Code Mixing as a Window into Language Dominance: Evidence from Korean Heritage Speakers

2017 ◽  
pp. 49-69
Author(s):  
Sunny Park-Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Children Of Immigrants ◽  
Interaction Data ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Monthly Basis ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Play Interaction

It is well-documented that children of immigrants often undergo language dominance shift as a result of increased exposure to the mainstream language of their environment (Bialystok, 2001; Portes & Schauffler, 1994; Ro & Cheatham, 2009). One of the ways in which this shift can manifest in natural speech is through language choice and, in particular, intrasentential code mixing. This article investigates the shift in language dominance through a longitudinal study of four young Korean heritage speakers living in the United States. Spontaneous play interaction data was collected on a monthly basis across a two-year span following the children’s entrance into English-medium schools in order to investigate the shift of dominance. In observing the children’s use of Korean, English, and Korean-English code-mixed utterances over time, it was expected that the amount of Korean utterances would decrease, while the amount of English and code-mixed utterances would increase due to the shift of language dominance. Findings revealed that while use of Korean decreased and use of English increased, the amount utterances containing code mixing remained stable across time for all children. The article argues that code mixing is not an indicator of weakened language proficiency.

Perception of Portuguese Mid Vowels by Heritage Speakers of Brazilian Portuguese

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Denise Maria Osborne
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Front Vowel ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Back Vowel ◽  
Vowel Contrast

Abstract The main goal of this study is to investigate the perception of Portuguese mid-vowel contrasts (/ɛ/-/e/ and /ɔ/-/o/) by heritage speakers (HS s) of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) who grew up in the United States. This study shows, for instance, an asymmetry in categorization as a function of degree of language dominance for mid-back vowel contrast, but not for mid-front vowel contrast.

scholarly journals The Production of /p, t, k/ among Heritage Speakers of Spanish in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oihane Muxika-Loitzate
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
The United States ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Degree Of Dominance ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish

The present study explores whether heritage speakers of Spanish in the United States pronounce voiceless stops (/p, t, k/) differently in cognate words and non-cognate words in Spanish and in English depending on their degree of dominance in both languages. The acoustic measurement used to determine whether /p, t, k/ are pronounced differently or not is the Voice Onset Time (or VOT), which is longer for word initial /p, t, k/ in English whereas it is shorter in Spanish (Lisker & Abramson, 1964). This study analyzes the production data of 8 heritage speakers who completed the Bilingual Language Profile (or BLP) Questionnaire (Birdsong et al., 2012), a read-aloud task, and a follow-up interview. The results show that informants pronounce /p, t, k/ differently in English and in Spanish. Moreover, informants’ linguistic dominance influences their production of voiceless stops in English, but not as much in Spanish. A closer look at the data shows that informants’ language proficiency could be influencing their pronunciation of /p, t, k/ in Spanish. Furthermore, this study shows that there is an overall effect of cognate words in the production of voiceless stops in Spanish and English. The current study is of interest because it focuses on heritage speakers’ phonemic inventories, an understudied area of linguistics (Rao & Ronquest, 2015; Kim, 2018) and it combines the BLP Questionnaire and the follow-up interview to retrieve information about heritage speakers’ degree of bilingualism and linguistic attitudes. This methodology allows to explore how sociolinguistic attributes influence heritage speakers’ pronunciation.

Lithuanian Saturday Schools in Chicago: Student Proficiency, Generational Shift, and Community Involvement

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-133
Author(s):  
Aurelija Tamosiunaite
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Linguistic Community ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Community Activities

This article explores the Lithuanian heritage speakers’ community in the United States. It aims to look at the correlations between generation or age of arrival in the United States, and self-reported language proficiency. Usage of Internet materials in Lithuanian and involvement in Lithuanian activities are also addressed. The case study contrasts findings from two different sources: a survey conducted in two Chicago-area Lithuanian Saturday schools in 2007 and an Internet Survey administered to Lithuanian-American middle, high school, and college students via Survey Monkey in 2008. The empirical data indicate that Lithuanian heritage speakers form a diverse linguistic community having different linguistic competences in the heritage language. Consistent with the findings of other heritage languages (Carreira & Kagan, 2011), Lithuanian heritage speakers exhibit high oral proficiency but lack writing and reading skills. The correlation between the age of arrival and linguistic competence in Lithuanian was also observed: the younger the age of arrival in the United States, the weaker competence in Lithuanian was reported. Findings on Lithuanian heritage speakers’ involvement in the heritage community indicate that most of the respondents are highly involved in community activities. All of the third-generation (G3) respondents reported their involvement in Lithuanian Saturday schools, which indicates that Lithuanian education is still actively promoted among G3 heritage speakers.

Fear of Crime among Female North Korean Defectors in South Korea

2021 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2199236
Author(s):  
Jaeyong Choi ◽  
Tay Hack ◽  
Julak Lee
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Acculturative Stress ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
Korean Immigrants ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
North Korean Defectors ◽  
Smooth Transitions

Although some studies have focused on immigrants’ fear of crime in the United States, it is important to point out that the number of North Korean defectors to South Korea has rapidly increased since the 1990s. Therefore, understanding factors associated with fear of crime for North Korean immigrants, especially female defectors, is important for ensuring their successful transitions into South Korean culture. The present study used existing survey data from a sample of female North Korean defectors to explore factors related to fear of crime. Results indicate that the number of North Korean friends, language proficiency, and patriarchal attitudes toward gender were significant predictors of fear of crime for the North Korean female defectors. Findings are described and discussed as a potential source for policymaking to reduce North Korean immigrants’ acculturative stress and fear of crime and to encourage smooth transitions into new cultures.

scholarly journals Auditory Processing of Gender Agreement across Relative Clauses by Spanish Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Daniel Vergara ◽  
Gilda Socarrás
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Auditory Task ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

Processing research on Spanish gender agreement has focused on L2 learners’ and—to a lesser extent—heritage speakers’ sensitivity to gender agreement violations. This research has been mostly carried out in the written modality, which places heritage speakers at a disadvantage as they are more frequently exposed to Spanish auditorily. This study contributes to the understanding of the differences between heritage and L2 grammars by examining the processing of gender agreement in the auditory modality and its impact on comprehension. Twenty Spanish heritage speakers and 20 intermediate L2 learners listened to stimuli containing two nouns with gender mismatches in the main clause, and an adjective in the relative clause that only agreed in gender with one of the nouns. We measured noun-adjective agreement accuracy through participants’ responses to an auditory task. Our results show that heritage speakers are more accurate than L2 learners in the auditory processing of gender agreement information for comprehension. Additionally, heritage speakers’ accuracy is modulated by their Spanish language proficiency and age of onset. Participants also exhibit higher accuracies in cases in which the adjective agrees with the first noun. We argue that this is an ambiguity resolution strategy influenced by the experimental task.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Language Proficiency in Heritage Language: The Case of Young Russian Heritage Speakers in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-329
Author(s):  
Tamara Vorobyeva ◽  
Aurora Bel
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
The Other ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Family Language

Abstract This study focuses on the issue of language proficiency attainment among young heritage speakers of Russian living in Spain and examines factors that have been claimed to promote heritage language proficiency, namely, age, gender, age of onset to L2, quantity of exposure and family language use. A group of 30 Russian-Spanish-Catalan trilingual children aged 7–11 participated in the study. In order to measure heritage language proficiency (L1 Russian), oral narratives were elicited. The results demonstrated a significant relationship between L1 proficiency and three sociolinguistic variables (age of onset to L2, quantity of exposure and family language use). Additionally, the multiply regression model demonstrated that the only significant variable affecting language proficiency was family language use and it accounted only for 33% of the variation of children’s language proficiency. The study raises the question about what are the other, yet unknown factors, which can affect heritage language proficiency.

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