Identity and investment in language learning
A case study of heritage Spanish speakers
Norton (2000) argues that investment in L2 acquisition is also an investment in learner identity, which changes in the context of time and space – a notion that also has relevance for heritage learners. As such, the purpose of this study is to examine investment in language learning among HL Spanish speakers and the role of identity in their learning experiences. This study comprises of ten participants enrolled in an HL Spanish course who completed a background questionnaire, interviews, and writing prompts. Using narrative analysis, this study examines participants’ reflections on their heritage identity, HL exposure, and their investment, experiences and progress in their HL course. Results show that participants demonstrate varying degrees of investment in the HL, and heritage identity plays a role in this variance.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background
- 3.Present study
- 4.Methods
- 4.1Participants and research context
- 4.2Tasks
- 4.3Method of analysis
- 5.Results
- 5.1Language attitudes, identity, and early exposure to Spanish
- 5.2Familial and social dynamics, expectations, and interactions as adult HL speakers
- 5.3Learning Spanish formally: Experiences, motivations, and attitudes
- 6.Discussion and conclusion
- Notes
-
References
References (71)
Anya, Uju
2017 Speaking blackness in Brazil: Racialized identities in second language learning. New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bailey, Benjamin
2000 Language and Negotiation of Racial/Ethnic Identity among Dominican Americans.
Language in Society 291: 555–62.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Barnes, Melissa
2019 “
Educational Social Media Tools: Promoting Student Investment and Language Identity in the Midst of Digital Surveillance.”
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics 2 (2).
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blackledge, Adrian, and Angela Creese
2008 “
Contesting ‘language’ as ‘heritage’: Negotiation of identities in late modernity.”
Applied Linguistics 291: 533–554.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Block, David
2007 Second language identities. London, UK: Bloomsbury.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Block, David
2012 “
Class and SLA: Making connections.”
Language Teaching Research 16 (2): 188–205.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brinton, Donna, Olga Kagan, and Susan Bauckus
2008 Heritage language education. A new field emerging. New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bucholtz, Mary, and Kira Hall
2005 “
Identity and interaction: a sociocultural linguistic approach.”
Discourse Studies 7 (4/5).
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Büdenbender, Eva-María
2010 “
Comparing Dominican Linguistic (In)security in the Dominican Republic and in the Diaspora.” In
Selected Proceedings of the 12th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, ed. by
Claudia Borgonovo et al., 148–159. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Butler, Judith
1990 Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Butler, Judith
1993 Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex.” New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Burns, Katharine
2018 “
Marginalization of Local Varieties in the L2 Classroom: The Case of U.S. Spanish”
L2 Journal 10 (1): 20–38.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Coryell, Joellen, and M. Carolyn Clark
2009 “
One Right Way, Intercultural Participation, and Language Learning Anxiety: A Qualitative Analysis of Adult Online Heritage and Nonheritage Language Learners.”
Foreign Language Annals 44 (1): 40–64.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Darvin, Ron, and Bonny Norton
2014 “
Social class, identity, and migrant students.”
Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 131: 111–117.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dávila, Liv
2019 “
‘J’aime to be Funny!’: Humor, Learning, and Identity Construction in High School English as a Second Language Classrooms.”
The Modern Language Journal 103 (2).
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ehrlich, Susan
1997 “
Gender as social practice: implications for second language acquisition.”
Studies in Second Language Acquisition 191: 421–446.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Escobar, Ana María, and Kim Potowski
2015 El español de los Estados Unidos. Mass.: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fishman, Joshua
2006 “
Acquisition, maintenance and recovery of heritage languages.” In
Developing minority language resources: The case of Spanish in California, ed. by
Guadalupe Valdés,
Joshua Fishman,
Rebecca Chávez, and
William Pérez, 12–22. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Freed, Alice
1996 “
Language and gender research in an experimental setting.” In
Rethinking language and gender research: theory and practice, ed. by
V. Bergvall,
J. Bing, and
A. Freed, 54–76. London: Longman.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Freed, Alice, and Alice Greenwood
1996 “
Women, Men, and Type of Talk: What makes the Difference?”
