A Study on the Heritage Language Competence of Missionary Kids and their variables

What factors explain the extent to which members of cultural minorities maintain their heritage cultural engagement? Although this process, called heritage acculturation, has significant implications for adjustment, we know little about its antecedents. The present work sought to address two shortcomings of acculturation research: (a) the need to characterize antecedents of acculturation orientations and (b) the need to consider acculturation as a contextual phenomenon. Some studies have documented associations between acculturation and specific contextual variables (e.g., family socialization), but an important feature of this research was to examine the unique contribution of factors at multiple levels of proximity simultaneously. Specifically, this study considered intraindividual, home, social network, and neighborhood-level contextual correlates of heritage acculturation. The overarching hypothesis tested among multicultural university students in Canada ( n = 271) was that people whose life contexts are more strongly imbued with heritage cultural influences would report greater heritage acculturation. Results fully supported this hypothesis. Greater heritage language competence, “parental” living arrangements, a more extensive heritage social network, and living in an ethnically denser neighborhood were all related to greater heritage cultural maintenance. Further, only heritage network extensiveness was negatively related to mainstream cultural engagement—attesting to the cultural specificity of these associations. These results suggest that none of the four contextual levels considered here was sufficient on its own to understand participants’ heritage acculturation and that we need a holistic view of the person in her or his multiple contexts when studying acculturation.

Download Full-text

Curriculum Development for Advancing Heritage Language Competence: Recent Research, Current Practices, and a Future Agenda

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1017/s0267190510000012 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 24-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Kimi Kondo-Brown

Keyword(s):

Curriculum Development ◽

Heritage Language ◽

The United States ◽

School Age Children ◽

Future Research ◽

Specific Reference ◽

Language Competence ◽

Language Curriculum ◽

Future Research Agenda ◽

Definition Of

In the last few decades, research on teaching heritage language (HL) learners has expanded enormously and encouraged language professionals to work toward responsible curriculum development for this specific type of learners. This article suggests ways to expand current curriculum research and practices with the goal of advancing the HL competence of learners. To this end, this article examines the scope, trends, and issues in recent theoretical and practical studies concerning curriculum development for HL learners from various language backgrounds, especially those in the United States. A definition of HL learners is presented first, which is followed by a discussion of general second language curriculum development frameworks with specific reference to HL instruction. Then, the article examines the contexts, challenges, and possibilities for teaching HLs to school-age children in precollegiate programs. Next, it turns to a discussion of issues and recommendations for teaching postsecondary HL students. The article concludes by discussing curricular and pedagogical recommendations for HL professionals as well as a future research agenda that could promote the advancement of HL competence in all educational institutions.

Download Full-text

Linguistic Profiling of Heritage Speakers of an Endangered Language: The Case of Vlach Aromanian–Greek Bilinguals

Open Linguistics ◽

10.1515/opli-2020-0034 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 626-641

Author(s):

Alexandra Prentza ◽

Maria Kaltsa

Keyword(s):

Heritage Language ◽

Age Of Onset ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Home Language ◽

Language Practices ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

Language Competence ◽

Endangered Language ◽

Bilingual Speakers ◽

Substantial Decline

AbstractThis is the first attempt to profile the heritage speakers of an endangered spoken-only variety of Vlach Aromanian in Greece. Neither the variety nor its speakers has been investigated before; hence, the study also aims at evaluating the exact state of endangerment of the Sirrako variety, as this is revealed by the language practices and skills of its bilingual speakers. To this aim, a background questionnaire was developed and administered to 60 bilingual speakers of Vlach Aromanian and Greek including questions on the age of onset of exposure to both languages, early home language practices, current language practices (orality and literacy) and attitudes toward the heritage and majority language. Significant variation in language practices, literacy skills, oral input and current competence across three generations of speakers was identified with a substantial decline in heritage language competence in younger bilinguals, verifying our claim of the endangered state of Vlach Aromanian.

Download Full-text

Advancing East Asian Language Competence: A Heritage Language Perspective

ADFL Bulletin ◽

10.1632/adfl.41.2.60 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 60-68

Keyword(s):

Heritage Language ◽

East Asian ◽

Language Competence ◽

East Asian Language ◽

Asian Language

Download Full-text

Understanding heritage languages

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728919000245 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 4-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Maria Polinsky ◽

Gregory Scontras

Keyword(s):

Predictive Model ◽

Heritage Language ◽

Current Work ◽

Online Resources ◽

Heritage Languages ◽

Language Competence ◽

Dominant Language ◽

Language Studies ◽

Level Of Understanding

AbstractWith a growing interest in heritage languages from researchers of bilingualism and linguistic theory, the field of heritage-language studies has begun to build on its empirical foundations, moving toward a deeper understanding of the nature of language competence under unbalanced bilingualism. In furtherance of this trend, the current work synthesizes pertinent empirical observations and theoretical claims about vulnerable and robust areas of heritage language competence into early steps toward a model of heritage-language grammar. We highlight two key triggers for deviation from the relevant baseline: the quantity and quality of the input from which the heritage grammar is acquired, and the economy of online resources when operating in a less dominant language. In response to these triggers, we identify three outcomes of deviation in the heritage grammar: an avoidance of ambiguity, a resistance to irregularity, and a shrinking of structure. While we are still a ways away from a level of understanding that allows us to predict those aspects of heritage grammar that will be robust and those that will deviate from the relevant baselines, our hope is that the current work will spur the continued development of a predictive model of heritage language competence.

Download Full-text