Heritage Language Learners Research Articles

Early Chinese heritage language learning in Canada: A study of Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking children's receptive vocabulary attainment

Chinese immigrant children in North America often experience rapid growth in their English lexicon, while their heritage language (HL) vocabulary development is characterized by early stabilization and decline. This study was designed to explore whether and how factors such as SES, gender, L1, immigration status, home language use, mainstream and HL school attendance have influenced Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders' (N = 76) early HL vocabulary development in Canada. Students' HL receptive vocabulary was measured by the Chinese Peabody Vocabulary Test (C-PPVT-R) and home and school information was collected through the Alberta Language Environment Questionnaire (ALEQ). Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in the effects of L1 and gender between Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking first graders. Mandarin-speaking girls outperformed Mandarin-speaking boys and their Cantonese-speaking peers. Family SES was found to be a significant factor affecting early HL vocabulary development. While Mandarin-speaking students' performance was associated with the richness of their home language environments, Cantonese-speaking students’ performance was not. Group performance was not significantly associated with home language use. Findings suggest the need to move beyond a usage-based theory to understand better home interactions across L1 and SES subgroups that shape differential performances.

Early oral language in Chinese heritage language reading development

AbstractThis study explored the role of early oral language in reading development among adult heritage language (HL) learners to provide insights into the possible developmental pattern of HL reading development. One hundred and ninety‐five English‐speaking Chinese HL (CHL) students participated in this study. They completed a language background survey pertaining to their early language use in different social contexts and a series of measurements including oral vocabulary knowledge, print vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, lexical inferencing ability, and reading comprehension. Drawing upon multivariate path analysis, the study found that oral vocabulary knowledge, as an indicator of the benefit stemming from oral language experiences, contributed to print vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness directly. However, there was no significant direct effect of oral vocabulary knowledge on higher‐level reading skills (lexical inference and reading comprehension). As well, oral vocabulary contributed to higher‐level reading skills only through the mediation of word‐knowledge skills (print vocabulary and morphological awareness). The results suggest that oral language capacity (indexed by oral vocabulary knowledge) alone is insufficient for higher‐level reading ability, but it serves as an intermediary resource to enhance higher‐level inferencing and comprehension abilities among HL students. Pedagogical implications were provided to inform HL reading instruction based on the multiple diversities of HL language experiences.

How Second (L2) and Heritage (HL) Language Learners Can Draw on Existing Knowledge to Overcome Common Discourse Issues in Spanish Compositions

Student error analysis is an area of investigation that can shed light on how students learn. It can also serve as a pedagogical tool to increase students’ awareness of the most common types of errors to avoid. Quality of student output, however, isn’t solely determined by the number of errors students make, but also the extent to which students successfully employ certain other discourse-related strategies to improve their compositions. This paper argues that, aside from grammatical concerns, and at least from a discourse point of view, students already possess much of the knowledge they need in order to write better compositions. Both second (L2) and heritage (HL) learners of Spanish typically already possess some advanced writing skills in English, but we have observed that when attempting to write in Spanish, many of these same students will resort to more remedial means of presenting and/or expressing their ideas. In other words, unaware that so many discourse skills are transferable from English to Spanish, students will not necessarily apply the same strategies, or at least to the same degree, as they would if writing a similar essay in English. This paper, therefore, provides ten tips that students can draw on to improve both the presentation and expression of their ideas in compositions. Recommendations are divided into two categories, the first being aspects a student should always keep in mind when approaching any piece of writing, while the second are negative tendencies that are quite common, but which a student should necessarily avoid.

Language Mixings in Heritage Language Education: A Systematic Review

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.