Language in Society 121: 1–26.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
García, Ofelia, Isabel Evangelista, Mabel Martínez, Carmen Disla, and Bonifacio Paulino
1988 “
Spanish Language Use and Attitudes: A Study of Two New York City Communities.”
Language in Society 17 (4): 475–511.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goble, Ryan
2016 “
Linguistic insecurity and lack of entitlement to Spanish among third-generation Mexican Americans in narrative accounts.”
Heritage Language Journal 13 (1).
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goodwin, Marjorie
1990 He-said-she-said: Talk as Social Organization among Black Children. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Helmer, Kimberly
2011 “
‘Proper Spanish is a waste of time’: Mexican-origin student resistance to learning Spanish as a heritage language.” In
Culturally relevant pedagogy: Clashes and confrontations, ed. by
Lisa Scherff and
Karen Spector, 135–164. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Helmer, Kimberly
2013 “
A twice-told tale: Voices of resistance in a Borderlands Spanish Heritage Language Class.”
Anthropology & Education Quarterly 44 (3): 269–285.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hornberger, Nancy, and Shuhan Wang
2008 “
Who are our heritage language learners? Identity and biliteracy in heritage language education in the United States.” In
Heritage language education: A new field emerging, ed. by
Dona Brinton,
Olga Kagan, and
Susan Backus, 3–35. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Inda, Jonathan
2000 “
Performativity, Materiality, and the Racial Body.”
Latino Studies Journal 11 (3): 74–99.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kim, Ji-Hye
2007 Binding interpretations in adult bilingualism: A study of language transfer in L2 learners and heritage speakers of Korean. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Labov, William
1972 Sociolinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, Robin
1973 Language and Woman’s Place.
Language in Society, 2 (1): 45–80.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lantolf, James
2000 (ed.)
Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Leeman, Jennifer
2012 “
Investigating language ideologies in Spanish as a heritage language.” In
Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field, ed. by
Sara Beaudrie and
Marta Fairclough, 43–59. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lynch, Andrew
2003 “
The relationship between second and heritage language acquisition: Notes on research and theory building.”
Heritage Language Journal 11: 1–18.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mateus, Suzanne
2014 “
She Was Born Speaking English and Spanish! Bilingual Status in a Kindergarten Two-Way Dual Language Classroom.”
Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education 16 (1).
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Menard-Warwick, Julia
2009 Gendered identities and immigrant language learning. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Montrul, Silvina
2006 “
On the bilingual competence of Spanish heritage speakers: Syntax, lexical-semantics and processing.”
International Journal of Bilingualism 101: 37–69.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Montrul, Silvina
2010 “
How similar are L2 learners and heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order.”
Applied Psycholinguistics 311: 167–207.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mukherjee, Dipika
2006 “
Role of women in language maintenance and language shift: focus on the Bengali community in Malaysia.”
International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2003 (161): 103–120.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Norton, Bonny
2000 Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. Harlow, England: Longman.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Norton, Bonny
2013 “
Identity and Second Language Acquisition.” In
The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, ed. by
C. A. Chapelle. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Oxford, Rebecca
1993 “
Gender differences in styles and strategies for language learning: What do they mean? Should we pay attention?” In
Strategic interaction and language acquisition: Theory, practice, and research, ed. by
James Alatis, 541–557. Washington D.C: Georgetown University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Park, Miyung
2011 Identity and agency among heritage language learners. In
Critical qualitative research in second language studies: Agency and advocacy, ed. by
Kathryn Davis, 171–207. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pavlenko, Aneta, and Adrian Blackledge
2004 Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pascual y Cabo, Diego
2018 “
Spanish as a heritage language in the US: Core issues and future directions.” In
The Cambridge handbook of Spanish linguistics, ed. by
Kimberly Geeslin, 437–366. Mass.: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Polinsky, Maria
2008 “
Heritage language narratives.” In
Heritage language education. A new field emerging, ed. by
Donna Brinton,
Olga Kagan, and
Susan Baukus, 149–164. New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Polinsky, Maria, and Olga Kagan
2007 “
Heritage languages in the “wild” and in the classroom.”
