Abstract
The overarching research question for this paper is what work has been done on heritage languages worldwide through a language mixing lens. Given the increasing research interest in this topic and the scarcity of previous secondary studies, a systematic review was conducted on the empirical data at the intersection of language mixing and heritage language education, in and out of schools. Thematic analysis and frequency analysis were carried out on qualified empirical sources gathered from Scopus, Web of Science, and Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA). After sharing backgrounds on heritage language education and language mixing with relative terms and perspectives, the paper presents findings from the review based on 23 peer-reviewed empirical journal articles, focusing specifically on three aspects: (a) the main theoretical approaches and definitions employed for language mixing; (b) the characterization of language mixing for instruction and its impacts on heritage language education; (c) the parent and community language mixing activities for children’s heritage language learning. The limitations of the existing studies and the implications for educators and researchers are later discussed. It is hoped that this article will further our knowledge on this topic and provide pointed implications for future education and research.
Highlights
Heritage language, known as “mother tongue”, “native language”, “home language”, “community language”, and “first language”, is a relatively new area in language education for minorities which has blossomed from Fishman’s work in 1964
This paper expands the scope of Fishman’s classification of heritage languages from the State to the globe and seeks to investigate what work has been done on heritage languages worldwide, either popular or endangered, through a language mixing lens
To illustrate the backgrounds of these studies, two tables are provided respectively created for studies in- and out-of-school settings
Summary
Known as “mother tongue”, “native language”, “home language”, “community language”, and “first language”, is a relatively new area in language education for minorities which has blossomed from Fishman’s work in 1964. In the past few decades, we have witnessed a growing body of studies on heritage language acquisition in educational settings (e.g., Beaudrie, 2011; Kondo-Brown, 2003). Family and community involvement in heritage language acquisition is worthy of investigation. Information of the Empirical Studies in Educational Settings No Article Heritage Language Spanish. 4.1 Theoretical Approaches and Definitions of Language Mixing Language mixing is a broad and neutral term defining the processes and the products of using more than one language for meaning-making. Under this umbrella, there are diverse terms (e.g., code-switching, code-meshing, translingual, translanguaging) employed by scholars since they have not reached a consensus on the nature of language. The classroom translation activities are described as “translanguaging” or “translingual” in Rowe’s research (2019)
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