Hispanic Heritage Speakers in the Language Classroom Dr. Ewelina Barski and Melissa Gonzalez NYSAFLT Rochester Regional Conference Nazareth College, March

What is a heritage speaker? Born in the US – OR – Immigrated before 5yrs. English dominant language Limited abilities in their heritage language (Spanish)

2007 US Census % Change Population 5 years and over Spanish or Spanish Creole In 2013, the Hispanic population was at 54 million.

What does this mean? Spanish is taking over the US!!! FALSE! Many studies have shown that bilingualism in the US is cyclic and transitional. – Within the same family, bilingualism will last two to three generations

Bilingualism in the US Proficiency in the 2 languages SpanishEnglish 1 gen.ParentsStrongWeak 2 gen.ChildrenMore or less weak(Very) Strong 3 gen.GrandchildrenVery weak/ NonexistentVery strong

1 st Generation Speakers español inglés

2 nd Generation Speakers español inglés

3 rd Generation Speakers inglés español

Heritage Speaker Grammar What we tend to see in heritage speakers is a simplification (and loss) of the verbal paradigm (Silva-Corvalán 1991, 1994).

Spanish Verbal System (Silva-Corvalán) Nacidos en los EEUU TIEMPOS VERBALESIIIIIIIVV infinitivo Participio presente Participio pasado presente pretérito imperfecto Futuro perifrástico Presente perfecto futuro Condicional perifrástico Presente del subjuntivo Imperfecto del sunjuntivo Pluscuamperfecto subjuntivo Pluscuamperfecto del indicativo Condicional perfecto Futuro perfecto

Examples Iba a ser profesional pero creo que tenía un accidente (G2) Porque este mexicano no sabía el inglés, no más habló español (G3) Y estábamos esperando a mi ‘amá, porque ella fue a llevar mi hermano a la dentisa (G2) La voy a guardar antes que llega (G3) Se comunicó con el police department a ver si tenían uno que estaba interesado en ser teacher, so me llamaron a mí (G3) Fue la primera casa que compramos. Estamos como 15 años aquí.(G3)

Extension on ESTAR Ser and Estar Ser: With noun phrases and adjectival phrases Es estudiante ✔ ; es alto ✔ Estar: With adjectival phrases Unas de esas recá-, recámeras es el master bedroom, el más grande y el otro *está pequeñíto. (G2)

Absence of ‘que’ “No la hallo muy entusiasmada” yo pensé entre mí. Yo creo ___ no la quiere ver [la película] como yo.” (G2) “Mi mamá no quiere que hago eso. Ella piensa __ si, si no voy full time no voy a terminar.” (G3) 13

Word Order Although the ‘normal’ word order is S-V-O, it is possible to move the object to subject position and to move the subject to object position. Juan vino.S-V Vino Juan.V-S Juan llamó a María.S-V-O A María la llamó Juan. O-V-S 14

Word Order - Example Una vez estaba en una gasolinera aquí y una señora llegó ahí. Yo estaba ahí esperando, estaban trabajando en el carro. Una señora entró y me preguntó si ___ conocía. 15

Other Grammatical “Issues” Errors in gender and number in noun phrases – *un casa grande Unstable adjective agreement: – *mi blusa es blanco – *tenemos un casa allá – *¿Cuál es tu favorito parte? Omission of the “a-personal” – *visitar mi familia 16

Other Grammatical “Issues” Increase in the use of subject pronouns – Cuando yo era niño *yo toqué la guitarra Use of nouns without determiners with a generic interpretation – *Osos son muy peligrosos. (los osos) – *Me gusta clases como pa escribir. (las clases) 17

Acquisition of L1 (in infancy) Acquisition of L2 (in adulthood)  Early exposure to the language  Control over aspects of language acquired during infancy  Input is constant  Fossilization-NO!  Motivation is NOT affected  Acquisition of more complex structures and expansion of vocabulary after 5 yrs.  Later exposure to the language  Control varies- incomplete system of grammar  Input varies  Fossilization –YES!  Motivation IS affected  High literacy and development of metalinguistic skills

HS vs. L2ers: Similarities Production of subject pronouns – HS and L2ers are the same! Production of aspect (preterit vs. imperfect) – HS and L2ers are the same! Production of subjunctive – HS and L2ers are the same!

HS vs. L2ers: Differences How does a heritage speaker learn their heritage language? How about a second language learner? Because of these differences, both groups of speakers have their own set of strengths.

HS vs. L2ers: Differences Bowles (2011) compared the two groups of speakers using 5 different tasks: 1.Imitation – respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and repeat the sentence correctly 2.Oral Narration – tell a story based on pictures

Bowles (2011) 3.Grammatical Judgment Test (timed) 4.Grammatical Judgment Test (untimed) 5.Metalinguistic Knowledge Test 1.Part 1: Explain why a sentence is ungrammatical 2.Part 2: Identify grammatical components (pronoun, verb in the imperfect, etc.)

Bowles (2011): Results

These results show that: – Second language learners rely heavily on their explicit knowledge of Spanish – Heritage speakers use implicit knowledge

What does this mean? Play to their strengths! Second language learners are great at identifying grammar and talking about it. Heritage speakers are great at talking. (May not know how to read or write)

What to do… Understand that all HS grew up speaking Spanish at home. This is their first language. Talk about register (formal vs. informal) Create a welcoming environment – All varieties of Spanish are welcome!

What to do… Create activities where students work with their strengths – HS with L2ers HS talk and L2ers write (and vice versa) – Get HS involved in the lesson Use their intuitions! Make them more confident speakers and learners

What to do… Ask HS about their usage of vocabulary and structures. – Avoid saying: “that is wrong” – Avoid overcorrection

Remember We want our heritage speakers to want to improve/broaden their Spanish abilities. We can’t tell them what they learned at home doesn’t count.

Star Talk: Teaching Heritage Languages aspx

Thank you! Questions?

References Lipski, J Creoloid phenomena in the Spanish of transitional bilinguals. In Spanish in the United States (eds. A. Roca & J. Lipski), Berlin: Mouton, pp Lipski, J Varieties of Spanish in the United States. Washington DC: Georgetown Univ. Press Montrul, S Bilingualism, incomplete acquisition and language change. In L2 Acquisition and Creole Genesis. Dialogues (eds C. Lefebvre, L. White & C. Jourdens), Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp Montrul, S Morphological variability in L2 learners and heritage speakers: The role of experience. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 33(2), Montrul, S El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Montrul, S. & Rodríguez Louro, C Beyond the syntax of the Null Subject Parameter: A look at the discourse-pragmatic distribution of null and overt subjets by L2 learners of Spanish. In The Acquisition of Syntax in Romance Languages (eds L. Escobar & V. Torrens), Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp Silva-Corvalán, C Language Contact and Change. Spanish in Los Angeles. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Silva-Corvalán, C Linguistic consequences of reduced input in bilingual first language acquisition. In Linguistic Theory and Language Development in Hispanic Languages (eds S. Montrul and F. Ordóñez), Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press, pp