Language and Linguistics Compass 11: 368–395.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Polkinghorne, Donald
1995 “
Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis.”
Qualitative Studies in Education 81: 5–23.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pomerantz, Anne
2002 “
Language ideologies and the production of identities: Spanish as a resource for participation in a multilingual marketplace.”
Multilingua 21 (2/3): 275-302.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Potowski, Kim
2004 “
Student Spanish Use and Investment in a Dual Immersion Classroom: Implications for Second Language Acquisition and Heritage Language Maintenance.”
The Modern Language Journal 88 (1): 75–101.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Potowski, Kim
2012 “
Identity and heritage learners: Moving beyond essentializations.” In
Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field, ed. by
Sara Beaudrie and
Marta Fairclough, 179–199. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Potowski, Kim, Jill Jegerski, and Kara Morgan-Short
2009 “
The effects of instruction on linguistic development in Spanish heritage language speakers.”
Language Learning 591: 537–579.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rao, Rajiv, and Rebecca Ronquest
2015 “
The heritage Spanish phonetic/ phonological system: Looking back and moving forward.”
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 8 (2): 403–414.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schumann, John
1978 “
The acculturation model for second-language acquisition.” In
Second language acquisition and foreign language teaching, ed. By
Rosario Gingras, 27–50. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schumann, John
1986 “
Research on the acculturation model for second language acquisition.”
Journal of multilingual and multicultural development 7 (5): 379–392.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Showstack, Rachel
2018 “
Spanish and identity among Latin@s in the U.S.” In
The Routledge Handbook of Spanish as a Heritage/Minority Language, ed. by
Kim Potowski, 92–106. Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Torres, Julio, Diego Pascual y Cabo, and John Beusterien
2017 “
What’s Next? Heritage Language Learners Shape New Paths in Spanish Teaching.”
Hispania 100 (5): 271–278.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Toribio, Almeida Jaqueline
2000a “
Nosotros somos dominicanos: Language and Self Definition among Dominicans.’’ In
Research on Spanish in the United States: Linguistic Issues and Challenges, ed. by
Ana Roca. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Toribio, Almeida Jacqueline
2000b “
Language variation and the linguistic enactment of identity among Dominicans.”
Linguistics 38 (5): 1133–1159.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
United States Census Bureau
2010 The Hispanic Population: 2010.
[URL] United States Census Bureau.
Urciuoli, Bonnie
2003 “
Boundaries, Language, and the Self: Issues Faced by Puerto Ricans and Other Latina/o College Students.”
Journal of Latin American Anthropology 8 (2): 152–172.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Valdés, Guadalupe
1997 “
The teaching of Spanish to bilingual Spanish-speaking students: Outstanding issues and unanswered questions.” In
La enseñanza del español a hispanohablantes, ed. by
Cecilia Colombi and
Francisco Alarcón, 8–44. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Valdés, Guadalupe
2000 “
The teaching of heritage languages: An introduction for Slavic-teaching professionals.” In
The Learning and Teaching of Slavic Languages and Cultures, ed. by
Olga Kagan and
Benjamin Rifkin, 375–403. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Valdés, Guadalupe
2005 “
Bilingualism, heritage language learners and SLA research: Opportunities lost or seized?”
Modern Language Journal 891: 410–426.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zentella, Ana Celia
1987 “
Language and female identity in the Puerto Rican community.” In
Women and language in transition, ed. by
Joyce Penfield, 167–179. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zentella, Ana Celia
2002 “
Spanish in New York.” In
The multilingual Apple: languages in New York City, ed. by
Ofelia García and
Joshua Fishman, 167–202. Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zuengler, Jane, and Elizabeth Miller
2006 “
Cognitive and Sociocultural Perspectives: Two Parallel SLA Worlds?”
TESOL Quarterly. 40 (1): 35–58.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (1)
Cited by 1 other publications
Dauzón-Ledesma, Leonor & Jesús Izquierdo
2023.
Language Learning Investment in Higher Education: Validation and Implementation of a Likert-Scale Questionnaire in the Context of Compulsory EFL Learning.
Education Sciences 13:4
► pp. 370 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. 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.