Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of heritage language (HL) research in relation to native speakerhood. The variation across HL speakers who range from overhearers to highly proficient individuals often indistinguishable from native speakers (NSs) is one of the greatest challenges faced by the field. We suggest that, on sociolinguistic grounds, much remains to be said about the acquisition and awareness of sociolinguistic variants in the HL; speaker agency and identities; "passing" as native in terms of contextually-situated language performativity; the role of ideologies in HL settings; community engagement and service-learning, and L2-HL learner interactions in the classroom. From the perspective of grammatical systems, more work needs to be done to distinguish effects of processing difficulties or memory limitations from more profound innovations in HL grammars. We argue that despite their knowledge gaps, HL speakers have much in common with NSs, and with appropriate instruction and expanded social use of the language they attain levels of proficiency highly comparable to those of NSs. The rapidly growing field of HL research calls for a dialogue among our various sub-disciplines, recognizing our shared goal to understand language variation in HL populations, develop better and more consistent assessment methodologies, and formulate pedagogical practices from which HL learners will most benefit.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Connecting Across Languages and Cultures |
| Subtitle of host publication | A Heritage Language Festschrift in Honor of Olga Kagan |
| Publisher | Slavica Publishers |
| Pages | 143-162 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780893577797 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780893574857 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2018 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Arts and Humanities(all)
Cite this
Native speakerhood in heritage language research. / Lynch, Andrew; Polinsky, Maria.
Connecting Across Languages and Cultures: A Heritage Language Festschrift in Honor of Olga Kagan. Slavica Publishers, 2018. p. 143-162.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Native speakerhood in heritage language research
AU - Lynch, Andrew
AU - Polinsky, Maria
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - This chapter provides an overview of heritage language (HL) research in relation to native speakerhood. The variation across HL speakers who range from overhearers to highly proficient individuals often indistinguishable from native speakers (NSs) is one of the greatest challenges faced by the field. We suggest that, on sociolinguistic grounds, much remains to be said about the acquisition and awareness of sociolinguistic variants in the HL; speaker agency and identities; "passing" as native in terms of contextually-situated language performativity; the role of ideologies in HL settings; community engagement and service-learning, and L2-HL learner interactions in the classroom. From the perspective of grammatical systems, more work needs to be done to distinguish effects of processing difficulties or memory limitations from more profound innovations in HL grammars. We argue that despite their knowledge gaps, HL speakers have much in common with NSs, and with appropriate instruction and expanded social use of the language they attain levels of proficiency highly comparable to those of NSs. The rapidly growing field of HL research calls for a dialogue among our various sub-disciplines, recognizing our shared goal to understand language variation in HL populations, develop better and more consistent assessment methodologies, and formulate pedagogical practices from which HL learners will most benefit.
AB - This chapter provides an overview of heritage language (HL) research in relation to native speakerhood. The variation across HL speakers who range from overhearers to highly proficient individuals often indistinguishable from native speakers (NSs) is one of the greatest challenges faced by the field. We suggest that, on sociolinguistic grounds, much remains to be said about the acquisition and awareness of sociolinguistic variants in the HL; speaker agency and identities; "passing" as native in terms of contextually-situated language performativity; the role of ideologies in HL settings; community engagement and service-learning, and L2-HL learner interactions in the classroom. From the perspective of grammatical systems, more work needs to be done to distinguish effects of processing difficulties or memory limitations from more profound innovations in HL grammars. We argue that despite their knowledge gaps, HL speakers have much in common with NSs, and with appropriate instruction and expanded social use of the language they attain levels of proficiency highly comparable to those of NSs. The rapidly growing field of HL research calls for a dialogue among our various sub-disciplines, recognizing our shared goal to understand language variation in HL populations, develop better and more consistent assessment methodologies, and formulate pedagogical practices from which HL learners will most benefit.
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M3 - Chapter
SN - 9780893574857
SP - 143
EP - 162
BT - Connecting Across Languages and Cultures
PB - Slavica Publishers
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