Heritage Language Speakers Research Articles

Beyond roots and wings: co-constructing a framework for heritage language children's liminal and limbotic identities

ABSTRACT As identity research in a globalised world progresses, so does our understanding of the need for nuanced research methodologies, to capture the complexities of multilingual identities. In this paper, we systematically explore the entanglements surrounding dual or mixed identity, supported by the analysis of 132 identity narratives from multilingual young people (11–18 years old) with Chinese heritage. Applying a poststructural lens and drawing on Dörnyei’s motivational self system, Norton’s investment theory, and Little’s conceptualisation of emotional and pragmatic reasons for heritage language maintenance, we strengthen the field of multilingual identity research by introducing a framework that corresponds to the complexities of participants’ lived experiences as heritage language speakers and learners, while honouring their preferences for self-expression. Crucially, the framework has been co-produced with a group of young co-researchers (aged 11–16 years old), ensuring that young people’s views and experiences are respected in the way we research and interpret identities in the heritage language context. In introducing the framework, we provide data examples in the form of relevant quotes for each aspect introduced, highlighting links to existing identity theories and situating the framework as a vital tool within heritage language and multilingual identity research.

The Impact of Ethnic Identity on Language Attitudes

ABSTRACT Few studies have explored the relationship between ethnic identity and language attitudes in heritage language speakers. Via self-reported questionnaire data, the present study examined correlational and causal connections between ethnic identity and language attitudes in three generations of Israeli and American Mountain Jews. Native to the eastern Caucasus, Mountain Jews immigrated in the 1990s to Israel and the United States, bringing with them two heritage languages, Juhuri and Russian. The effect of ethnic identity on language attitudes emerged as strong for both Juhuri and Russian, but varied across countries, generations, languages, and types of attitudes. Strong correlations between ethnic identity and language attitudes were found for both heritage languages in Israel, but in the United States the connection between Russian and Mountain Jewish identity was lost across generations. Results are discussed in terms of previous research on heritage languages, identity and attitudes, and highlight the revival of ethnic identity among second-generation immigrants.

HL Mandarin Speakers Toss the Same Way as Fluent Mandarin Speakers

Abstract Heritage language (HL) speakers often show weaker semantics in HL words than speakers who continue to learn and use the language. In this study, we tested whether HL Mandarin speakers simplified near-synonyms of throw verbs by diminishing the difference between the near-synonyms and/or by diminishing the difference between the generic throw verb and other near-synonyms. Two participant groups, HL Mandarin speakers and English second-language learners, acted out six Mandarin near-synonyms of throw verbs and the English verb throw. The results showed more similarities than differences between the two groups in the core features of throw verb semantics (force, speed, and direction). We observed few signs of simplification. One interpretation of these results is that early and/or naturalistic exposure to Mandarin was an important predictor of speakers’ knowledge of conceptual features. These results add to the literature showing that there can be factors beyond proficiency that contribute to speakers’ lexical semantics.

Two gender systems in a bilingual mind: A study of gender assignment in code-switched Russian-Hebrew adjective-noun phrases

Russian and Hebrew bilingualism offers a unique opportunity to study gender assignment in code-switched adjective-noun phrases, as both languages mark grammatical gender. The present study investigated code-switched Russian-Hebrew adjective-noun phrases in order to trace gender assignment strategies: default, translation equivalent, shape-based, and insertion. For this purpose, 60 Russian-Hebrew bilingual speakers were recruited and divided into two groups: heritage language (HL) speakers of Russian dominant in Hebrew and immigrant (IMM) speakers dominant in Russian. Participants filled out a background questionnaire and completed an experimental task in which they were asked to listen to and rate the acceptability of sentences with embedded Hebrew code-switched nouns within Russian matrix sentences. The results demonstrated that most participants in the study exhibited a clear preference for two gender assignment strategies: shape-based and insertion. However, rating for opaque Hebrew nouns differed between the HL and IMM groups, pointing to the role of language proficiency in the gender assignment strategy preference: the HL group favored the insertion strategy, while the IMM group showed a preference for the shape-based strategy. The current study adds to the existing literature on gender assignment strategies in code-switched adjective-noun phrases and the mechanisms driving the choices of the speakers.

