El diptongo/hiato como rasgo contrastivo: un estudio perceptual con hablantes de herencia de español

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 459-496
Author(s):  
Allison Milner
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Boston University ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Heritage Spanish Speakers ◽  
Vocalic Sequences

Abstract This study examines the perception of diphthongs and hiatuses in 11 heritage Spanish speakers and 6 Spanish-dominant bilingual speakers with an AXB discrimination task (Lukyanchenko, Anna & Kira Gor. 2011. Perceptual correlates of phonological representations in heritage speakers and L2 learners. In Nick Danis, Kate Mesh & Hyunsuk Sung (eds.), Proceedings of the 35th annual Boston University conference on language development, 414–426. Sommerville, MA: Cascadilla Press). In Spanish, diphthongs and hiatuses represent distinct vocalic sequences (Schwegler, Armin, Juergen Kempff & Ana Ameal-Guerra. 2010. Fonética y fonología españolas, 4th edn. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley). However, there are words in which the pronunciation of the vocalic sequence as either a diphthong or hiatus serves as a contrastive feature, as in the example of ley / leí (Face, Timothy L. & Scott M. Alvord. 2004. Lexical and acoustic factors in the perception of the Spanish diphthong vs. Hiatus contrast. Hispania 87(3). 553–564; Hualde, José I. & Mónica Prieto. 2002. On the diphthong/hiatus contrast in Spanish: Some experimental results. Linguistics 40(2). 217–234). Given that these features also exist in English, albeit in different forms, does L2 influence of English impact heritage Spanish listeners' perception of diphthongs and hiatuses in Spanish? Specifically, this study examines discrimination between the diphthong / hiatus as a contrasting feature with /a e o/ as the nucleic vowel in the diphthongs. Results indicate that there is not a significant difference in discrimination between heritage speakers and Spanish-dominant bilinguals. Additionally, the nucleic vowel in the diphthong tokens is a significant factor for the ability to discriminate diphthongs vs. hiatuses in heritage Spanish speakers. The findings of this study contribute to the corpus of phonetic studies focusing on heritage Spanish speakers and perception in their heritage language.

Written Narrative by Spanish Heritage Language Speakers

2017 ◽  
pp. 70-93
Author(s):  
Verónica Sánchez Abchi ◽  
Audrey Bonvin ◽  
Amelia Lambelet ◽  
Carlos Pestana
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Story Grammar ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Heritage Language Speakers ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

This article aims to study narrative complexity in written texts produced by Spanish heritage speakers growing up in two linguistic regions of Switzerland. Texts produced in their heritage language by children living either in French- or German-speaking parts of Switzerland were analyzed and compared to texts written by Spanish speaking children growing up in a mostly monolingual context in Argentina. According to the literature, it was expected that children’s heritage language command and literacy abilities would mask their narrative competence in Spanish (i.e., that heritage speakers would show lower narrative complexity than their monolingual peers). The participants were 138 pupils aged between 9 and 12;5 (twelve years and five months), distributed in three groups: Spanish heritage language speakers living in German-speaking Switzerland (n=66), Spanish heritage language speakers living in French-speaking Switzerland (n=25), and a comparison Group made up of Spanish speakers growing up in a monolingual context (n=47). Heritage speakers’ parents also completed a questionnaire describing the children’s linguistic background. We did not find significant differences between groups in terms of story grammar components, suggesting that command of language and writing constraints do not affect narrative complexity development in heritage language speakers.