Heritage Language Learners’ Lexical Performance across Pair Types and (Non-)Digital Collaborative Writing Task Environments

A need exists to address how the availability of digital platforms plays a role in collaborative writing. Further, interest has emerged to understand heritage language (HL) learners’ writing as a result of task-based peer interactions with either second language (L2) or HL learners across face-to-face (FTF) and synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modes. However, it remains unknown how pair type and interaction mode can influence advanced learners’ lexical performance on written texts through measures of lexical richness. Therefore, this study tested 13 HL–L2 and 16 HL–HL dyads enrolled in advanced Spanish content courses who completed two writing tasks across FTF and SCMC modes. The writing tasks consisted of the hiring (Task A) and laying off (Task B) of an individual for known Spanish companies. The written texts were analyzed for lexical richness through lexical density, lexical sophistication, and lexical diversity indices. The main results revealed that the HL–L2 pairs significantly produced a higher ratio of lexical density in their written texts. No significant results were found for lexical diversity or lexical sophistication across pair types and interaction mode. These results imply that HL–L2 pairs distinguished the register of the writing task more so than HL–HL pairs.

Influence of Writing Instruction on Spanish Heritage Learners in Heritage-Only and Mixed Courses: A Longitudinal Study

University Spanish courses designed specifically for heritage language learners (HLLs) are becoming more common, and researchers have indicated that empirical research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness. This longitudinal study investigates the writing development of 24 HLLs as a result of instruction over the course of the semester. Nine were enrolled in a heritage-only section of a Spanish composition course, and the remainder were from mixed HL/L2 sections of the same course. Both section types were taught online. The major assignments the students produced were two 500-word essays, and students also completed bi-weekly forum posts. We examined the development of lexical density, sophistication, and diversity as well as syntactic complexity and accuracy by comparing each student’s first and final essay and forum posts. Findings indicate that there were significant differences between the scores received on the forum posts in comparison to the essays. However, there were no significant developmental differences in terms of group. Implications, avenues for future research, and pedagogical suggestions are discussed.

The Role of Korean Immigrant Churches in the Identity Development and Heritage Language Learning among Biracial Korean American University Students

ABSTRACT Korean immigrant churches are not only a place of worship, but a central place that provides cultural and social services as well. With Korean language education not widely available in US public schools, many Korean immigrant churches operate heritage language schools. This paper examines the experiences of biracial Korean American university students at Korean immigrant churches and church-based Korean heritage language schools; their experiences learning Korean before entering and during university; and how those experiences relate to their identities. Most participants perceived Korean immigrant churches as highly racialized and exclusive, and reported church-based Korean heritage language schools to lack resources, effective curricula, and cultural inclusion. The findings also show that the university setting was a space where participants felt safe to explore their Korean identities and learn the Korean language.

Teaching Critical Vocabulary to Filipino Heritage Language Learners

Engaging in critical dialogues in language classrooms that draw on critical pedagogical perspectives can be challenging for learners because of gaps in communicative resources in their L1 and L2. Since critically oriented classrooms involve discussing social issues, students are expected to deploy “literate talk” to engage in critiquing society and a wide range of texts. Although recent studies have explored teachers’ and students’ engagement with critical materials and critical dialogues, research that explores language development in critical language teaching remains a concern for language teachers. In this paper, I share my experience of fostering language development, specifically the overt teaching of critical vocabulary to students of (Tagalog-based) Filipino language at a university in Hawai’i. Through a discussion of racist stereotypes targeting Filipinos and the impacts of these discourses on students’ lived experiences, the notion of “critical vocabulary” emerges as an important tool for students to articulate the presence of and to dismantle oppressive structures of power, including everyday discourses supporting the status quo. This paper defines critical vocabulary and advances its theoretical and practical contribution to critical language teaching. It also includes students’ perspectives of their language development and ends with pedagogical implications for heritage/world language teachers around the world.

College‐level placement for heritage language learners

AbstractThe accuracy of placement results undoubtedly affects students' subsequent learning achievements in language programs. Although there has been a growing body of studies in the field of heritage language (HL) education, research on HL placement remains scarce, and little is known about the most appropriate and effective ways to place heritage language learners (HLLs). This article synthesizes and qualitatively analyzes the types of common practices and principles that college‐level language programs in the United States have adopted to place HLLs. A total of 752 peer‐reviewed journal articles published from 2000 to 2019 were retrieved from three databases, and 16 articles were included for the final content analysis. Three recurring themes, (1) the definitions of HLLs, (2) HL placement methods focusing on biographical questionnaires and locally designed placement tests, and (3) logistics, are identified in the review. This article discusses the current knowledge in these three areas and unpacks the implications for future HL placement design and implementation.

