scholarly journals PRIMING DATIVE CLITICS IN SPOKEN SPANISH AS A SECOND AND HERITAGE LANGUAGE

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Irati Hurtado ◽  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Baseline Study ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task

Abstract Spanish monolingual speakers often produce recipient (Pedro le da un lápiz a María) and nonrecipient constructions (Antonio le lava la camiseta a Carmen) doubled by a dative clitic. Second language speakers and heritage speakers usually avoid clitics. This study examined whether structural priming could effectively increase the production of clitics in monolingual speakers (N = 23), L2 speakers (N = 28), and heritage speakers (N = 24). Participants completed a baseline study that measured the use of clitics in a picture description task, followed by a priming treatment, an immediate posttest, and a posttest a week later. Results showed that priming increased clitic production for all groups, and that the increase was still significant a week later in L2 speakers and heritage speakers. These findings support the view that structural priming may implicate implicit language learning and considers its pedagogical implications.

Is the heritage language like a second language?

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina A. Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Family Language

Many heritage speakers (bilinguals in a minority language context) turn to the second language (L2) classroom to expand their knowledge of the heritage language. Critical questions arise as to how their linguistic knowledge compares to that of post puberty L2 learners. Focusing on recent experimental research on grammatical domains typically affected in both L2 learners and heritage speakers, this article addresses whether exposure to the family language since birth even under reduced input conditions leads to more native-like linguistic knowledge in heritage speakers as opposed to L2 learners with a later age of acquisition of the language, how differences in input and language learning experience determine the behavioral manifestations of linguistic knowledge, and whether formal instruction in the classroom is beneficial to heritage speakers. I argue that the extension of theoretical frameworks and methodologies from SLA has significantly advanced the field of heritage language acquisition, but deeper understanding of these speakers will also need more fruitful integration of the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic factors that contribute to the acquisition and maintenance of heritage languages.

scholarly journals ‘transformative’ potential of translanguaging and other heteroglossic educational practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-289
Author(s):  
M. Rafael Salaberry
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
The Us ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish

Over the last few decades, there has been an increased awareness about imprecise, inaccurate and, thus, unfair conceptualisations of language based on monoglossic views of language that delegitimise the linguistic repertoire of multilingual minorities as is the case of heritage speakers of Spanish in the US or speakers of Lingua Franca English worldwide. At the same time, there are theoretical and educational proposals that offer new conceptualisations of multilingualism focused on the concept of heteroglossia, which, in contrast with monoglossic views, focuses our attention on the fluid and full use of all linguistic resources available to language learners/users as they engage in the process of interacting with their interlocutors. In the present paper, I describe an important challenge that compromises the valuable agenda of heteroglossic approaches to develop multilingualism: the effect of listeners’ biases and reverse linguistic stereotyping. That is, educational programmes designed to counteract the negative effect of monoglossic approaches to second language learning in general cannot adopt a segregationist approach (neither in their theoretical design nor in their practical implementation). To place this challenge in context, I describe in detail the specific example of Spanish heritage second language learners at the tertiary level of education in the US setting and I also provide a broad outline of potential improvements in the curricular design of such programmes.

Attitudes and Motivations of Adult Spanish Language Learners: A Comparison of Heritage Language Learners and Second Language Learners

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet S. Oh ◽  
Bertha A. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Background Factors ◽  
Learning Success

Research on background factors in adult language learners’ success has largely focused on first-time learners of a second language. In this study, we utilize a well-established second language learner model (the Socioeducational Model; Gardner, 1985a) to compare heritage language and second language learners in a first-semester college Spanish class. Participants (31 heritage language learners; 80 second language learners) completed a survey at the end of the semester assessing their ethnic identity, language backgrounds, attitudes and motivation toward learning Spanish. Course grades were collected as a measure of language learning success. Results indicate that heritage language learners and second language learners are similar on most background factors, but that the background factors predicting each group’s language learning success are quite different. Implications for our understanding of language learners and future research directions are discussed.

Seeking Explanatory Adequacy: A Dual Approach to Understanding the Term Heritage Language Learner

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carreira
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Heritage Language Learner ◽  
Explanatory Adequacy

What is a heritage language learner (HLL)? We argue that a pedagogically valuable answer to this question must do more than describe all individuals who ought be considered HLLs; it should also offer a roadmap for meeting the needs of HLLs with regard to language learning. To achieve this goal, which we refer to as achieving “explanatory adequacy”, the answer to the above question must 1) differentiate HLLs from second-language learners (SLLs), 2) differentiate HLLs from first-language learners (L1Ls), and 3) differentiate between different types of HLLs. In reference to the first task, we propose that HLLs are students whose identity and/or linguistic needs differ from those of second language learners by virtue of having a family background in the heritage language (HL) or culture (HC). In reference to the second task, we argue that unlike L1L-s, HLLs do not receive sufficient exposure to their language and culture to fulfill basic identity and linguistic needs. Consequently, they pursue language learning to fulfill these needs. Finally, with regard to the third task, we map out four categories of HLLs, each with different identity and linguistic needs. Along the way, we advocate for endowing all language courses where HLLs are enrolled with a focus on identity and language issues, as these relate to family background.

