Chapter published in:
Variation and Evolution: Aspects of language contact and contrast across the Spanish-speaking world
Edited by Sandro Sessarego, Juan J. Colomina-Almiñana and Adrián Rodríguez-Riccelli
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 29] 2020
► pp. 56–73

A corpus analysis of the structural elaboration of Spanish heritage language learners

| Northern Arizona University
| Northern Arizona University
Research on heritage language learner (HLL) grammar provides insights into bilingual developmental trajectories (Bolger & Zapata, 2011). More research is needed on the effects of cognitive processes on HLL grammar under real-time communicative pressures (Jegerski, 2017). The present corpus-based study analyzes the role of cognitive factors on HLLs’ (N = 65) production of structural elaboration (i.e., syntactic modifiers and embedding), which is cognitively challenging to monolinguals (Ferreira, 1991). The analysis of the participants’ production in an instant-messaging task indicates that, even though advanced HLLs may be fairly homogeneous in their general grammatical and lexical abilities, they vary significantly in the production of structural elaboration in syntactic frames (e.g., verb phrases with clitics, relative clauses) that interact strongly with working memory and attentional resources.
Keywords: heritage language learners, corpus, structural elaboration, cognition, Spanish
Published online: 11 August 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.29.03col
References

References

Arroyo, D. C., & Yilmaz, Y.
(2018) An open for replication study: The role of feedback timing in synchronous computer-mediated communication. Language Learning, 68(4), 942–972. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Benmamoun, E., Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M.
(2013) Defining an “ideal” heritage speaker: Theoretical and methodological challenges: Reply to peer commentaries. Theoretical Linguistics, 39(3–4), 259–294.Google Scholar
Biber, D., Davies, M., Jones, J., & Tracy-Ventura, N.
(2006) Spoken and written register variation in Spanish: A multi-dimensional analysis. Corpora, 1(1), 1–37. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bird, S., Loper, E., & Klein, E.
(2009) Natural language processing with python. New York, NY: O’Reilly Media.Google Scholar
Bolger, P. A., & Zapata, G. C.
(2011) Psycholinguistic approaches to language processing in heritage speakers. Heritage Language Journal, 8(1), 1–29.Google Scholar
Bowles, M.
(2011) Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge. What can heritage language learners contribute? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(2), 247–271. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bruhn de Garavito, J.
(2002) Verb raising in Spanish: A comparison of early and late bilinguals. In B. Skarabela, S. Fish, & A. Do (Eds.), Proceedings of the 26th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 84–94). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla.Google Scholar
Bulté, B., & Housen, A.
(2012) Defining and operationalizing L2 complexity. In A. Housen, F. Kuiken, & I. Vedder (Eds.), Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 21–46). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Collentine, J., & Collentine, K.
In press). Insights into the cognition of mood selection in L2 learners of Spanish. In D. Pascual y Cabo, I. Elola, M. Tecedor, & B. Regan Eds. Proceedings of the 2017 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium Amsterdam John Benjamins
Collentine, K.
(2018) La complejidad lingüística en la comunicación mediada por computadora. In M. González-Lloret & M. Vinagre (Eds.), Comunicación mediada por tecnologías: Aprendizaje y enseñanza de la lengua extranjera (pp. 108–123). Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
DeKeyser, R.
(2016) Of moving targets and chameleons: Why the concept of difficulty is so hard to pin down. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(2), 353–363. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, F.
(1991) Effects of length and syntactic complexity on initiation times for prepared utterances. Journal of Memory and Language, 30(2), 210–233. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Housen, A., & Kuiken, F.
(2009) Complexity, accuracy, and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 461–473. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Housen, A., & Simoens, H.
(2016) Introduction: Cognitive perspectives on difficulty and complexity in L2 acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(2), 163–175. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Jegerski, J.
(2017) Psycholinguistic perspectives on heritage Spanish. In K. Potowski & J. Muñoz-Basols (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 221–234). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
(2018) Sentence processing in Spanish as a heritage language: A self-paced reading study of relative clause attachment. Language Learning, 68(3), 598–634. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Keating, G. D., VanPatten, B., & Jegerski, J.
(2016) Online processing of subject pronouns in monolingual and heritage bilingual speakers of Mexican Spanish. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(1), 36–49. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kroll, J., Dussias, P., Bice, K., & Perrotti, L.
(2014) Bilingualism, mind, and brain. Annual Review of Linguistics, 1, 377–394. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, A., Alday, P., Decuyper, C., & Knudsen, B.
(2018) Working together: Contributions of corpus analyses and experimental psycholinguistics to understanding conversation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 525. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Michalke, M.
(2018) koRpus: An R package for text analysis (Version 0.11–5). Retrieved from https://​reaktanz​.de​/?c​=hacking​&s​=koRpus> (13 March 2020).
Montrul, S.
(2006) On the bilingual competence of Spanish heritage speakers: Syntax, lexical-semantics and processing. International Journal of Bilingualism, 10(1), 37–69. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., & Bowles, M.
(2009) Back to basics: Incomplete knowledge of differential object marking in Spanish heritage speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(3), 363–383. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., Davidson, J., de la Fuente, I., & Foote, R.
(2014) Early language experience facilitates gender agreement processing in Spanish heritage speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17(1), 118–138. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., Foote, R., & Perpin, S.
(2008) Gender agreement in adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers: The effects of age and context of acquisition. Language Learning, 58(3), 503–553. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M.
(2011) Why not heritage speakers? Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(1), 58–62. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L.
(2009) Towards an organic approach to investigating CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 555–578. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pascual y Cabo, D., & Gómez Soler, I.
(2015) Preposition stranding in Spanish as a heritage language. Heritage Language Journal, 12(2), 186–209.Google Scholar
Reif, M., & Robinson, J.
(2016) Cognitive perspectives on bilingualism. Berlin: De Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez Abchi, V., & De Mier, V.
(2017) Syntactic complexity in narratives written by Spanish heritage speakers. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 125–148.Google Scholar
Scontras, G., Fuchs, Z., & Polinsky, M.
(2015) Heritage language and linguistic theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1545. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A.
(2011) Pinning down the concept of ’interface” in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(1), 1–33. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stockwell, G.
(2010) Effects of multimodality in computer-mediated communication tasks. In M. Thomas & H. Reinders (Eds.), Task-based language learning and teaching with technology (pp. 83–104). London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S.
(2012) Using multivariate statistics. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Asención‐Delaney, Yuly
2020. Writing in Spanish as a heritage language: A multidimensional analysis. Foreign Language Annals 53:4 ► pp. 877 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 06 february 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.