Mechanisms of sub-phonemic change in prescriptive bilingualism: The case of Mexican Plautdietsch

This paper investigates the relationship between loanword adaptation and phonological borrowing by looking at the Mexican Plautdietsch speech community. Plautdietsch borrowings from Mexican Spanish sometimes undergo loanword adaptation to fit the native phonological system (e.g. Spanish [peso] > Plautdietsch [pəɪzo] 'peso'), but some community members exhibit a borrowed pattern of deaffrication that targets native lexical items (e.g. [dit͡ʃ ]) 'German' > [diʃ]). I show that the output of /t͡ʃ/ deaffrication in Mexican Plautdietsch follows the phonological pattern of northern Mexican Spanish deaffrication, rather than an inherited pattern that adapts loanwords from High German and Russian. I propose that while some mechanisms of phonetic and phonological interpretation are similar for both loanword adaptation and phonological borrowing, the novel Mexican Spanish pattern could have only entered the community due to the unique structure of phonological representation associated with advanced bilingualism. This prediction is borne out in the social distribution of deaffrication wherein men, who are expected to become advanced bilinguals, exhibit the innovation more than women. By adding a dimension of phonological representation to our models of loanword adaptation, we can expand the model's behavior to also account for outcomes involving the restructuring of the heritage language.

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

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.

Scalar and Counterfactual Approximatives: Investigating Heritage Greek in the USA and Germany

Approximative constructions present special interest for acquisition due to the counterfactual and scalar inferences they give rise to. In this paper we investigate the acquisition of Greek approximatives by heritage speakers in Germany and the USA. We show that while in English and German there is a single lexical item encoding counterfactuality and scalarity, in Greek there are two lexical items which, as we show, have different interpretations. In view of this difference, we test whether the crosslinguistic differences and the interface nature of approximative constructions affect their representation in heritage language. We present a production study and a comprehension study of approximative constructions. Our findings suggest that the two heritage groups do not diverge from the monolingual group in the domain of approximative constructions.

Preliminary Results on the Development of the Perception of Spanish /e/ and /ei/ by Heritage Learners vs. L2 Learners of Spanish in the Classroom

This exploratory study gives a first glance at the development of the perception of the Spanish /e/-/ei/ contrast by heritage learners in comparison to that of L2 learners in the classroom. To this end, two types of semester-long, explicit phonetic instruction training are compared: High Phonetic Variability Training (HPVT) with exposure to multiple sources of speech, and regular standalone phonetics courses with low variability of speech input (LPVT). Data from two identical pre-test and post-test ABX perceptual discrimination tasks were obtained from 27 students, as well as 7 control speakers whose primary language is Spanish. Results show that heritage learners perceive the contrast better than L2 learners, and that HPVT significantly improves the perception of the /e/-/ei/ contrast. Although heritage learners perform close to a native ceiling and do not significantly differ from native controls, the improvement from pre-test to post-test is larger in heritage learners enrolled in HPVT than LPVT training. These results suggest that, although the discrimination accuracy of Spanish /e/ and /ei/ is already high for heritage learners at the pre-test stage, High Phonetic Variability Training can be beneficial in the perceptual development of their heritage language, even matching their accuracy to that of native speakers.

Language Interfaces in Adult Heritage Language Acquisition: A Study on Encoding of Nominal Reference in Mandarin Chinese as a Heritage Language

According to the Interface Hypothesis in the field of bilingualism, the interface connecting a linguistic module with a language-external domain (e.g., syntax-discourse) will present prolonged difficulties for adult bilingual learners, as compared with the interface connecting language-internal modules (e.g., syntax-semantics). This study tested whether the Interface Hypothesis is applicable to the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese as a heritage language. An internet-based acceptability judgment task (AJT) was administered to 58 advanced and intermediate adult Chinese heritage speakers to collect data in accuracy and reaction time to investigate the adult heritage speakers’ mastery of referential nominal expressions regulated at the syntax-semantics and syntax-discourse interfaces, respectively, in Mandarin Chinese. The target linguistic phenomena involved three nominal expressions (i.e., the bare N(oun), the [Cl(assifier)-N], and the [Num(eral)-Cl-N]) under four interface-regulated referential readings (i.e., type-denoting, quantity-denoting, indefinite individual-denoting, and definite individual-denoting). In terms of accuracy, the results showed that (i) for the N and the [Num-Cl-N], regardless of the interface type, the advanced group acquired the target phenomena to a nativelike level, who significantly outperformed the intermediate group; (ii) for the [Cl-N], the advanced group exhibited nativelike attainment at the syntax-discourse interface but not at the syntax-semantics interface, and performed significantly better than the intermediate group at both interfaces. Regarding reaction time, no significant differences were reported between the advanced group and the native group for the target structures at either the syntax-semantics or the syntax-discourse interface, while the advanced group performed significantly better than the intermediate group, regardless of the interface type and the structure type. The findings suggest that the nature of the language interface, i.e., whether it pertains to language-external domains (i.e., the external interface) or not (i.e., the internal interface), should not be a reliable factor for predicting the (im)possibility of nativelike attainment of bilingual grammar knowledge, contra the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis. The present study provides new empirical evidence to show that language-external interface properties are not necessarily destined for prolonged difficulties in heritage language acquisition, and that it is possible for adult heritage speakers to make developmental progress in both accuracy and processing efficiency at different types of interfaces.

Dealing With Language Gap in a Hungarian-English Early Childhood Classroom

The term ‘translanguaging' has been widespread in the field of Applied Linguistics in a short period of time, and just as quickly, it infiltrated in the field of Multilingual Education. Translanguaging is mostly seen as an opportunity to build on multilingual speakers' full language repertoire in the classroom in order to make sense of the world around them. At the same time, translanguaging might be seen as a threat for heritage language survival because heritage languages are forced to immerse in the mainstream language(s). The authors observed pedagogical translanguaging practices in the AraNY János Hungarian Kindergarten and School (USA) to understand how English was used in teaching the heritage language and to discover how bridging existing language gaps between speakers worked in the practices of bilingual pedagogues. The overarching aim of this study was to reveal some of the pedagogical translanguaging strategies used to deal with occurring language gaps.

Inclusive Assessment Methods for a Heterogeneous Group

Contextualizing course materials is a fundamental step in integrating inclusive and appropriate methods of assessment into a post-secondary introductory-level Spanish as a Heritage Language course. The author discusses why a portfolio project is an appropriate assessment choice in the heritage language classroom. While the focus of the chapter is the implementation of contextualized input through a portfolio project, other methods of assessments, along with changes to syllabi, are discussed. The chapter outlines a contextualized assessment implementation in the form of a portfolio project in a post-secondary heritage language course.

Interpreting Solidarity

In metro Charlotte, North Carolina, dynamic newcomer Latinx communities have changed the demographics of K-8 education as the region has emerged as a new gateway for an influx of immigrants and migrants. Today, in what has come to be known as “the New Latino South,” K-12 teachers are eager to expand their knowledge base for working with this relatively new population. To that end, bilingual (Spanish/English) educators are increasingly tapped to serve as impromptu interpreters as monolingual administrators and teachers interact more frequently with Spanish dominant communities. Drawing from an in-depth interview sequence, the chapter narrates a Dominican-American's lived experience with simultaneous K-12-based interpreting as a K-12 student teacher, and a licensed early-grades educator. This chapter theorizes the layered emotional and professional advocacy of heritage-language bilingual school-based professionals and their agency in advancing access and equity to public resources with recommendations for policy and practice.