You Can’t Fix What Is Not Broken: Contextualizing the Imbalance of Perceptions About Heritage Language Bilingualism

In this article, we discuss the perceptions of researchers who work on heritage language bilingualism (HLB), educators who teach heritage speakers (HSs), and, crucially, HSs themselves regarding the nature of bilingualism in general as well as HLB specifically. Despite the fact that all groups are invested in HLB and that researchers and educators tend to have a similar basic understanding of HLB development and share common goals regarding heritage language (HL) teaching and learning, there are non-trivial differences and disconnects between them. In our view, beyond the various aspects of the societal milieu that significantly contribute to this state of affairs, we maintain that these differences also reflect unfortunate miscommunication regarding how the object and outcomes of HLB research is packaged, contextualized and communicated to HSs and teachers who have direct influence over their education. Considering this, the main goal and contribution of the present work is to provide a forum in which the many voices involved in HL research/teaching/learning are acknowledged and the knock-on effects of such acknowledgement are meaningfully considered.

Heritage language maintenance through digital tools in young Macedonian children - an exploratory study

ABSTRACT Heritage language maintenance can be very challenging for diaspora communities worldwide. The role of technology on heritage language maintenance has recently started to spark the interest of researchers as a new emerging field but it still needs a lot of exploration. This exploratory study aims to provide an insight into Macedonian diaspora parents’ experiences with digital tools and heritage language maintenance for younger children using a phenomenological approach. Data collected from 23 participants examined the parents’ experience as members of these communities through surveys and follow-up interviews. Results reveal a strong interest in language maintenance, along with challenges such as lack of time and exposure and lack of digital resources for heritage language learning. Participants show a primary interest in using educational apps, emphasizing the need for interactional and engaging resources. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for developing technology-mediated heritage language maintenance tools.

Heritage language use in the workplace: 1.5-generation Korean immigrants in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital and Darvin and Norton’s notion of investment, this study explores heritage language (HL) use among 1.5-generation Korean immigrants in the New Zealand workplace. The data were collected through interviews with heritage speakers of Korean working in diverse fields in Auckland. The majority of the participants had some degree of regular HL use at work, albeit limited to interactions with monolingual clients rather than with bilingual clients or colleagues. Some participants hesitated to use Korean in these situations because of their self-perceived imperfect HL skills and language anxiety. Moreover, although they perceived their HL as useful, they did not consider it a highly valuable form of linguistic capital in their professional lives. While they realized that HL proficiency would be valuable if they were to return to Korea for career-related purposes, none of them had plans to do so. Consequently, despite a stated interest in improving their HL proficiency, they did not actually invest in the HL. This study sheds light on the complex relationships between language ideologies, identity, and investment in HL learning in the context of diaspora, and offers pedagogical implications for HL education.

The role of the teacher in heritage language maintenance courses in Finland

ABSTRACT Globalisation has resulted in European families that have a variety of home languages, leading to the need for heritage language learning (HLL). The purpose of HLL is to ensure that in addition to learning the language of their schools, children with migrant backgrounds also maintain their heritage language (HL). Besides the ‘regular’ teaching, in many countries, there are usually voluntary, extra-curricular maintenance courses available for migrant children. The purpose of our study was to investigate the impact that HL teachers working in Finnish schools have on the process of learning HLs. The data were collected using a Likert-scale questionnaire (N = 25) and semi-structured interviews (N = 15) with HL teachers representing 24 different languages. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted to check the survey construct validity. The statistical and qualitative analysis of the data indicated that HL teachers act as multilingual identity supporter, that is that they showed understanding of their students’ multilingualism and were convinced about the positive impact of HL for students’ future lives. Our study also reported on the challenges teachers face in the classroom.