Heritage Spanish Speakers’ Syllabification of -ear and -iar Verbs

2020 ◽  
pp. 38-69
Author(s):  
Mary Beaton
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Home Country ◽  
First Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Spanish Speakers

Previous studies demonstrate that some aspects of the phonological grammar of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States are monolingual-like while other aspects show influence from English (Ronquest & Rao, 2018). The syllabification of vowel sequences is an interesting trait to study in the Spanish of U.S. heritage speakers due to the tendency in English phonology to separate vowels into separate syllables and the contrasting preference for diphthongs in Spanish. Studies across several language pairs have shown that second-language learners use the syllable structure of their first language in their second language, creating non-native-like patterns. We have little understanding, however, about whether heritage speakers syllabify like monolingual Spanish speakers or if they rely on the structure of the dominant language in their environment. The present study compares the syllabification judgments of 54 heritage speakers to those of 40 monolingual speakers. The results show that heritage speakers have monolingual-like syllabification intuitions for verbs ending in -ear and -iar overall, but heritage speakers who have spent less than two years in their parents’ home country syllabify differently in reading versus listening tasks. Lexical frequency did not affect the results, indicating that syllabification intuitions are robust even in unfamiliar words.

The Role of Lexical Associations and Overgeneralizations in Heritage Spanish Perception

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney Chappell
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Group I ◽  
New Information

Heritage speakers exhibit a tendency to overgeneralize morphological paradigms in their production, but little is known about their perception, and the present study seeks to better understand how heritage speakers process new information in their home language. To this end, 119 listeners from different language backgrounds evaluated the number of syllables in 70 nonce words, all four-syllable paroxytone nonce words with an initial obstruent + vowel + flap sequence, with the first vowel presented at 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% of its original duration. Two types of word endings were used: -fono, designed to be reminiscent of the word teléfono, a high frequency four-syllable word, and -pine, which does not clearly prime any existing Spanish words, e.g. teréfono and terépine, respectively. Cumulative link mixed effects models fitted to 119 participants’ evaluations (N = 32,619) show that heritage speakers evaluate nonce words ending in -fono as four syllables significantly more than words ending in -pine (p < 0.001), but no word-ending effect was found for any other language group. I contend that heritage speakers filter new information in their heritage language through existing knowledge more rigidly than other Spanish speakers, and these overgeneralizations in perception parallel heritage speakers’ overgeneralizations in production.

scholarly journals Linguistic Profiling of Heritage Speakers of an Endangered Language: The Case of Vlach Aromanian–Greek Bilinguals

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 626-641
Author(s):  
Alexandra Prentza ◽  
Maria Kaltsa
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Language Practices ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Endangered Language ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Substantial Decline

AbstractThis is the first attempt to profile the heritage speakers of an endangered spoken-only variety of Vlach Aromanian in Greece. Neither the variety nor its speakers has been investigated before; hence, the study also aims at evaluating the exact state of endangerment of the Sirrako variety, as this is revealed by the language practices and skills of its bilingual speakers. To this aim, a background questionnaire was developed and administered to 60 bilingual speakers of Vlach Aromanian and Greek including questions on the age of onset of exposure to both languages, early home language practices, current language practices (orality and literacy) and attitudes toward the heritage and majority language. Significant variation in language practices, literacy skills, oral input and current competence across three generations of speakers was identified with a substantial decline in heritage language competence in younger bilinguals, verifying our claim of the endangered state of Vlach Aromanian.

Empty onset repairs in the semi-spontaneous speech of Spanish child and adult heritage speakers

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110165
Author(s):  
Gemma Repiso-Puigdelliura
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Acoustic Measures

