Representational and Computational Changes in Heritage Language Grammars

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Alternative Possibility ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Differential Object Marking ◽  
Feature Reassembly ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
Linguistic Proficiency

Abstract The notion of complexity has been applied to descriptions and comparisons of languages and to explanations related to ease and difficulty of various linguistic phenomena in first and second language acquisition. It has been noted that compared to baseline grammars, heritage language grammars are less complex, displaying morphological simplification and structural shrinking, especially among heritage speakers with lower proficiency in the language. On some recent proposals of gender agreement in Spanish and Norwegian (Fuchs et al., 2015; Lohndal & Putnam, 2020), these differences are representational, affecting the projection of functional categories and feature specifications in the syntax. An alternative possibility is that differences between baseline and heritage grammars arise from computational considerations related to bilingualism, affecting speed of lexical access and feature reassembly online in the minority language. We illustrate this proposal with empirical data from gender agreement and differential object marking. Although presented as alternatives, the representational and computational explanations are not incompatible, and may both be adequate to capture varying levels of variability modulated by linguistic proficiency. These proposals formalize bilingual acquisition models of grammar competition and directly relate the availability and type of input (the acquisition evidence) to the locus and nature of the grammatical differences between heritage and baseline grammars.

Sequential bilingual heritage children's L1 attrition in lexical retrieval: Age of acquisition versus language experience

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Kitaek Kim ◽  
Hyunwoo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Language Attrition ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Length Of Residence ◽  
Heritage Speakers

Abstract This study investigated the unresolved issue of potential sources of heritage language attrition. To test contributing effects of three learner variables – age of second language acquisition, length of residence, and language input – on heritage children's lexical retrieval accuracy and speed, we conducted a real-time word naming task with 68 children (age 11–14 years) living in South Korea who spoke either Chinese or Russian as a heritage language. Results of regression analyses showed that the participants were less accurate and slower in naming target words in their heritage language as their length of residence in Korea and the amount of Korean input increased. The age of Korean acquisition did not significantly influence their performance. These findings support the claim that heritage speakers’ language experience is a more reliable predictor of first language attrition than age of acquisition. We discuss these findings in light of different approaches to explaining language attrition.

The acquisition of differential object marking in Hindi as a foreign language

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaricia Ponnet ◽  
Kristof Baten ◽  
Saartje Verbeke
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Differential Object Marking ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Direct Objects ◽  
Object Marking

This article explores a grammatical structure — differential object marking (DOM) — that is particularly difficult for L2 learners to acquire. DOM is a phenomenon in which some direct objects are morphologically marked and others are not. In Hindi, animate direct objects are always marked with the objective case marker ko, whereas specific direct objects are only optionally marked with ko. Inanimate and non-specific direct objects are never marked with ko and take the unmarked nominative form. DOM in Hindi has been found to pose a problem to heritage speakers of Hindi. The present study investigates whether similar difficulties exist for foreign language learners. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 30 foreign language learners of Hindi completing an oral production task. The results suggest that the learners do not have difficulties with the concept of DOM in itself — they know that not every direct object needs to be marked —, but rather with the variable conditions under which DOM occurs. The study defines five developmental profiles, which reflect a gradual accumulation of contexts appropriately marked with the objective case.

Delay in the acquisition of Differential Object Marking by Spanish monolingual and bilingual teenagers

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes ◽  
Acrisio Pires ◽  
Will Nediger
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Differential Object Marking ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Feature Reassembly ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Vulnerability Hypothesis ◽  
Object Marking

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study investigated the acquisition of Spanish Differential Object Marking (DOM) by bilingual and monolingual Spanish teenagers, evaluating to which extent their knowledge of DOM can be explained by different theories of acquisition. Design/Methodology/Approach: Two experiments with bilingual and monolingual Spanish teenagers (ages 10 to 15) were conducted. The experiments included an Elicited Production Completion Task, in which a space was to either be filled with an object marker or left blank, and a Context-Matching Acceptability Judgment Task. Data and Analysis: 54 subjects (44 bilinguals and 10 monolinguals) were tested. For both tasks, there were 6 conditions testing different syntactic–semantic features that trigger DOM (test items n = 42 in each task). The data were analysed with linear regressions and repeated measures analyses of variance. Findings/Conclusions: This study’s results show that bilingual teenagers do not demonstrate significant differences from age-matched monolinguals in their competence regarding the syntactic–semantic properties of DOM. Both groups are below ceiling in showing evidence of knowledge about all the syntactic–semantic features involved in DOM, indicating the possibility of a significant delay beyond childhood in their acquisition. Originality: There are few previous studies on the acquisition of DOM, and none which consider the full range of features and specific population considered here. Work by Montrul focuses on the animacy feature, while Guijarro-Fuentes considers the full range of features, but for adult L2 learners of Spanish. Significance/Implications: This study shows that the Interface Vulnerability Hypothesis, the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis, the Full Access/Full Transfer Hypothesis and the Interpretability Hypothesis have limitations in explaining its results. Instead, a feature-based approach is proposed in which the specification of features beyond animacy raises difficulties for the acquisition of DOM until late childhood.

scholarly journals Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Heritage Speakers in Four Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Resources for the Attainment of Full Professional Linguistic Proficiency

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Danko Šipka
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Linguistic Proficiency ◽  
Design And Testing

The present study analyzes heritage learners of Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) from four major U.S. metropolitan areas. The focus is on the prospects of their attaining full professional language proficiency. Several major factors in language maintenance and the possibility of attaining full professional proficiency in the language are identified. The design and testing of a syllabus for heritage language speakers is provided and discussed. The author concludes with a call for the creation of a BCS heritage language centre as a durable solution for providing heritage language learners a path toward full professional proficiency.

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