Previous work on the acquisition of grammatical gender in child and adult heritage speakers of Spanish has found significant mismatches in gender agreement stemming from overgeneralization of the masculine form to contexts in which the feminine is required. It has been argued that these… read more
The present study examines the acquisition of differential object marking (dom) in Spanish among Mandarin-speaking L2 learners from China. Unlike Mandarin, which marks the direct object only in preverbal position (i.e., in SOV sentences) and is a topic-prominent language, Spanish allows dom in both… read more
The present study examines the extent to which L2 learners and HS of Spanish acquire target knowledge of subjunctive mood selection in Spanish. Specifically, we analyze obligatory and variable selection in temporal and concessive constructions. Ten HS of Spanish, ten English-speaking L2 learners… read more
This study examines the distribution and use of simple and progressive forms in two groups: English-speaking heritage speakers of Spanish in the U.S. (n = 9) and Brazilian Portuguese-speaking heritage speakers of Spanish in Brazil (n = 15). We hypothesized that the groups would show different… read more
We compare the extent to which Spanish heritage speakers and long-term immigrants in the United States differ in their intonation of broad focus declaratives, and propose that the between-group variability is motivated by the specific language learning/literacy conditions of each group. Results… read more
We examine the acquisition of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense among second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers, an area so far underexplored. We predict bilingualism effects evidenced in lower patterns of use, acceptance and preference of the simple present with an… read more
The present study explores the elicited production of differential object marking and subject-verb inversion in matrix and embedded wh- questions in Spanish among 16 English-speaking L2 learners and 17 Spanish-speaking immigrants serving as control baseline. Results from an elicited production task… read more
This study explores the perception of consonantal and vocalic contrasts in two groups of Spanish-English bilingual speakers: heritage speakers and long-term immigrants. We test the discrimination of Spanish stops and mid and high vowels via an AX discrimination task with natural stimuli consisting… read more
This study examines the knowledge of past tense aspectual distinctions in Spanish among 19 Spanish-English bilingual children born and raised in the United States. We compare their results with those of 12 of the children’s parents, who are long-term immigrants of Mexican background. We predicted… read more
This cross-sectional study examines the production of tense and aspect morphology in child and adult heritage Spanish, with the view of informing the development of pedagogical interventions in Spanish language for child and adult heritage Spanish speakers. We compare natural production data from… read more
Research shows correlations between proficiency and language attitudes. Other studies associate performance in young bilinguals more strongly with adult language input and practice at home than with individual attitudes in youth. No studies, however, have examined how attitudes and family practice… read more