete about incomplete acquisition?

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Putnam ◽  
Liliana Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
The Core ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Incomplete Acquisition

Modeling the competence grammar of heritage speakers who exhibit low proficiency in their L1 represents a significant challenge for generative and experimental approaches to bilingual linguistic research. In this paper we revisit the core tenets of the incomplete acquisition hypothesis as developed in recent scholarship (in particular by Montrul (2002 et seq.) and Polinsky (1997, 2006)). Although we adopt many of these fundamental aspects of this research program, in this article we develop an alternative model that provides a more accurate depiction of the process that leads to what these scholars describe as the (later) effects of incomplete acquisition, thus improving the predictive power of this research program.

scholarly journals Ultimate attainment in heritage language speakers: Syntactic and morphological knowledge of Italian accusative clitics

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-380
Author(s):  
Francesco Bryan Romano
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Ultimate Attainment

AbstractThe acquisition of a heritage language, normally the weaker language of early bilinguals, has been oftentimes defined as incomplete, especially for morphosyntax. As a result, these early bilinguals resemble late bilinguals more than native language speakers, calling into question the role of age of exposure. The effects of syntactic complexity on knowledge of morphosyntactic structures, however, have not been sufficiently considered hitherto. This study investigates age of exposure and syntactic complexity by comparing heritage, second language, and native language speakers on knowledge of Italian accusative clitics in three structures. An oral structural priming task and a speeded grammaticality judgment task find a discrepancy in the level of ultimate attainment heritage speakers reach for syntax and morphology. While their abstract representation of clitic structures approximates that of native language speakers more closely, their morphological knowledge of clitics aligns with second language speakers, suggesting early exposure has tangible effects only on syntactic knowledge. In turn, syntactic complexity affects the representation of clitic structures in a predictable manner, but is inconsequential to explicit knowledge of morphological forms in monolingual and bilingual speakers. Lack of age of exposure effects in the morphological domain are attributed to interface vulnerability.

The production and perception of Turkish evidentiality markers by Turkish-German returnees

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Didem Kaya-Soykan ◽  
Elena Antonova-Unlu ◽  
Cigdem Sagin-Simsek
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Ultimate Attainment ◽  
Turkish German

AbstractThe study contributes to research on the development of the heritage language after return to the country of origin and examines whether the ultimate attainment of the heritage grammar after many years of residing in the country of origin brings returnees to a level compatible with that of monolinguals. We focus on the production and perception of evidentiality markers in the heritage Turkish of Turkish-German bilinguals who returned to Turkey after finishing a German high school and have been residing in Turkey for more than 11 years. Two production tasks (a narrative task and a discourse completion task), as well as a grammaticality judgement task were used in the study. The data analysis revealed that the production and perception of evidentiality by the returnee participants diverged from those of the monolingual control group. The divergence manifested itself in ungrammatical uses of evidentiality markers in the context of the indirect evidentiality and less sensitivity to grammatical and ungrammatical items comprising direct and indirect evidentiality markers. The findings of the study suggest that after many years of residing in Turkey the language behaviour of the returnee participants still possesses features that are typical for heritage speakers.

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