When bilinguals outperform monolinguals

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Miller
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
The United States ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Crucial Difference ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish

Abstract This study explores cross-linguistic influence among different populations of Spanish-English bilinguals by studying their interpretation, production and acceptance of definite articles in subject position. The three bilingual groups included Heritage Speakers of Spanish living in the United States, L1 English/L2 Spanish speakers, and L1 Spanish/L2 English speakers. Two groups of monolingual speakers (Spanish and English) were also tested for comparison. Results show that instructed bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on the acceptability judgment task but that monolinguals performed better on the interpretation tasks. Additionally, the type of linguistic experience each group had was found to predict variable performance across acceptance, production, and interpretation tasks. These results support multi-competence models of bilingualism, which argue that language performance is linked to language experience, suggesting that variable amounts of exposure rather than age of onset of acquisition may be the crucial difference between first language and second language speakers.

scholarly journals The Development of Subject Position in Dutch-Dominant Heritage Speakers of Spanish: From Age 9 to Adulthood

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
van Osch ◽  
García González ◽  
Hulk ◽  
Sleeman ◽  
Aalberse
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Language Literature

This exploratory study investigates the knowledge of word order in intransitive sentences by heritage speakers of Spanish of different age groups: 9-year-olds, 13-year-olds and adults. In doing so, we aim to fill a gap in the heritage language literature, which, to date, has mainly focused on adult heritage speakers and preschool bilingual children. The results from a judgment task reveal that child- and adolescent heritage speakers do not entirely resemble monolingual age-matched children in the acquisition of subjects in Spanish, nor do they assimilate adult heritage speakers. The data suggest that several different processes can occur simultaneously in the acquisition of word order in heritage speakers: monolingual-like acquisition, delayed acquisition, and attrition. An analysis of the influence of extraneous variables suggests that most of these effects are likely to be the consequence of quantitatively reduced input in the heritage language and increased input in the majority language.

Vulnerability and Cross-linguistic Influence in Heritage Spanish: Comparing Different Majority Languages

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-366
Author(s):  
Brechje van Osch
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
Interesting Difference ◽  
Specific Vulnerability ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
English Dominant

This paper compares Dutch-dominant and English-dominant heritage speakers of Spanish regarding their sensitivity to the various factors that play a role in subject position. An acceptability judgment task and an elicited production task demonstrated that both groups were sensitive to the effect of verb type on word order, but not to the effect of focus. To account for the specific vulnerability of focus, several possible accounts are proposed. An interesting difference occurred between the two heritage speaker groups regarding their knowledge of the effect of definiteness on word order. The Dutch-dominant group outperformed the English dominant group in this condition, arguably helped by the similarity between Dutch and Spanish regarding the definiteness effect on word order. This finding shows that properties inherent to the heritage language and cross-linguistic influence from the majority language are both crucial elements in explaining vulnerability in heritage grammars.

On the role of experience and age-related effects: Evidence from the Spanish CP

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The present study examines and compares the extent to which advanced L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage speakers acquire the syntactic and semantic properties that regulate the grammatical representation of double complementizer questions in Spanish, a CP-related structure not present in English. Results from an aural sentence completion task, an acceptability judgment task, and a preference task indicate significant differences between the two experimental groups and the monolingual controls. However, the heritage speakers outperformed the L2 learners in their target use and interpretation, which suggests a linguistic benefit for earlier exposure and use of Spanish during childhood. We propose that the differences observed among the L2 learners and the heritage speakers can be accounted for in terms of cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language as well as language experience and age of onset of bilingualism as an interrelated dimension in L2 and heritage language development.

How do Spanish heritage speakers in the US assign gender to English nouns in Spanish-English code-switching?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Nofiya Denbaum ◽  
Ana de Prada Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mode Effect ◽  
Bilingual Speaker ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Abstract Previous studies have observed different gender assignment strategies for English nouns in Spanish-English code-switching (CS). However, these studies have not investigated the role of noun gender canonicity of the Spanish equivalent, they have only examined participants in bilingual speaker mode, and most studies have not explored the role of bilingual language experience. The current study compares gender assignment by heritage speakers of Spanish in a monolingual speaker mode and a bilingual speaker mode, considering the role of noun gender canonicity and CS experience. Results revealed a language mode effect, where participants used significantly more masculine determiners with the same feminine nouns in the CS session than those in the Spanish monolingual session where they used a feminine determiner. Further evidence of a language mode effect was found in the effect of noun canonicity and bilingual language experience. Noun canonicity was only significant in the Spanish monolingual session, where participants used significantly more masculine determiners with non-canonical nouns. Bilingual language experience was only significant in the CS session, where regular codeswitchers used more masculine default determiners than infrequent codeswitchers and non-codeswitchers, while in Spanish-only, all these groups behaved similarly.

scholarly journals An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Spanish Immersion Education on the Acquisition of Pronominal Subjects in Child Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Michele Goldin
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
English Dominant

Studies have found that aspects of grammar that lie at the syntax–pragmatics interface, such as the use of pronominal subjects in null-subject languages, are likely to undergo cross-linguistic influence in bilingual speakers. This study contributes to our understanding of the role of Spanish immersion academic instruction on the comprehension of null subjects in English-dominant, Spanish-heritage children living in the United States. Two groups of bilingual children aged 4 to 7 (those attending a Spanish immersion school and those not) completed an acceptability judgment task in both English and Spanish. English monolingual children and monolingually raised Spanish children of the same ages also completed the task in their respective languages. The findings revealed that children in the Spanish immersion school performed on par with their monolingual peers in Spanish, but accepted significantly more ungrammatical null subjects in English than the other groups. These results suggest that immersion schooling plays a role in extending the English null subject stage in bilingual children due to competing input and cross-linguistic influence.

