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Chapter 3. Methodological considerations in heritage language studies

A comparison of sociolinguistic and acquisition-based tasks

Abstract

This study examines accuracy of heritage speakers with respect to gender agreement of noun phrase (NP) constituents. How does methodology affect participants’ accuracy with gender agreement (GA)? Methods employed include an acquisition-based task, and the sociolinguistic interview used in four groups: children who access heritage language (HL) in school and in social network (SN); children who access HL only in SN; children who access Spanish only at school; and finally, children who access Spanish neither in school nor in SN. Three groups showed comparable accuracy in sociolinguistic interviews and acquisition task. For the group that did not access Spanish at school/home, the accuracy was higher on a sociolinguistic task (98.61%) compared to acquisition task (73%). Different methodologies yielded different rates of accuracy. Methods influence the participants’ task accuracy.

Abstract

This study examines accuracy of heritage speakers with respect to gender agreement of noun phrase (NP) constituents. How does methodology affect participants’ accuracy with gender agreement (GA)? Methods employed include an acquisition-based task, and the sociolinguistic interview used in four groups: children who access heritage language (HL) in school and in social network (SN); children who access HL only in SN; children who access Spanish only at school; and finally, children who access Spanish neither in school nor in SN. Three groups showed comparable accuracy in sociolinguistic interviews and acquisition task. For the group that did not access Spanish at school/home, the accuracy was higher on a sociolinguistic task (98.61%) compared to acquisition task (73%). Different methodologies yielded different rates of accuracy. Methods influence the participants’ task accuracy.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Hispanic contact linguistics 1
  5. Theoretical and methodological approaches
  6. Chapter 1. The New Spanishes in the context of contact linguistics 11
  7. Chapter 2. Chocó Spanish 43
  8. Chapter 3. Methodological considerations in heritage language studies 61
  9. Phonetics, phonology, prosody
  10. Chapter 4. Social change and /s/ variation in Concepción, Chile and Lima, Peru 85
  11. Chapter 5. The acento pujado in Yucatan Spanish 115
  12. Morphology
  13. Chapter 6. First person singular subject expression in Caribbean heritage speaker Spanish oral production 139
  14. Chapter 7. Use of the Present Perfect Indicative in New York Dominican Spanish 163
  15. Chapter 8. Transfer and convergence between Catalan and Spanish in a bilingual setting 179
  16. Syntax
  17. Chapter 9. The distribution and use of present and past progressive forms in Spanish-English and Spanish-Brazilian Portuguese bilinguals 215
  18. Chapter 10. Portuguese-Spanish contacts in Misiones, Argentina 235
  19. Language variation, linguistic perceptions and attitudes
  20. Chapter 11. Real perception or perceptive accommodation? 263
  21. Chapter 12. Andean Spanish and Provinciano identity 283
  22. Chapter 13. On the effects of Catalan contact in the variable expression of Spanish future tense 315
  23. Index 335
Hispanic Contact Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Hispanic Contact Linguistics
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.22.03mcm

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Hispanic contact linguistics 1
  5. Theoretical and methodological approaches
  6. Chapter 1. The New Spanishes in the context of contact linguistics 11
  7. Chapter 2. Chocó Spanish 43
  8. Chapter 3. Methodological considerations in heritage language studies 61
  9. Phonetics, phonology, prosody
  10. Chapter 4. Social change and /s/ variation in Concepción, Chile and Lima, Peru 85
  11. Chapter 5. The acento pujado in Yucatan Spanish 115
  12. Morphology
  13. Chapter 6. First person singular subject expression in Caribbean heritage speaker Spanish oral production 139
  14. Chapter 7. Use of the Present Perfect Indicative in New York Dominican Spanish 163
  15. Chapter 8. Transfer and convergence between Catalan and Spanish in a bilingual setting 179
  16. Syntax
  17. Chapter 9. The distribution and use of present and past progressive forms in Spanish-English and Spanish-Brazilian Portuguese bilinguals 215
  18. Chapter 10. Portuguese-Spanish contacts in Misiones, Argentina 235
  19. Language variation, linguistic perceptions and attitudes
  20. Chapter 11. Real perception or perceptive accommodation? 263
  21. Chapter 12. Andean Spanish and Provinciano identity 283
  22. Chapter 13. On the effects of Catalan contact in the variable expression of Spanish future tense 315
  23. Index 335
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