Chapter 6 What kind of speakers are these? Placing heritage speakers of Russian on a continuum
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Olga Kagan
Abstract
It is commonly presupposed that one’s first/home language is acquired easily, but there are numerous prerequisites for this “ease of acquisition”: multifaceted purposes and a high frequency of use, a broad spectrum of speakers and situations, developing the habit of receiving information about the world in the language (the primary socialisation and verbally-mediated cognitive development), and shaping one’s behaviour through this means of communication. Today, Russian develops as a pluricentric language with multiple centres of contact with languages of environment, e.g., in the USA, Israel, Germany, and Finland, as is demonstrated in this study with teenager bilinguals with the goal to show what is native-like and what belongs to their special proficiency. The debate upon pluricentricity strongly interrelates with the notions of norms/ standards and native/heritage speakers in diaspora. Heritage speakers often report that they struggle to recognize their language imperfections. The position of the heritage speakers between the L1 and the L2 speakers/learners of a language is both emotionally and practically vulnerable. The concept of a native speaker of Russian should be rethought, and the multilingual speakers who claim to have Russian as their first language should be offered placement on the scale between native and non-native performance, as part of a continuum and not positioned on one end of this continuum.
Abstract
It is commonly presupposed that one’s first/home language is acquired easily, but there are numerous prerequisites for this “ease of acquisition”: multifaceted purposes and a high frequency of use, a broad spectrum of speakers and situations, developing the habit of receiving information about the world in the language (the primary socialisation and verbally-mediated cognitive development), and shaping one’s behaviour through this means of communication. Today, Russian develops as a pluricentric language with multiple centres of contact with languages of environment, e.g., in the USA, Israel, Germany, and Finland, as is demonstrated in this study with teenager bilinguals with the goal to show what is native-like and what belongs to their special proficiency. The debate upon pluricentricity strongly interrelates with the notions of norms/ standards and native/heritage speakers in diaspora. Heritage speakers often report that they struggle to recognize their language imperfections. The position of the heritage speakers between the L1 and the L2 speakers/learners of a language is both emotionally and practically vulnerable. The concept of a native speaker of Russian should be rethought, and the multilingual speakers who claim to have Russian as their first language should be offered placement on the scale between native and non-native performance, as part of a continuum and not positioned on one end of this continuum.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: The changing face of the “native speaker” 1
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Part one: Conceptual discussions
- Chapter 1 Why the mythical “native speaker” has mud on its face 25
- Chapter 2 The multilingual and multicompetent native speaker 47
- Chapter 3 New speakers: New linguistic subjects 71
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Part two: Practices and representations
- Chapter 4 Is there a native speaker in the class? A didactic view of a problematic notion 103
- Chapter 5 On the paradox of being native speakers of two “competing” languages: Turkish as the mother or the father tongue of Greek nationals 133
- Chapter 6 What kind of speakers are these? Placing heritage speakers of Russian on a continuum 155
- Chapter 7 The out-of-sight of “native speaker”: A critical journey through models of social representations of plurilingual identities 179
- Chapter 8 Practice-proof concepts? Rethinking linguistic borders and families in multilingual communication: Exploiting the relationship between intercomprehension and translanguaging 209
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Part three: Policies and controversies
- Chapter 9 Provenance and possession: Rethinking the mother tongue 233
- Chapter 10 The pluricentricity and ownership of English 253
- Chapter 11 “I want to be bilingual!” Contested imaginings of bilingualism in New Brunswick, Canada 285
- Chapter 12 Questioning the questions: Institutional and individual perspectives on children’s language repertoires 315
- Afterword 347
- Index 353
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: The changing face of the “native speaker” 1
-
Part one: Conceptual discussions
- Chapter 1 Why the mythical “native speaker” has mud on its face 25
- Chapter 2 The multilingual and multicompetent native speaker 47
- Chapter 3 New speakers: New linguistic subjects 71
-
Part two: Practices and representations
- Chapter 4 Is there a native speaker in the class? A didactic view of a problematic notion 103
- Chapter 5 On the paradox of being native speakers of two “competing” languages: Turkish as the mother or the father tongue of Greek nationals 133
- Chapter 6 What kind of speakers are these? Placing heritage speakers of Russian on a continuum 155
- Chapter 7 The out-of-sight of “native speaker”: A critical journey through models of social representations of plurilingual identities 179
- Chapter 8 Practice-proof concepts? Rethinking linguistic borders and families in multilingual communication: Exploiting the relationship between intercomprehension and translanguaging 209
-
Part three: Policies and controversies
- Chapter 9 Provenance and possession: Rethinking the mother tongue 233
- Chapter 10 The pluricentricity and ownership of English 253
- Chapter 11 “I want to be bilingual!” Contested imaginings of bilingualism in New Brunswick, Canada 285
- Chapter 12 Questioning the questions: Institutional and individual perspectives on children’s language repertoires 315
- Afterword 347
- Index 353