Understanding Heritage Language Learners’ Critical Language Awareness (CLA) in Mixed Language Programs

Despite the prevalence of mixed language programs across the United States, their impact on the unique socio-affective needs of heritage language (HL) students has not been researched sufficiently. Therefore, the present study examines HL learners’ critical language awareness (CLA) in a mixed Spanish undergraduate program at a small private university in the eastern United States. Sixteen HL learners enrolled in different Spanish upper-level courses participated in the study. Respondents completed an existing questionnaire to measure CLA, which includes 19 Likert-type items addressing different areas, such as language variation, language ideologies, bilingualism, and language maintenance. Overall, the results show that learners in the mixed language program under study have “somewhat high” and “high” levels of CLA. The increased levels of CLA in learners who had completed three courses or more in the program, coupled with their strong motivation, suggests that this program contributes positively toward HL students’ CLA. However, respondents’ answers also reveal standard language ideologies, as well as the personal avoidance of code-switching. Based on these findings, two areas that could benefit from a wider representation in the curriculum of mixed language programs are discussed: language ideologies and plurilingual language practices.

On Loss, Gain, Acceptance and Belonging: Spanish in the Midwest

In this article, the authors analyze the creation of a performance piece in both English and Spanish with undergraduate students to creatively combine Latina/o/x oral histories and performance artists’ personal experiences as Spanish speakers. Each performer selected an oral history collected by one of the authors in the digital and publicly available archive, Oral Narratives of Latin@s in Ohio. Through a Latino Critical Race Theory framework, and an analysis of the undergraduate student performers’ and audience’s reactions, the authors demonstrate how this kind of performance can be used as a pedagogical tool to strengthen Spanish as a heritage language learners’ sense of belonging in predominantly white educational spaces by contesting epistemic violence and forging Latina/o/x networks of solidarity. Linguistic and cultural maintenance in the face of racialization is conceptualized as a tool for place-making and social justice, particularly in the Midwestern communities that have experienced backlash to growing Latino presence. The performance provides a model for future artistic work that harnesses the power of community cultural wealth as conceptualized by education and Latina/o studies scholar Tara Yosso (2005). Crucially, rather than insist on cultural and linguistic conformity for the sake of social and political unity, this work critically attends to the diversity among Latina/o/x experiences represented across the performance.

A Comparison of the Effects of Mindful Conceptual Engagement for the Teaching of the Subjunctive to Heritage- and Second-Language Learners of Spanish

This article investigates the effects that Mindful Conceptual Engagement (MCE) had on the teaching of the Spanish subjunctive on second (L2) and heritage language learners (HL) of Spanish. A total of 26 university-level undergraduate students participated in the study; 12 were advanced L2 students and 14 were intermediate HL students. The methodology used was MCE, which is based on the principles of Concept-Based Instruction (Negueruela 2003; Negueruela and Lantolf 2006). MCE has its origins in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and it proposes that the creation and manipulation of didactic models by students promotes the internalization of complex grammatical concepts that would otherwise require long grammatical explanations. Models need to be generalizable and informative and can include, for example, flowcharts, pictures, or schemas among others. In the present study, the concept of [±EXPERIENCE] (Bull 1965) was used to teach the variable uses of indicative and subjunctive in adjectival relative clauses (Busco unas tijeras que cortan/corten). Students had to create their own models and use them to complete a series of assignments in class and at home. Production and interpretation exercises were used in pre- and post-test questionnaires to gauge their improvement. Feedback questionnaires were administered three weeks after the intervention to measure the attitudes and perceptions towards the use of didactic models. Results indicate that both groups improved their indicative/subjunctive interpretation and production abilities after MCE. However, statistically significant differences exist between HL and L2 students according to type of task and student group. Feedback questionnaire results also show that MCE was regarded as positive and useful by both groups.