Acquisition of Spanish verbal morphology by child bilinguals: Overregularization by heritage speakers and second language learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Fernández-Dobao ◽  
Julia Herschensohn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Dual Immersion ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Old Spanish ◽  
Present Tense

AbstractThe current study analyzes Spanish present tense morphology with a focus on overregularization. It examines written production from two groups of English/Spanish bilingual children in a dual immersion setting, Spanish heritage language (SHL) speakers (n = 21) and Spanish second language (SL2) learners (n = 41), comparing them to age-matched (nine to ten years old) Spanish majority language children (n = 15). Spanish majority children show full mastery of present tense regular, stem-changing and irregular morphology. SHL children seem to have acquired mastery of regular inflectional morphology, but not of stem-changing morphology. SL2 children are significantly less accurate than both majority Spanish and SHL children in terms of both regular and irregular morphology. Evidence of overregularization, but not of irregularization, is provided for both SHL and SL2 children. The analysis of overregularization errors supports a variational approach (Yang, 2016) to acquisition, storage and access of morphology.

scholarly journals A Case Study of Using Online Communities and Virtual Environment in Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) as a Learning and Teaching Tool for Second Language Learners

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isara Kongmee ◽  
Rebecca Strachan ◽  
Alison Pickard ◽  
Catherine Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Role Playing Games ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Massively Multiplayer

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) create large virtual communities. Online gaming shows potential not just for entertaining, but also in education. This research investigates the use of commercial MMORPGs to support second language teaching. MMORPGs offer virtual safe spaces in which students can communicate by using their target second language with global players. Using a mix of ethnography and action research, this study explores the students’ experiences of language learning and performing while playing MMORPGs. The results show that the use of MMORPGs can facilitate language development by offering fun, informal, individualised and secure virtual spaces for students to practise their language with native and other second language speakers.

Arabic plurals and root and pattern morphology in Palestinian and Egyptian heritage speakers

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elabbas Benmamoun ◽  
Abdulkafi Albirini ◽  
Silvina Montrul ◽  
Eman Saadah
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Good Grasp ◽  
Arabic Morphology ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Arabic Dialects ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Palestinian Arabic ◽  
Linguistic Approaches

This study investigates heritage speakers’ knowledge of plural formation in their colloquial varieties of Arabic, which use both concatenative and non-concatentative modes of derivation. In the concatenative derivation, a plural suffix attaches to the singular stem (muhandis ‘engineer-sg.’ → muhandis-iin ‘engineer-pl’); in the non-concatenative, the relation between the singular (gamal ‘camel’) and the plural (gimaal ‘camels’) typically involves vocalic and prosodic alternations with the main shared similarity between the two forms being the consonantal root (e.g., g-m-l). In linguistic approaches, non-concatenative patterns have been captured in different ways, though the earliest and most recognizable approach involves the mapping of a consonantal root onto a plural template. We investigated heritage speakers’ knowledge of the root and pattern system in two independent experiments. In Experiment 1, oral narratives were elicited from 20 heritage speakers and 20 native speakers of Egyptian and Palestinian Arabic. In Experiment 2, another group of 24 heritage speakers and 24 native speakers of the same dialects completed an oral picture-description task. The results of the two experiments show that heritage speakers’ knowledge of the root and pattern system of Arabic is not target-like. Yet, they have a good grasp of the root and template as basic units of word formation in their heritage Arabic dialects. We discuss implications for debates about the acquisition of the root and pattern system of Arabic morphology.

Complexity in Instructed Heritage Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Julio Torres
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Language Studies

Abstract In this article, I reflect on the role of linguistic complexity in instructed heritage language (HL) acquisition by specifically examining morphosyntactic linguistic complexity as it relates to factors such as transparency, saliency, and communicative value. First, I critically evaluate previous proposals on linking formal HL studies to pedagogy by arguing that learning in instructed contexts is a complex task that requires research on a number of variables including linguistic complexity. Second, I summarize the lessons learned in the field of instructed second language acquisition with regard to complexity in additional language learning. Third, by reviewing an empirical study on the development of Spanish gender assignment and agreement in writing, I provide a few arguments for investigating the interplay between linguistic complexity and the prior language experience that HL learners bring into the learning environment. Informed by findings from instructed second language studies, I propose that instructed HL studies also examine how linguistic complexity is potentially interwoven with type of instruction and individual differences.

Multiple language learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 196-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emrullah Seker
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Basic Skill ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Quantitative Properties ◽  
Multiple Languages

English is no longer seen as an extra qualification and it has become a sine qua non basic skill rather than a foreign language, resulting in the slogan English is not enough not only for second language speakers of English but also for the L1 speakers. Accordingly, in this paper, we review studies on multilingualism and simultaneous or successive learning of multiple languages and describe the languages involved in terms of their qualitative or quantitative properties by referring to accessibility, universal grammar and initial state theories, finally aiming to dissipate the terminological ambiguity in the field. In this context, based on the current theories of Universal Grammar on lexical and grammatical learning and theoretical and applied studies on multilingualism and multilingual individuals, we put forth approaches and strategies suggested for simultaneous or successive learning of multiple languages. The results obtained from the study not only contribute to the terminology but also understanding of the simultaneous and successive learning of multiple languages. Keywords: languages, learning, strategies, multilingualism.

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