Portuguese as a heritage language in contact with Finnish – Impact of linguistic and sociolinguistic factors on the acquisition of articles

Despite Finland being one of the few countries financing the teaching of minority mother tongues at school, the study of heritage languages in the Finnish context is still incipient. The present paper is part of a PhD dissertation focusing on the use of articles in narratives written by children aged from 7 to 14 years old, speaking either European Portuguese (EP) or Brazilian Portuguese (BP) as a Heritage Language (HL), and attending classes of Portuguese offered weekly by municipal schools or educational institutes. In this article, I focus on part of my data (from 20 participants) collected in Finland and concerning certain linguistic and sociolinguistic factors - namely age, the variety of the HL, the most spoken language at home, and the HL use to access media - possibly impacting the acquisition of articles in Portuguese in a context where this heritage language is developing in contact with Finnish – an article-less language. The preliminary results suggest that HL speakers having access to formal classes of the language can use articles properly when writing a narrative, no matter the variety of the HL spoken (BP or EP). Among the other variables investigated, speaking the HL the most at home ( i.e., plenty of HL input from home) seems to be the most influential on article acquisition in this study. Conversely, speaking mostly the environmental language at home seems to have a negative influence on article acquisition.

One suitcase, two grammars: what can we conclude about Australian Turkish heritage speakers’ divergent processing of evidentiality?

Abstract This study investigates the processing of evidentiality using an auditory sentence verification task in heritage speakers of Turkish residing in Sydney, Australia. Evidentiality is a grammatical category that marks the sources of information through which the speaker comes to know information regarding an event. Turkish obligatorily marks two distinct forms of direct and indirect evidentials. We compare the sensitivity to evidentiality-information source mismatches of the speakers of Turkish as a heritage language to Turkish speakers who were late arrivals to Australia. The results show that the heritage language speakers perform less accurately and with longer response times than late arrivals, and both the groups’ response accuracy is largely predicted by amount of exposure to Turkish during their development. The data suggest that heritage speakers of Turkish show insensitivity to evidentiality. Moreover, diminishing exposure to Turkish throughout heritage speakers’ development appears to be an important trigger for divergent attainment of evidentiality in Turkish heritage grammar.

Family dynamics towards heritage language maintenance

This article investigates Family Language Policy and grassroots-level practices of the heritage language speakers who are first-generation migrants of Indian background in Northern Ireland. Having been settled since the 1920s, Indians are one of the longest-established ethnic minorities in the region, representing around 0.5% of the total non-white residents. Whilst languages of migrant communities brought further complexity to the existing linguistic diversity of Northern Ireland, discussions around language policy in this geopolitical domain focus primarily on its two indigenous languages: Irish and Ulster-Scots. There is no particular policy to promote the languages of migrant communities. Drawing on ethnographic observations and two focus groups, the article analyses the language dynamics of eight Belfast-based families. It further demonstrates how these parents become policy intermediaries by monitoring their children’s heritage language learning through explicit teaching, creating a favourable literacy atmosphere at home, ensuring its use in the family through continuous policing and developing identity through constant dialogue with children about Indian culture. Although the under-the-radar participation of these parents may appear intermittently in the policy discourse, their actions can be interpreted as bottom-up language planning to contest the monopoly of the dominant language and culture in the broader community.

How Different Bilinguals Cultural Identification Influence Their Language Proficiency

This article investigates the relationship between bilinguals cultural identification and language proficiency and tries to find out the strategy to improve bilinguals language proficiency. It was written in a literature review format, summarizing ten articles about bilinguals, and comparing them to research the topic. The study mostly researches three bilingual groups: immigrants, heritage language speakers, and transnational students. Moreover, found that immigrants would either identify with both cultures or deny one of them. Their attitude toward the culture will also reflect their language proficiency; they either have balanced language proficiency in both languages or show a preference for one. For heritage language speakers, their cultural identification can be consolidated through involvement in a kind of cultural background; then, heritage language speakers would raise their willingness to improve their language proficiency of heritage language. Finally, the transnational students, if they can identify themselves as successful students, might hold more confidence to study the language and gradually get better proficiency. This article concludes with three directions to help bilingual people improve their language proficiency based on their cultural identification. This could be concluded as producing a better bilingual community, recommending HL speakers parents use more about their heritage language before their children, and helping bilingual students build the identification as successful students.

Modeling lexical abilities of heritage language and L2 speakers of Hebrew and English in Israel and the United States: a network approach.