Aims: In this study I investigate whether child and adult Spanish heritage speakers (HS) use English-like strategies to repair word-external empty onsets preceded by consonants (e.g., el.#o.so ‘the (male) bear’). That is, I examine whether HS produce glottal phonation at /C#V/ junctures. I also examine whether stress predicts the use of glottal phonation to repair word-external empty onsets. Design: Semi-spontaneous speech was elicited from a group of child HS (10 females (F), six males (M), mean age = 9.44 years, standard deviation ( SD) = 0.69), adult HS (13 F, two M, mean age = 20.6 years, SD = 1.12), adult Spanish speakers in Mexico (six F, four M, mean age = 22.88 years, SD = 1.64), and long-term Mexican immigrants (seven F, two M, mean age = 45.16 years, SD = 9.49, mean age of arrival = 25.33 years, SD = 9.89). Data and analysis: Type of phonation (i.e., glottal or modal) was categorically coded and compared across groups and stress types. Acoustic measures, such as amplitude difference between the first two harmonic (H1*−H2*) and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), were also analyzed to examine gradient group differences. Findings/conclusions: My findings show that child HS and adult HS present higher rates of glottal phonation than Spanish speakers in Mexico. The child HS, but not the adult HS, show higher rates of glottalization than those of long-term immigrants. Lastly, stressed syllables are more often glottalized than unstressed syllables. Originality: In this research I explore connected speech (i.e., word-external empty onsets), an understudied area in heritage language phonology. More specifically, this is the first study that examines empty onset repair strategies in both child and adult HS and analyzes the role of prosodic prominence. Significance and implications: I provide evidence for a greater pressure of the majority language during childhood than during adulthood. My results also show that divergent attainment in heritage language production is conditioned by quality of input.

The processing of the object marker a by heritage Spanish speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 585-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Jegerski
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Real Time Processing ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Heritage Spanish Speakers ◽  
Direct Objects ◽  
Object Marking

Objectives: Previous research has found that object marking with the Spanish particle a is variable among heritage Spanish speakers, based on data from offline experimental measures. The online self-paced reading method used for the present study has the advantage of being less metalinguistic, which may be important with heritage speakers. This incremental measure of sentence processing can also examine whether the single letter form a is simply skipped over during reading. Methodology: Thirty-two heritage Spanish speakers and 16 later Spanish-English bilinguals participated. Critical stimuli were 20 items testing a marking with direct objects and 20 items testing a marking of indirect objects in ditransitive constructions. Data and analysis: The data set included reading times from self-paced reading, accuracy for post-stimulus comprehension questions, and secondary data from an offline acceptability judgment, all of which were analyzed via ANOVAs by subject and by item. Findings: Both groups exhibited robust sensitivity to a marking of indirect objects, sensitivity to a marking with inanimate direct objects, and no sensitivity to a marking with animate direct objects. Originality: This is the first study to examine the real-time processing of object marking among heritage Spanish speakers. It is the second study to include a comparison group of late Spanish-English bilinguals in the US, as opposed to monolinguals residing abroad. Significance: Incremental data from online processing indicate that the visual nonsalience of the marker a is not the sole or primary cause of variability in the marking of animate direct objects, because it was noticed in other written sentential contexts. In addition, the similarity between the two participant groups shows that variability with differential object marking is not limited to heritage speakers, but can also occur among US Spanish users educated abroad, where incomplete acquisition is not a question.

scholarly journals Aspectual distinctions in Dutch-Ambon Malay bilingual heritage speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca R Moro
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Great Likelihood ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Heritage Speaker ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Aspect Markers ◽  
Contact Situation

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This paper investigates the effects of Dutch on the tense-aspect system of heritage Ambon Malay, a variety spoken by Dutch-Ambon Malay bilinguals in the Netherlands. The study asks whether the cross-linguistic contrasts between the two languages – Dutch obligatorily marks past/non-past and finiteness, whereas Ambon Malay lacks a grammaticalized expression of these distinctions – has an effect on the aspectual system of heritage Ambon Malay. Design/Methodology/Approach: The database for the study consists of video descriptions provided by 32 bilingual speakers (the experimental groups) and by three control groups: 27 homeland speakers of Ambon Malay, 5 first generation speakers of Ambon Malay in the Netherlands (late bilinguals), and 10 monolingual speakers of Dutch. Data and Analysis: The frequency and distribution of aspect markers is analysed statistically in the four groups. Findings/Conclusions: The analysis of the data reveals that, under the influence of Dutch, the Ambon Malay progressive marker ada has undergone a shift in temporal status and frequency and it is now interpreted as a marker of present tense, as well as of progressive aspect. The other two aspect markers, the iamitive/perfective su and verbal reduplication (iterative) are used significantly less by heritage speakers. Originality: This study shows that when a grammatical category is present and productive in the dominant language of a bilingual heritage speaker, but not in the heritage language, there is a great likelihood that it will undergo contact-induced grammaticalization, even in a relatively short time contact situation. The study also shows that input-related factors, such as transparency and phonological salience, contribute to the (in)stability of aspectual forms in the heritage language. Significance/Implications: This finding has implication for the incomplete acquisition perspective on heritage languages, which sees these languages as grammatically simplified systems (see, e.g., Montrul, 2009; Polinsky, 2008), because it shows that heritage languages can also gain grammatical distinctions previously absent in the (homeland) language.