Navigating a policy vacuum in the New Latino Diaspora: Teaching Spanish as a heritage language in Tennessee high schools

AbstractWhile much of the literature regarding Spanish as a heritage language has focused on higher education institutions and areas of traditional immigration in the United States, less research has specifically examined Spanish heritage language learner (HLL) policies in states like Tennessee that have recently experienced an exponential rise in the number of Spanish HLLs in schools. Through 22 in‐depth qualitative interviews, this study examines how high school teachers negotiated their institutions' Spanish HLL policies (or lack of them) and how this negotiation informed the implementation of the policies in classroom practices and curricula. Results indicate that teachers worked in a policy vacuum and exerted their agency by creating their own policies and taking initiatives to address issues related to identification, placement, and curriculum that were specific to their contexts and compatible with their pedagogical goals. The study concludes highlighting the importance of bottom‐up language policy and planning in areas of recent immigration.

Studying abroad in Mexico with Mexican ancestry: Desiring to be ‘one of ours’

ABSTRACT This study counters the popular assumption that Spanish Heritage Language Learners (SHLLs) on study abroad (SA) in a place of cultural origin can easily adapt and find acceptance due to the linguistic and cultural resources they bring with them. Our study builds on previous work to illustrate a more nuanced and complex story of desires for belonging. The study investigated students’ language desire and student cultural and ethnic identities to determine how these factors informed SHLLs’ relationships with community stakeholders while on short-term SA in Oaxaca, Mexico. The study relies on pre-, mid-, and post-SA interviews. Interviewees included six students of Mexican heritage and 12 community stakeholders (five Spanish teachers, two programme administrators, two educational tour operators, and three host parents). Reflexive thematic analysis clarified differences between language desires of students with distant-Mexican ancestry and those with close-ancestry. The former sought missing family connections and ‘real’ family interactions with host families. The latter desired wholeness in their identity and a corresponding confidence in language skills. Community stakeholders expressed complex responses to participants with Mexican heritage, viewing distant-ancestry students as problematic for lacking Spanish and close-ancestry students difficult due to their Spanish knowledge.

From my parents’ language to my language: understanding language ideologies of young Australian Korean heritage language learners at the primary and secondary school level

ABSTRACT The increasing influx into Australia of (im)migrants whose first language is not English has made Australia linguistically more diverse than ever. Despite this, Australia remains a strongly Anglocentric nation, and migrants, in response, tend to abandon their heritage languages (HL) and shift to English relatively quickly. Korean migrants in Australia buck this trend, as they show a relatively high level of language maintenance. The Australian Korean community, nevertheless, experiences a language shift to English among different generations, and a sharp decline in the rate of high school students enrolled in Korean community language schools. The present study expands existing accounts of HL maintenance in Australia. Specifically, drawing on interviews with six Korean-speaking children, it compares the views about the HL of primary and secondary school students. In line with language ideologies (Kroskrity [2004]. “Language Ideologies.” In A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology, edited by A. Duranti, 496–517. Malden, MA: Blackwell.; Woolard [1998]. “Language Ideology as a Field of Inquiry.” In Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory, edited by B. B. Schieffelin, K. A. Woolard, and P. V. Kroskrity, 20–86. New York: Oxford University Press.), data analysis and interpretation employ positioning theory (Davies and Harré [1990]. “Positioning: The Discursive Production of Selves.” Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20 (1): 43–63.). A key finding is that their ideologies around the HL vary by school age. The comparison also suggests that their language ideologies are associated with the domains where they practise their HL, and the ways they position themselves. The study contributes to a dynamic understanding of multilingualism and HL education in a multicultural society.

The effects of explicit instruction on written accent mark usage in basic and intermediate Spanish heritage language courses

ABSTRACT This study measured the impact of explicit instruction on accent usage in the written production of Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners. 163 university students were divided into two types of basic—and intermediate—level SHL courses: one in which they received explicit instruction regarding accent marks (EI), and another in which they did not (non-EI). Findings suggest that the effectiveness of explicit instruction depends upon level of study and task type. In EI, the accuracy of first semester SHL students improved significantly, while their counterparts in non-EI course showed no appreciable gains. The case of intermediate-level learners, who had some prior formal study, was more variable. Although high-, mid-, and low-performing learners in second semester EI courses showed significant improvement in a dictation task (while their non-EI counterparts did not), performance on open-ended exam responses did not reflect significant improvement. In the analysis we consider task effects and within-group differences.