This paper examines the productive vocabulary skills of five groups of English-Hebrew bilinguals in Israel and the United States. The juxtaposition of these five groups allows us to simultaneously compare performance across dominance profiles, acquisition contexts (L2 learned in school, HL maintained at home, immigration and immersion), and countries (Israel and the USA). A total of 185 participants took part in study: Hebrew-dominant heritage English speakers, Hebrew-dominant L2-English speakers, English-dominant heritage Hebrew speakers, and English-dominant L2-Hebrew speakers in the US and in Israel. They were all administered the MINT assessment in both languages, as well as background questionnaires. We then employ network modeling based on a secondary data analysis of background questionnaires to consider how each group's lexical proficiency ties in to reported input factors. The MINT results indicate clear language dominance in all the groups except Hebrew-dominant heritage English speakers, who show balanced proficiency in both their languages. The network models indicate key distinctions between the groups as a function of linguistic context, and we assess our findings in the context of recent work on quantifying the bilingual experience.

A Corpus-Based Study on Orthographic Errors of Russian Heritage Learners and Their Implications for Linguistic Research and Language Teaching

The challenges faced by heritage language (HL) learners in mastering spelling and orthography are well-documented. Despite these documented difficulties, this aspect of HL linguistic knowledge has received limited attention from HL researchers. Beyond instructional implications, the study of spelling and orthography in HL speakers holds significance to building a finer understanding of the nature of heritage languages, since the development of orthographic skills is intricately linked to the knowledge of phonology and morphology as well as to metalinguistic awareness in these two areas. The study presented in this paper attempts to contribute to this area of research by turning its attention to orthographic skills of Russian heritage learners with English as their dominant language. The corpus-based research presented here categorizes orthographic errors in adjectival endings in hand-written essays produced by college-age HL learners of Russian of various writing proficiency levels and attempts to provide preliminary explanations for the source of these errors. While this paper is exploratory in nature and limited in scope by focusing only on adjectival endings, our results emphasize the need for further exploration in this underrepresented area to enhance our understanding of heritage language development and improve instructional strategies.

What's in the Sound? Common and Language‐Specific Patterns in Brain Activation and Functional Connectivity for Phonological Awareness in Spanish–English Bilinguals

AbstractPhonological awareness is the stepping‐stone to learning to read as it helps children map language sounds onto letters. Theories of bilingualism posit that phonological awareness is a language‐common literacy skill. However, bilingual learners are also thought to build language‐specific representations. To illuminate common and specific dual‐language processes, we asked bilingual Spanish–English heritage language speakers (N = 60, Mage = 8.2) to complete a phonological sound‐matching task in Spanish and English during functional Near Infrared Neuroimaging (fNIRS). The left perisylvian activation was common across bilinguals' two languages, including similar active regions and functional connections. The findings further revealed language‐specific modulation of the system with more robust engagement of the temporal networks for Spanish and frontal networks for English. We interpret the results in the context of analytically demanding reading experiences in English and more informal home‐based Spanish language experiences typical of heritage language speakers.

Strategy Repertoire of Heritage Language Speakers in Narration and Conversation

The purpose of this corpus-based study is a bottom-up investigation of strategic devices used by heritage language speakers (HLSs) during narration and conversation. It offers a critical review of compensation/communication strategy definitions and classifications, and presents the results of an investigation into strategies employed by an under-researched target group, that of HLSs. The study is not based on any a priori classification scheme; rather it is data-driven. Conversation analysis used to analyze the data revealed, among other, that the 70 Greek HLSs, a heterogeneous group with diverse linguistic, cultural, and affective characteristics from the U.S. (Chicago) and Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg), employed 14 strategic resources. All three communities used the same strategies, except for loanblends, which were used only by HLSs from Chicago. The latter also exhibited a more frequent use of strategies overall. We conclude that, in spite of their linguistic challenges, the HLSs were capable of achieving their interactional goals. HLSs generally have opportunities to use HL in the community/family, which enriches their strategic repertoires and facilitates language production. However, not all HL environments are language conductive and, as a result, HL learners’ curricula should provide explicit strategy instruction in order to increase their speaking skill.

