The Linguistic Vitality of Chinese in the United States

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-304
Author(s):  
Na Liu

This article examines the current status of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) in the United States, referring to the Capacity-Opportunity-Desire (COD) framework (Grin, 1990, 2003; LoBianco, 2008). After briefly describing the linguistic profile of Chinese immigrants in the United States, the current status and future prospects of CHL in the United States are discussed. Thearticle concludes that a wide variety of programs are available to CHLspeakers, compared to those available decades ago. However, heritage speakers’ capacity in Chinese will be developed only when they have opportunities to use thelanguage and a desire to learn it.

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-335
Author(s):  
Surendra Gambhir ◽  
Vijay Gambhir

This article examines the current status of Hindi in the United States, following Grin’s and Lo Bianco’s framework of language maintenance and revitalization, based on the principles of Capacity Development, Opportunity Creation, and Desire. It gives linguistic profiles of first-and second-generation speakers of Hindi and looks at the various community, state, federal, and educational initiatives that promote the use and learning of Hindi. A description of current opportunities and the desire to maintain and develop Hindi helps us understand steps needed to maintain and further vitalize Hindi as a heritage language in the United States.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-395
Author(s):  
Oksana Laleko

The article offers a comprehensive assessment of the linguistic viability of Russian as a heritage language in the United States, following a framework that provides three factors involved in promoting language vitality (Lo Bianco, 2008a, 2008b): capacity, the level of knowledge that heritage speakers of Russian have in the heritage language and the factors that create conditions for development of such capacity; opportunities for the use of Russian in different domains and contexts; and heritage learner motivations and desire for continued use of Russian and for developing the skills necessary for its maintenance and transmission


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-366
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Shin ◽  
Jin Sook Lee

Informed by the Capacity development, Opportunity creation, and Desire (COD) framework, this paper examines the current status and future development of Korean as a heritage language in the United States. Compared to a generation ago, the current heritage Korean learner population includes a greater percentage of children who come from homes where Korean is not spoken daily. We explain the importance of understanding the needs of these "non-traditional" heritage students and discuss how parents and heritage program staff are finding innovative ways to create domains for the naturalistic use of Korean and for stimulating children’s desire to learn Korean.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wintai Tsehaye ◽  
Tatiana Pashkova ◽  
Rosemarie Tracy ◽  
Shanley E. M. Allen

The category “native speaker” is flawed because it fails to consider the diversity between the speaker groups falling under its scope, as highlighted in previous literature. This paper provides further evidence by focusing on the similarities and differences between heritage speakers (HSs) and monolingually-raised speakers (MSs) of their heritage and majority languages. HSs are bilinguals who acquire a family (heritage) language and a societal (majority) language in early childhood. Naturalistic exposure from early childhood qualifies them as native speakers of their heritage language. Some HSs are simultaneous bilinguals, which makes them native speakers of their majority language as well. Others are early second language acquirers who may be indistinguishable from simultaneous bilinguals. Previous research shows that the heritage language productions of German HSs in the United States do not completely overlap with those of German MSs, who are, by default, native speakers. In overall clause type selection (independent main, coordinate main, and subordinate), the HSs differ from German MSs in German but are similar to English MSs in English. The present study examines the distribution of finite subordinate clauses and their types (relative, complement, and adverbial) across registers in 27 adolescent HSs of German in the United States, compared to 32 adolescent MSs of German and 32 MSs of English. All participants described a short video in two settings (formal/informal) and two modes (spoken/written). Results demonstrate that, even with respect to a specific phenomenon (subordinate clauses), HSs show similarities and differences to MSs of both languages. Concerning the distribution of subordinate clause types, HSs behave similarly to both English and German MSs. Concerning subordinate clauses in general, HSs use them less frequently than MSs in German. In English, the difference is more nuanced: HSs differentiate between settings in both modes, while MSs do so only in the written mode. This indicates that the category “native speaker” is not a meaningful descriptor since it covers speakers with varying production patterns. We propose that studies including native speakers should assure transparency and replicability of research by specifying and taking into account speaker characteristics such as bilingualism, proficiency, exposure and dominance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 02 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherif Aly ◽  
Allan Stolarski ◽  
Patrick O’Neal ◽  
Edward Whang ◽  
Gentian Kristo

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document