Narrow presentational focus in heritage Spanish and the syntax‒discourse interface

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley Hoot
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Specific Vulnerability ◽  
Discourse Pragmatics ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract The grammars of bilinguals have been found to differ from those of monolinguals especially with regard to phenomena that involve the interface of syntax and discourse/pragmatics. This paper examines one syntax‒discourse interface phenomenon – presentational focus – in the grammars of heritage speakers of Spanish. The results of a contextualized acceptability judgment task indicate that lower proficiency heritage speakers show some variability in the structures they accept to realize focus, whereas higher proficiency heritage bilinguals pattern with monolinguals. These results suggest that some explanations of domain-specific vulnerability in bilingual grammars, including the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2011), may need to be revised.

scholarly journals Gender in Unilingual and Mixed Speech of Spanish Heritage Speakers in The Netherlands

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Ivo Boers ◽  
Bo Sterken ◽  
Brechje van Osch ◽  
M. Carmen Parafita Couto ◽  
Janet Grijzenhout ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Translation Equivalent ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Switching Mode ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

This study examines heritage speakers of Spanish in The Netherlands regarding their production of gender in both their languages (Spanish and Dutch) as well as their gender assignment strategies in code-switched constructions. A director-matcher task was used to elicit unilingual and mixed speech from 21 participants (aged 8 to 52, mean = 17). The nominal domain consisting of a determiner, noun, and adjective was targeted in three modes: (i) Unilingual Spanish mode, (ii) unilingual Dutch mode, and (iii) code-switched mode in both directions (Dutch to Spanish and Spanish to Dutch). The production of gender in both monolingual modes was deviant from the respective monolingual norms, especially in Dutch, the dominant language of the society. In the code-switching mode, evidence was found for the gender default strategy (common in Dutch, masculine in Spanish), the analogical gender strategy (i.e., the preference to assign the gender of the translation equivalent) as well as two thus far unattested strategies involving a combination of a default gender and the use of a non-prototypical word order. External factors such as age of onset of bilingualism, amount of exposure and use of both languages had an effect on both gender accuracy in the monolingual modes and assignment strategies in the code-switching modes.

Spanish heritage speakers in the Netherlands: Linguistic patterns in the judgment and production of mood

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 513-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brechje van Osch ◽  
Petra Sleeman
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Mixed Effects Modeling ◽  
The Us ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish

Purpose: This study investigates heritage speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands regarding their knowledge of Spanish mood. Previous research has demonstrated that heritage speakers of Spanish in the US have problems with mood, especially subjunctive mood and particularly in contexts where choice of mood is variable and depends on semantic and pragmatic factors. Moreover, heritage speakers are often reported to experience fewer problems with oral production tasks tapping into implicit knowledge than with judgment tasks targeting metalinguistic knowledge. This study aims to investigate whether these patterns can be confirmed for heritage speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands. Methodology: In all, 17 heritage speakers from the Netherlands and 18 monolingual speakers of Spanish completed a contextualized elicited production task. Each item contained a context targeting either indicative or subjunctive mood. Below each context followed the beginning of a sentence which the participants were instructed to complete. Both obligatory and variable uses of mood were included. The results were compared to findings from a contextualized scalar acceptability judgment task described in an earlier study using the same conditions and the same participants. Data and analysis: All responses were coded as felicitous or infelicitous given the accompanying context and were analyzed using mixed effects modeling. The results demonstrate that the heritage speakers are less accurate in their choice of mood than monolingual speakers, particularly on subjunctive mood and in variable contexts. Furthermore, heritage speakers deviated more from the monolingual patterns in the production task than in the judgment task. Findings/conclusion: These results confirm several patterns attested for heritage speakers of Spanish in the US, namely the increased vulnerability of subjunctive mood and in contexts where mood is not obligatorily selected. However, in contrast to previous literature, this study reports better performance on a metalinguistic judgment task than on an oral production task. This finding is attributed to differences in societal circumstances between both heritage speaker populations. Implications of the research: This study confirms the heterogeneity of heritage speakers as a population and emphasizes the importance of taking societal circumstances into consideration.

scholarly journals The Effect of Silence and Distance: Evidence from Recomplementation in US Heritage Spanish

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Choice Preference ◽  
Baseline Group ◽  
Colombian Spanish ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽  
Experimental Findings ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon

The present study investigates the architecture of heritage language grammars, as well as divergence from the baseline, by offering novel data. Recomplementation is defined as a left-dislocated phrase sandwiched between a primary (C1) and an optional secondary (C2) complementizer, e.g., He said that1later in the afternoon that2he would clean his room. While formal syntactic-theoretical accounts align on the grammaticality of recomplementation, experimental findings suggest that the overt C2 option is associated with a decrement in acceptability. An aural acceptability judgment task and a forced-choice preference task were administered in Spanish to 15 advanced US heritage speakers of Spanish (HS) and 12 members of a Colombian Spanish baseline group. Results show that HSs do not rate the overt C2 construction with a decrement in acceptability when compared to the null one. This behavior, along with a higher proportion of overt C2 preference, diverges from the baseline. In line with the Model of Divergent Attainment, we argue that the complexity associated with silent elements and dependency distance combined with processing burden leads to a reanalysis of the linguistic phenomenon. We introduce a multiple representations proposal that accurately describes the data in question and is faithful to current syntactic-theoretical accounts.

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