Cajun French phonologies in Louisiana today

The speech sounds of endangered Cajun French (CF), as it survives in Louisiana today, are investigated in the present study. Sixteen fluent CF Heritage Language speakers (seven males, nine females), of an average age of 77 years, who live in Lafayette parish, Louisiana, picture-named 50 words of varying CF-representative phonotactics. On average, 34 words were produced similarly by 67% of participants and 16 words were produced similarly by 29% of participants. Variation mainly targets vowels, glides, affricates, and the rhotic, with prevalent processes occurring in stressed closed syllables. Results profile phonemic and phonetic inventories documenting CF phonologies today, also highlighting differences from earlier reports.

An Examination of TTK Level 3, 4, and 5 Textbooks Used in Turkish Education of Turkish Heritage Language Speakers Living Abroad from the Perspective of Pragmatic Competence

The aim of this study is to examine the 3rd, 4th, and 5th level textbooks of the Turkish and Turkish culture course, prepared by the Ministry of National Education for Turks living in Europe and published in 2019, in terms of pragmatic competence and speech acts. The pragmatic information in the textbooks was collected directly through the document review method. The descriptive analysis method was adopted in the analysis of the data. A framework based on Vu's (2017) pragmatic tasks was created using Vellenga's (2004) classification to evaluate the pragmatic information in the textbooks. On this basis, it was determined that all three textbooks were informal and insufficient in terms of pragmatic competence and speech acts. No informative content for heritage language speakers in terms of pragmatic competence was encountered. Speech acts were conveyed to the heritage language speaker through implicit learning. In addition, it was observed that meta-pragmatic information related to speech acts, for example; when, where, and to whom it will be used, was not presented appropriately. Another finding is the lack of pragmatic activities, and it was determined that cultural activities, although few, were included in the textbook. In light of these findings, the need for a needs analysis for TTK textbooks has been expressed.

Heritage speaker pragmatics

Abstract The current study investigated request production in Russian as a Heritage language (HL), with a special focus on the role of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) of the majority societal language (here SL-Hebrew) and Age of Onset of Bilingualism (AOB). Ninety-seven adult participants were recruited in four groups: three groups of Russian-Hebrew bilinguals with various AOBs of SL-Hebrew – before the age of 5 (n = 32), between the ages of 5–13 (n = 20), after the age of 13 (n = 19) – and a control group of monolingual Russian speakers (n = 26). The study elicited 20 requests in formal and informal contexts through oral role-plays. The results indicate that heritage speakers acquire the basics of prototypical Russian request strategies across various social contexts. The results also show effects of CLI and AOB in the pragmatic competence of HL-speakers. When faced with linguistic difficulties to express requests, HL speakers resort to the use of compensatory strategies leading to the creation of novel structures. These novel structures are a combination of conventions that are characteristic of the Russian acquired in childhood and transfer from the dominant SL. The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of HL pragmatic development by investigating the effects of CLI and AOB.

The Implementation of Critical Pedagogies in the Spanish Heritage Language Classroom

In an attempt to battle systemic oppression towards Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) speakers in the United States, theoretical advances in the field of SHL education have pointed to a critical turn (Leeman & Serafini, 2016; Martínez, 2003; among others). At the core of critical pedagogies is the goal of legitimizing and empowering SHL speakers. Developing students’ critical consciousness about how languages/dialects are valued differently based on power dynamics enables them to question taken-for-granted and essentialist language assumptions and, consequently, better engage in the quest for social change. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between theory and practice due to the lack of critical pedagogical materials. This paper shares and reflects on SHL students’ feedback on the implementation of such materials in the classroom. It discusses the challenges and lessons learned in attempting to bridge theory and practice. The ultimate goal of this study is to inform and encourage other educators to collaborate in a transformative agenda aimed at the integration of critical pedagogies into the field of SHL education.

BARRIERS TO ADVANCED HERITAGE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Speakers of heritage languages do not universally achieve advanced levels in the language. We present evidence that three barriers are responsible: (1) lack of access to comprehensible, interesting reading material in the heritage language. (2) The use of traditional language teaching methods in heritage language classes, and (3) the reactions of elders who scold young heritage language speakers for their “errors.”

Writer’s Bilingualism and Biculturalism: Nicholas Kotar’s Mythopoetic Literary Works

This article examines the matter of bilingualism and biculturalism of bilingual authors analyzing the literary work of Nicholas Kotar, an American bilingual writer who is a descendant of the first-wave of Russian émigrés. The relevance of this topic stems from a growing interest among scholars of bilingual studies in researching the features of bilingual writers who efficiently use two languages and two cultures to create literary images and express their ideas, leading to translingualism and transculturalism in their work. The article analyzes how bilingualism and biculturalism of Nicholas Kotar, a heritage language speaker of Russian, reflect in his English-language literary works, using research methods of comparative, cultural and translational interpretation. In the novels from the Raven Son series The Song of the Sirin, The Heart of the World , The Throne of the Gods , The Son of the Deathless , Nicholas Kotar conveys elements of Russian folklore to Englishspeaking readers by mythopoesis. The analysis of the literary text provides results, revealing that samples of Nicholas Kotar’s English-language creativity emerge in the process of hybridization and syncretism through the mythopoetic transformation of Russian folklore and linguaculture. Nicholas Kotar’s novels contain many lexical and cultural borrowings, exotisms (Slavicisms), sayings from Russian fairy tales, as well as allusions pertaining to Russian linguaculture. Thus, incorporating elements of Russian fairy tales and other folklore genres enables the translingual and transcultural writer to familiarize English-speaking readers with elements of Slavic linguaculture through the combination and hybridization of English and Russian literary traditions in mythopoetic literature.

Insights into the time course of evidentiality processing in Turkish heritage speakers using a self-paced reading task

IntroductionStudies with heritage language speakers (HLS) have often used offline measurements, investigating the post-interpretive effects which emerge after processing has been completed. Relatively few studies have investigated heritage language processing using time-sensitive methods that allow the collection of evidence regarding real-time language processing rather than post-interpretive judgments. Using a self-paced-reading paradigm, we aimed to expand our understanding of HLS language processing by investigating evidentiality-the linguistic marking of information source, which is grammatically expressed in Turkish, but not in English.MethodParticipants were 54 bilingual speakers of Turkish and English: 24 HLS (English onset: 0-5 yrs) and 30 emigrant Turkish speakers (ES) who grew up in Turkey before emigrating to Australia (English onset = 6-17 yrs). Participants read sentences with evidential-marked verb forms that either matched or mismatched to the information source context. Word-by-word reading times and end-of-sentence acceptability judgment speed and accuracy were measured.ResultsThe results showed that although the HLS' responses were slower and less accurate than the ES in both reading times and end-of-sentence acceptability judgments, they showed similarities in online processing patterns. Both groups were faster at reading the mismatching sentences compared to the matching sentences; however, this pattern emerged during the time course of reading first for the indirect condition for the ES, and only later for the direct condition and for the HLS for both evidential conditions. Only HLS read faster in the target region with the direct evidential that is shown to be acquired earlier in childhood, than they did for the indirect evidential which is mastered later. In contrast, the end-of-sentence judgment data showed that while the ES group responded faster to matching direct sentences than matching indirect, this effect was missing for the HLS. Nevertheless, there were similar patterns for accuracy across evidential conditions: both groups were more accurate with the direct evidential.DiscussionOverall, the use of the self-paced-reading paradigm allowed insights into HLS' evidentiality processing above and beyond their generally slower and less accurate processing compared to the reference group. This study provides further evidence for differences in the patterns observed using online vs. post interpretive measures in HLS, reinforcing the importance of combining these methodologies for further understanding of HLS competence and performance.

Cross-linguistic influence, limited input, or working-memory limitations: The morphosyntax of agreement and concord in Heritage Russian

AbstractThis study investigated the morphosyntax of adjectival concord in case and number and subject-verb person agreement by monolingual and bilingual speakers of Russian. The main focus of the study is on the potential factors that may trigger divergence between Heritage Language (HL) speakers and those speakers who are dominant in that language, be they monolingual or bilingual. We considered the effects of cross-linguistic influence; limited input (as indexed by Age of Onset of Bilingualism, AOB), and working-memory limitations. An auditory offline grammaticality judgment task was performed by 119 adult participants split into four groups: (1) Monolingual Russian-speaking controls (MonoControl), (2) Immigrant Controls, that is, Russian-Hebrew bilinguals with AOB after the age of 13 (IMMControl); (3) bilinguals with AOB between 5–13 (BL-Late); and (4) bilinguals with AOB before the age of 5 (BL-Early). The latter group represents HL speakers. We did not find effects of cross-linguistic influence or extra memory load; at the same time, the effects of AOB were robust. Additionally, HL speakers (BL-Early group) differed from the other groups in poor performance on adjectival concord, but patterned with the others on person agreement, which indicates that the feature [person] is more robust than other agreement/concord features in HL grammars.