scholarly journals “Saber español sí sirve” Academic Validation of Spanish as a Heritage Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Patricia Bayona
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Opinion Survey ◽  
Career Expectations ◽  
Heritage Spanish Speakers ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Midwest Region

AbstractThe article offers an account of the challenges and successes encountered in the process of opening a new Professional Spanish Minor, targeted mainly to Heritage Spanish speakers in a small traditional liberal arts college in the Midwest region of the USA. The article introduces the concept “bi-directional scaffolding”, and some of the topics discussed are the motivation for establishing the new program, the choice of curriculum, and the process used to involve diverse Faculty. Additionally, the results of an opinion survey distributed among Heritage Spanish speakers are presented, in which their career expectations and current perceptions of their life at this college have provided a much more accurate framework to design the new minor. Conclusions include a reflection on programmatic solutions for the needs of Hispanic students in our institution. The article proposes an inter-institutional dialogue regarding program standards and curricular schemes for Heritage Spanish students nationwide.

Multiliteracy in Heritage Language Speakers: The Interdependence of L1 and L2, and Extra-linguistic Factors

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-408
Author(s):  
Claudia Riehl
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Argumentative Texts ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels

Recent research provides evidence for beneficial cross-influences between L1 and L2, but we still know little about how different factors interact. Against this background, this article presents the results of a study that analyzes the interdependence of L1 and L2 text competence and the impact of metalinguistic awareness and extra-linguistic factors. The study was carried out with Italian, Greek and Turkish adolescent heritage speakers in a German-speaking environment. The data encompass narrative and argumentative texts in L1 and L2, sociolinguistic interviews and a bilingual language awareness test (LAT). The texts are analyzed according to holistic scores by defining different levels of text competences. The results indicate that students achieve a significantly higher score in both narrative and argumentative texts in L2. Moreover, there is a genre-specific advantage for the narrative text. Although there is no significant difference between the heritage language groups the Greek students achieve higher upper scores. The different levels of text competence also correlate with metalinguistic knowledge and extra-linguistic factors, most significantly writing practices and schooling in the heritage language. The results therefore provide further support for the assumption that teaching and learning heritage languages has a positive impact on school language literacy development. Other than a few mentions of Turkish speakers at the beginning I don’t see examples of their texts or conclusions about their writing.

Spanish gender agreement under complete and incomplete acquisition: Early and late bilinguals' linguistic behavior within the noun phrase

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
IRMA V. ALARCÓN
Keyword(s):  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Native Spanish Speakers ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Heritage Spanish Speakers ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
Linguistic Behavior

The present study explores knowledge of Spanish grammatical gender in both comprehension and production by heritage language speakers and second language (L2) learners, with native Spanish speakers as a baseline. Most L2 research has tended to interpret morphosyntactic variability in interlanguage production, such as errors in gender agreement, as a lack of native-like representation in the learner's grammar because of maturational constraints. From this perspective, adult English-speaking learners of Spanish are incapable of acquiring gender fully, whereas heritage Spanish speakers, who have been exposed to the language from birth, can attain complete gender acquisition. However, results of two tasks, one measuring written comprehension and the other oral production, show that advanced proficiency L2 learners, as well as advanced proficiency heritage speakers, have gender in their underlying grammars, and that the errors in oral production that L2 learners occasionally produce are due to difficulties in the surface manifestations of the abstract features of gender, i.e., the “mapping problem” (Lardiere, 2007).

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