The Intonation of Polar Questions in North American (“Heritage”) Icelandic

Using map task data, this paper investigates the intonation of polar questions in North American (heritage) Icelandic, and compares it to the intonation of polar questions in Icelandic as spoken in Iceland and in North American English as spoken in Manitoba, Canada. The results show that intonational features typical of Icelandic polar questions are present to a considerable extent in heritage Icelandic. Furthermore, intonational features typical of North American English polar questions can frequently be observed in heritage Icelandic, too. In addition, there is a tendency for intonational features typical of Icelandic polar questions to show up in North American English polar questions produced by speakers of heritage Icelandic more often than in North American English polar questions produced by speakers without Icelandic heritage. Focusing on intonation, the present study adds to the evidence for (bidirectional) prosodic interference between a heritage language (here moribund Icelandic) and the dominant language (here North American English).*

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Sentence comprehension in heritage language: Isomorphism, word order, and language transfer

Second language Research ◽

10.1177/0267658321997900 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026765832199790

Author(s):

Anna Chrabaszcz ◽

Elena Onischik ◽

Olga Dragoy

Keyword(s):

Sentence Processing ◽

Word Order ◽

Heritage Language ◽

Sentence Comprehension ◽

Language Transfer ◽

Processing Strategy ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

Dominant Language ◽

Sequence Of Events ◽

Linguistic Transfer

This study examines the role of cross-linguistic transfer versus general processing strategy in two groups of heritage speakers ( n = 28 per group) with the same heritage language – Russian – and typologically different dominant languages: English and Estonian. A group of homeland Russian speakers ( n = 36) is tested to provide baseline comparison. Within the framework of the Competition model (MacWhinney, 2012), cross-linguistic transfer is defined as reliance on the processing cue prevalent in the heritage speaker’s dominant language (e.g. word order in English) for comprehension of heritage language. In accordance with the Isomorphic Mapping Hypothesis (O’Grady and Lee, 2005), the general processing strategy is defined in terms of isomorphism as a linear alignment between the order of the sentence constituents and the temporal sequence of events. Participants were asked to match pictures on the computer screen with auditorily presented sentences. Sentences included locative or instrumental constructions, in which two cues – word order (basic vs. inverted) and isomorphism mapping (isomorphic vs. nonisomorphic) – were fully crossed. The results revealed that (1) Russian native speakers are sensitive to isomorphism in sentence processing; (2) English-dominant heritage speakers experience dominant language transfer, as evidenced by their reliance primarily on the word order cue; (3) Estonian-dominant heritage speakers do not show significant effects of isomorphism or word order but experience significant processing costs in all conditions.

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Acoustic correlates of primary and secondary stress in North American English

Journal of Phonetics ◽

10.1016/j.wocn.2011.03.004 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

pp. 362-374 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Ingo Plag ◽

Gero Kunter ◽

Mareile Schramm

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

American English ◽

Secondary Stress ◽

Acoustic Correlates

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The Atlas of North American English and its impacts on approaches to dialect geography

Journal of Sociolinguistics ◽

10.1111/josl.12193 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 489-497 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erik R. Thomas

Keyword(s):

North American ◽

American English ◽

Dialect Geography

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A Psychometric Approach to Heritage Language Studies

Heritage Language Journal ◽

10.46538/hlj.10.2.4 ◽

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.

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