Cover not available

In:Bridging Boundaries: Interdisciplinary perspectives on Hispanic Linguistics
Edited by Gregory L. Thompson and Scott M. Alvord
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 46] 2026
► pp. 276–303

Chapter 11
Dominance and rhotic production in early heritage speakers of Spanish

Evidence and implications for instruction

 | Bentley University
 | Middlebury College
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Generally, heritage language research has primarily focused on morphosyntax (Potowski, 2018), whereas phonological aspects have not been extensively studied. Recently, studies on heritage phonology have gained traction (Cogliu et al., 2024; Menke, 2018), with some research suggesting that transfer can impact acquisition and production (Lleó, 2018). Further, previous studies involving heritage phonology did not utilize a bilingual dominance assessment tool, such as the Bilingual Language Profile (BLP; Birdsong et al., 2012), to examine the relationship between language dominance and young heritage phonological development for both the tap and trill in Spanish. The current study aims to fill the gap by focusing on rhotic production of early heritage speakers (HSs), as rhotics have been documented as causing difficulty in production (Kissling, 2018; Mendoza, 2000). Thirty-six Spanish–English HSs ages 6 to 9 participated in the study, completing a delayed-repetition task (Casillas, 2019) in Spanish with auditory stimuli, primed with sentences containing /r/ or /ɾ/. Data analysis consisted of logistic mixed models (Bates et al., 2014). Results revealed that these HSs generally produced taps in expected contexts, but often produced taps instead of trills where trills are expected, with some additional unexpected variation for trills. Further, results indicate that age was a better predictor of accuracy for rhotic production than Spanish dominance. Following the findings, we discuss pedagogical implications for young HSs.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Heritage language phonology
    • 2.2Overview of English and Spanish rhotics
    • 2.3Acquisition of rhotics for Spanish–English bilinguals in the U.S
    • 2.4Overview of rhotic variation in Spanish
    • 2.5Varied heritage language experience
    • 2.6Language dominance
    • 2.7Research questions
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Procedures
      • 3.2.1Bilingual language profile
      • 3.2.2Delayed-repetition task
  • 4.Data analysis
    • 4.1Age effects
    • 4.2Language dominance effects
  • 5.Discussion of results
    • 5.1Pedagogical implications
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Note
  • References
  • Appendix
References (62)
References
Acevedo, M. A. (1993). Development of Spanish consonants in preschool children. Journal of Childhood Communication Disorders, 15(2), 9–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Amengual, M. (2016). Acoustic correlates of the Spanish tap-trill contrast: Heritage and L2 Spanish speakers. Heritage Language Journal, 13(2), 88–112. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Asymmetrical interlingual influence in the production of Spanish and English laterals as a result of competing activation in bilingual language processing. Journal of Phonetics, 69, 12–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2024). The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingual Phonetics and Phonology (M. Amengual, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Antoniou, M., Best, C. T., Tyler, M. D., & Kroos, C. (2011). Inter-language interference in VOT production by L2-dominant bilinguals: Asymmetries in phonetic code-switching. Journal of Phonetics, 39(4), 558–570. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, W., & Trofimovich, P. (2005). Interaction of native- and second-language vowel system(s) in early and late bilinguals. Language and Speech, 48(1), 1–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2014). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4 [Computer software manual]. R package version, 1–1. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Birdsong, D., Gertken, L. M., & Amengual, M. (2012). Bilingual language profile: An easy-to-use instrument to assess bilingualism. COERLL, University of Texas at Austin. [URL]
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2021). Praat: doing phonetics by computer [computer program] (2011). Version, 5(3), 74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boomershine, A., & Stevens, J. (2021). Variable/s/-voicing by heritage Spanish speakers in the United States. In Sociolinguistic approaches to sibilant variation in Spanish (pp. 192–214). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bradley, T. G., & Willis, E. W. (2012). Rhotic variation and contrast in Veracruz Mexican Spanish. Estudios de Fonética Experimental, 21, 43–74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Camus, P., & Adrada-Rafael, S. (2015). Spanish heritage language learners vs. L2 learners: What CAF reveals about written proficiency. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages, 2(2), 31–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Casillas, J. V. (2019). Semantic processing triggers cross-linguistic interference during early phonetic category development. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 3348–3352.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Colantoni, L., Cuza, A., & Mazzaro, N. (2016). Task-related effects in the prosody of Spanish heritage speakers and long-term immigrants. In M. Amstrong, N. Henrikssen & M. Vanrell, (Eds.), Intonational grammar in Ibero-Romance: Approaches across linguistic subfields (pp. 3–24). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Colgiu, I., Spinu, L., Rao, R., & Rafat, Y. (2024). Bilingual Rhotic Production Patterns: A Generational Comparison of Spanish-English Bilingual Speakers in Canada. Proceedings of the 2024 Interspeech Conference, 1025–1029. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Core, C., & Scarpelli, C. (2015). Phonological development in young bilinguals: Clinical implications. Seminars in Speech and Language, 36(2), 100–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cummings Ruiz, L. D., & Montrul, S. (2020). Assessing rhotic production by bilingual Spanish speakers. Languages, 5(4), 51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Houwer, A. (1996). Bilingual language acquisition. In P. Fletcher & B. MacWhinney (Eds.), The handbook of child language (pp. 219–250). Wiley. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erickson, B. (2002). On the development of English r. In D. Minkova & R. Stockwell (Eds.), Studies in the history of the English language: A millennial perspective (pp. 183–206). DeGruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fabiano-Smith, L., & Goldstein, B. A. (2010). Phonological acquisition in bilingual Spanish–English speaking children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(1), 160–178. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldstein, B., Fabiano, L., & Iglesias, A. (2004). Spontaneous and imitated productions in Spanish-speaking children with phonological disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 35(1), 5–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hammond, R. M. (2001). The sounds of Spanish: Analysis and application (with special reference to American English). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hualde, J. I. (2013). Los sonidos del español: Spanish language edition. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, J. Y., & Repiso-Puigdelliura, G. (2020). Deconstructing heritage language dominance: Effects of proficiency, use, and input on heritage speakers’ production of the Spanish alveolar tap. Phonetica, 77(1), 55–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021). Keeping a critical eye on majority language influence: The case of uptalk in heritage Spanish. Languages, 6(1), 13–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kissling, E. M. (2018). An exploratory study of heritage Spanish rhotics: Addressing methodological challenges of heritage language phonetics research. Heritage Language Journal, 15(1), 25–70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kupisch, T., Castro, T., Krämer, M., & Westergaard, M. (2023). Phonological influence in bilectal speakers of Brazilian and European Portuguese. International Journal of Bilingualism, 28(3), 406–423. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lease, S., & Marchesi, M. (2022). A sociophonetic approach to the acquisition of Spanish rhotics in a bilingual community. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, 7(1), 5231–5231. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological foundations of language. John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lipski, J. M. (2008). Varieties of Spanish in the United States. Georgetown University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lleó, C. (2018). Aspects of the phonology of Spanish as a heritage language: From incomplete acquisition to transfer. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 21(4), 732–747. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lord, G. (2005). (How) can we teach foreign language pronunciation? On the effects of a Spanish phonetics course. Hispania, 88(3), 557–567. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mazzaro, N., & González de Anda, R. (2020). Men finally got it! Rhotic assibilation in Mexican Spanish in Chihuahua. Languages, 5(38), 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meisel, J. M. (1989). Early differentiation of languages in bilingual children. In K. Hyltenstam & L. K. Obler (Eds.), Bilingualism across the life span: Aspects of acquisition, maturity, and loss (pp. 13–40). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mendoza, G. C. E. (2000). Acoustic characteristics of trill productions by groups of Spanish children. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 14(8), 587–601. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Menke, M. R. (2018). Development of Spanish rhotics in Spanish–English bilingual children in the United States. Journal of Child Language, 45(3), 788–806. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S. (2010). Dominant language transfer in adult second language learners and heritage speakers. Second Language Research, 26(3), 293–327. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). How “native” are heritage speakers? Heritage Language Journal, 10(2), 153–177. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S., & Perpiñán, S. (2011). Assessing differences and similarities between instructed heritage language learners and L2 learners in their knowledge of Spanish tense-aspect and mood (TAM) morphology. Heritage Language Journal, 8(1), 90–133. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morgan, T. (2010). Sonidos en contexto. Yale University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Offerman, H. M., & Yelin, B. (2022). Leveraging social media for second language Spanish pronunciation instruction. In A. Guskaroska & J. Levis (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference (pp. 1–12). Brock University. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olsen, M. K. (2012). The L2 acquisition of Spanish rhotics by L1 English speakers: The effect of L1 articulatory routines and phonetic context for allophonic variation. Hispania, 95(1), 65–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paradis, J., & Genesee, F. (1996). Syntactic acquisition in bilingual children: Autonomous or Interdependent? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(1), 1–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Potowski, K. (2018). The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Core Team. (2013). R: A language and environment for statistical computing (Version 3.2.1) [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. [URL]
Rao, R. (2024). The phonetics and phonology of heritage languages (R. Rao, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rao, R., & Ronquest, R. (2015). The heritage Spanish phonetic/phonological system: Looking back and moving forward. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 8(2), 403–414. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Repiso-Puigdelliura, G. (2023). Deceleration in the acquisition of the Spanish trill by school-aged Spanish heritage speakers. In P. Gappmayr & J. Kellogg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 47th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 645–657). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Repiso-Puigdelliura, G. & Kim, J. Y. (2021). The missing link in Spanish heritage trill production. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4(3), 454–466. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodríguez, N. M. (2021). The perception and production of lexical stress among early Spanish- English bilingual children [Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers]. ProQuest Dissertations.
Ronquest, R. (2013). An acoustic examination of unstressed vowel reduction in heritage Spanish. In C. Howe, S. E. Blackwell, & M. Lubbers Quesada (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 15th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 151–171). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ronquest, R., & Rao, R. (2018). Heritage Spanish phonetics and phonology. In K. Potowski (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language (pp. 164–177). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shea, C. (2019). Dominance, proficiency, and Spanish heritage speakers’ production of English and Spanish vowels. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(1), 123–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Song, J. Y., Shattuck-Hufnagel, S., & Demuth, K. (2015). Development of phonetic variants (allophones) in 2-year-olds learning American English: A study of alveolar stop /t, d/ codas. Journal of Phonetics, 52, 152–169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stevens, G., & Ishizawa, H. (2007). Variation among siblings in the use of a non-English language. Journal of Family Issues, 28(8), 1008–1025. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stow, C., & Pert, S. (2006). Phonological acquisition in bilingual Pakistani heritage children in England. In Z. Hua & B. Dodd (Eds.), Phonological development and disorders in children: A multilingual perspective (pp. 326–345). Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valdés, G. (2000). Spanish for native speakers: AATSP professional development series handbook for teachers K-16. Vol. 1. New York.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Bilingualism, heritage language learners, and SLA research: Opportunities lost or seized? The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 410–426. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vergara Wilson, D., & Pascual y Cabo, D. (2019). Linguistic diversity and student voice: The case of Spanish as a heritage language. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 6(2), 170–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Willis, E. W. (2006). Trill variation in Dominican Spanish: An acoustic examination and comparative analysis. In N. Sagarra & A. J. Toribio (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 9th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, vol. 1, (pp. 121–131). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). An acoustic study of the “pre-aspirated trill” in narrative Cibaeño Dominican Spanish. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37(1), 33–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue