The general aim of this study is to investigate the similarities and differences in knowledge and processing of Japanese passive constructions by heritage speakers and second language (L2) learners of Japanese. These groups acquire language differently in terms of age and context/manner of acquisition, and comparing their linguistic behaviour allows us to examine whether heritage speakers have an advantage over L2 learners due to their early exposure and natural context of input. In order to examine this issue, the linguistic knowledge of Japanese passives and the way in which they are processed were compared between the two populations. I tested the two different types of passives that are available in Japanese: the type that involves the syntax-semantics-discourse interface (indirect passive and ni-direct passive), and the one that does not involve that interface (niyotte passive). It has been found that advanced heritage speakers and L2 learners have difficulties with structures involving different structural levels, especially structures at the interface with discourse (Laleko & Polinsky, 2013; Montrul & Polinsky, 2011, among many others), as the interfaces involving an external cognitive domain (e.g., syntax-discourse) require more processing resources than linguistic internal interfaces (e.g., syntax-semantics) (Sorace, 2011). While such representational and processing difficulties have been reported for several languages, previous studies on the acquisition of Japanese passives by both L1 and L2 learners have found the opposite: namylt, that the niyotte passive, which does not involve an external interface, being acquired later than the other two passives, which are discourse dependent (Harada & Fukuda 1998 for L1; Hara 2002 for L2). These results may be attributed to syntax derivation or frequency of use. The niyotte passive is considered to be derived by movement, while the other two are said to be base-generated. Thus, both the complexity of the syntactic derivation and the fact that usage of niyotte passive is usually limited to formal speech or written texts may delay acquisition. Examining the acquisition and processing of Japanese passives allows us to analyse the factors that play a crucial role in determining the difficulty of acquisition. In order to investigate these factors, I used two experimental tasks, an acceptability judgment task (AJT) and a self-paced listening task (SPL). The former investigated heritage speakers’ and Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) learners’ knowledge of each type of Japanese passives. The latter allowed us to test whether there are any differences in the processing of the two types of passives; specifically, whether the passives with an external interface are more difficult for L2 learners and heritage speakers to process. A control group of native speakers and a group of first generation immigrants to Canada were also tested to compare their results to those of the two experimental groups, allowing us to investigate whether heritage speakers have knowledge and processing patterns similar to those of the control group due to their early language exposure to the language and contextualized input. The results of the AJT showed that each experimental group displayed a stronger knowledge of different aspects of Japanese passives. While the heritage speakers recognised the pragmatic features of the ni-direct passive, the JFL learners did not. In contrast, the JFL learners showed syntactic and semantic knowledge of the indirect passive, unlike the heritage speakers. These contrastive results indicate that different manners of input lead to different acquisition outcomes. Furthermore, neither group demonstrated knowledge of the low frequency niyotte passive, and thus input frequency, rather than the discourse-related interface, appear to be more critical for the acquisition of Japanese passives. With respect to the SPL, the speakers’ performance was native-like in the case of the heritage speakers but non-native with the JFL learners, indicating that early age of exposure has an effect on language processing. Taken together, the results from the both tasks showcase the importance of both implicit and explicit manner of input, especially in the case of low frequency structures, as well as the early age of acquisition of a language.

<p>Today’s highly globalized and mobile society can be characterized by constant interaction between dominant and minority groups in one space, where migrant communities manage multiple cultural and linguistic contexts, while remaining connected to their society of origin. While the field of transnationalism addresses both the behavioral (i.e., physical) and symbolic (i.e., emotional) ties to the origin community, the role that language plays in establishing and maintaining such transnational practices, and specifically symbolic transnationalism, is not well understood. Addressing this gap, the current project aims to investigate the interconnection between heritage language use and symbolic transnationalism through the analysis of 1.5 and 2^nd generation Cubans in Miami. </p> <p>The Cuban community in the US, and more specifically, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, represents a relevant case for in-depth investigation. While this population is comparable to other Hispanic groups in the US on many levels (Duany, 2011), the long-standing political opposition between the U.S. and Cuba have largely limited behavioral transnational practices (e.g., visits to the country of origin, sending goods and remittances) of the Cuban population. This broad lack of behavioral transnationalism in the Miami Cuban community provides a unique opportunity to examine symbolic transnational practices, effectively isolating two concepts that are traditionally combined in the literature (Duff, 2015; Reynolds, 2006).</p> <p>To investigate the relations between language use and symbolic transnationalism, a mixed methods study was conducted with 75 young adults of Cuban origin (1.5 and 2^nd generation), combining a quantitative questionnaire with face-to-face sociolinguistic interviews. Quantitatively, data analysis centered on the analysis of the degree of symbolic transnationalism and language use among 1.5 and 2^nd generation groups, as well as statistical correlations between sub-components of language use (history, proficiency, choice, and value) and symbolic transnationalism (ways of doing and ways of belonging). Qualitatively, a thematic analysis was conducted to distinguish the most prominent external factors in the process of symbolic transnationalism maintenance or development that surfaced in the discourse of the participants. Finally, discourse analysis was used to investigate how symbolic transnationalism was reflected in linguistic structures, such as deixis (i.e., terms indicating distance) and stance (i.e., expression of feelings, judgement, and appreciation). </p> <p>The analysis of the data provides strong evidence for overarching links between the level of symbolic transnationalism and language, such that greater affiliation with the culture of origin is related to a greater use and importance of the heritage language. In addition, qualitative results show that the external factors of the family domain, the Miami environment and ethnic community, and the use of the Spanish language in Miami, are among the most important for the maintenance and development of symbolic transnationalism. Finally, discourse analysis revealed that both 1.5 and 2^nd generation groups use deictic and stance markers to express personal and metaphorical proximity, as well as affect and appreciation of the ethnic community, Cuba as a land, Cuba of the past, and Cuban culture. In contrast, they express temporal and spatial distance as well as markers of judgement with respect to Cuba of the present and its current politics. </p> <p>This study systematically isolates the concept of symbolic transnationalism via a quantitative approach and investigates its connection with language. Their direct correlation, confirmed by the results, highlights symbolic transnationalism as a significant variable to consider in sociolinguistic research with migrant communities, and thus provides a solid theoretical base for bridging the disciplines of linguistics and transnationalism. Moreover, this work employs a structural linguistic approach (i.e., deixis and stance) to demonstrate how transnational ties may be represented through linguistic structures, and thus it provides new tools for understanding how minority communities express their transnational connections. </p> <p>On a practical level, this work emphasizes the importance of the context and cross-cultural awareness in language pedagogy. For heritage language learners, it underlines the bi-directional relationship: language maintenance for sustaining transnational ties, as well as development of heritage culture appreciation for more effective heritage language development. Moreover, the findings with respect to the interconnection between symbolic transnationalism and heritage language use, emphasize the role of such aspects as sense of belonging, ethnic community, family history and attitudes towards the country of origin on the process of heritage language maintenance and self-identification with the country and culture of origin. Finally, the findings of this work may be applicable to second language students as well, emphasizing the importance of a context-based approach to language acquisition, which plays a significant role in developing productive cross-cultural communication.</p>

<p>The present study aims to examine the grammar of Spanish heritage children in relation to the syntax-discourse interface by analyzing the distribution of subject pronouns in focus and topic contexts. Focus and topic are related to the information structure of a clause, the former refers to new information of the sentence and the latter indicates old or known information (Lozano-Pozo, 2003). Studies exploring this phenomenon in various combinations of languages and L2 populations have found a clear overextension and overuse of overt subject pronouns in topic contexts in pro-drop languages, where the preferred option is the null pronoun, due to cross-linguistic influence from the L1 (Pérez-Leroux & Glass, 1999; Tsimpli & Sorace, 2006; Belletti et al., 2007; Sorace et al., 2009). Considering the results of previous research, this study examines the extent to which Spanish heritage speakers exhibit knowledge of subject pronoun distribution in focus and topic contexts by comparing them to their monolingual counterparts.</p> <p>Thirteen child heritage speakers of Spanish and twenty-seven monolingual children completed a structured elicitation task which consisted of a story followed by a question asking about an embedded subject (Focus condition) or an embedded direct object (Topic condition). Results revealed no overextension of overt subject pronouns in topic contexts due to cross-linguistic influence from English. However, differences were found in the focus condition. Heritage children diverged from the monolingual group since they produced considerably fewer instances of overt subject pronouns. It is hypothesized that heritage children are opting for the null pronoun option as the default option, which suggests they are prolonging the Null Subject Stage (Hyams, 1986). This finding points to protracted development due to a lack of activation of the language. Further findings are discussed taking into consideration current approaches that examine the effects of language dominance, exposure, and use.</p>

<p>This study examines the distribution of adverbs among child heritage speakers of Spanish. As demonstrated by previous research, the grammar of Spanish heritage speakers can be compared to that of monolingual speakers, but with slight differences in their use and interpretation that can occur given their language dominance, usage, and exposition to the heritage language (Camacho & Kirova, 2018). In adverb placement, a relevant difference comes with verb-raising, a syntactic feature that allows the verb (V) to move in the sentence, and that is common in romance languages, but uncommon in morphologically poor languages such as English (Camacho & Sanchez, 2017; Guijarro-Fuentes & Larrañaga, 2011). Other differences in adverb distribution also stem directly from their semantic use and interpretation (Zagona, 2002), differences that may create instances of cross-linguistic influence or transfer between English and Spanish grammars. Hence, this study intends to study the extent to which these phenomena are produced in adverb placement, considering the patterns of language dominance, use, and exposure of the participants and current bilingual research discussing language transfer in bilingual grammars. Hence, an elicited production task was administered to 14 child heritage speakers of Spanish from the U.S. Midwest and to a comparison group, 25 child monolingual Spanish speakers from Mexico. Results suggest that child heritage speakers behave differently in their production of adverb placement compared to monolingual speakers, showing lower accuracy and little use of verb-raising structures that allow them to produce the post-verbal adverb position Sub-Verb-Adv-Obj. These findings suggest a different developmental path in the acquisition of adverb placement for heritage children in comparison to that of monolingual children.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Upon acquiring or learning another language, cross-linguistic influence (CLI) is an inevitable phenomenon with which a bilingual speaker lives. One key aspect of CLI is its bidirectionality, flowing between both the first (L1) and second languages (L2) mutually affecting each other. However, investigations of L1 CLI on L2 have dominated previous bilingual studies, and despite the increasing amount of research on L2 CLI on L1, the phonetic and phonological domains remain relatively underexplored. The primary goal of the present study is to expand our understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing L2 CLI on L1 phonetics and phonology.</p><p dir="ltr">The present study investigates L2 CLI on L1 phonetics and phonology by examining both the speech perception and production of L1 sound categories among two different groups of bilinguals, Korean heritage speakers (HSs, <i>n</i> = 30) and long-term immigrants (LTIs, <i>n</i> = 27) group participants in the US, in comparison to L1(Korean)-immersed (L1-i) native speakers residing in South Korea (<i>n</i> = 30). Participants completed a series of three experimental tasks: (1) a three-alternative forced-choice (3AFC) identification task, (2) an AX discrimination task, and (3) a controlled reading paradigm task.</p><p dir="ltr">Experiment 1 (3AFC task) was conducted to investigate the extent and direction of L2 CLI in perceptual cue weighting to L1 speech categories. In this task, participants listened to a Korean word in each trial, potentially differing in the word-initial stop, and decided which word they heard from a real-word Korean minimal triplet /pul/ ‘fire,’ /p^hul/ ‘grass,’ and /p^*ul/ ‘horn.’ Specifically, the word-initial stop consisted of an eight-by-eight orthogonal voice onset time (VOT)–onset f0 continuum, created through a speech resynthesis technique. Based on the similarities and differences in the use of the two acoustic parameters between Korean (either onset f0 or VOT is a primary cue) and English stops (VOT is the primary cue), bilingual participants were expected to exhibit different cue-weighting patterns, as compared to L1-i speakers. The results from the mixed-effects logistic regression model analyses indicated that while HSs were less sensitive to the Korean primary cue, onset f0, compared to L1-i speakers—suggesting assimilation to L2 in the perceptual domain—LTIs exhibited greater sensitivity to this cue, indicating dissimilation from L2. It was also found that bilingual participants’ Korean dominance significantly influenced their cue weighting in the perception of Korean stops.</p><p dir="ltr">Experiment 2 (AX discrimination task) was administered to assess participants’ perceptual accuracy for L1 stop categories and the potential impact of L1 cue weighting, as estimated in Experiment 1, on their discrimination performance. Notably, the VOT in the stop stimuli used in the AX task were resynthesized to have a consistent VOT of 70 ms across all stimuli. This setup created a condition where participants had no choice but to rely solely on the onset f0 cue—the primary cue to the Korean lenis-aspirated stop contrast, rendering VOT, the primary cue for the voicing contrast in English stops, uninformative. The results from mixed-effects logistic regression models showed that HSs were significantly less accurate in discriminating their L1 stop categories without the VOT cue, while LTIs outperformed the L1-i speakers. That is, the LTI group, the most balanced group in terms of language dominance, had the highest accuracy in discriminating L1 contrasts among the participant groups. Furthermore, individual sensitivity to the onset f0 cue was found to be positively correlated with discrimination performance.</p><p dir="ltr">Experiment 3 (Controlled reading paradigm) aimed to examine L2 CLI on the implementation of acoustic parameters for L1 Korean stops, as well as the potential impact of proficiency and dominance on these parameters. Participants read aloud a list of minimal triplet stimuli differing in the word-initial stop within a carrier phrase. A machine-learning-based audio signal detection system was used to analyze the acoustic parameters, and Bayesian mixed-effects linear regression models, along with quadratic polynomial regression models, were implemented for statistical analysis of the processed data. The results of the production task mirrored the perception task (Experiment 1): HSs demonstrated assimilation to L2 via onset f0, while LTIs showed dissimilation, as compared to L1-i speakers. The analysis also revealed that the degree of bilingual balance in dominance and proficiency significantly influenced the implementation of onset f0, with more balanced bilinguals exhibiting greater category contrasts than less balanced bilinguals, regardless of whether they were Korean-dominant or English-dominant.</p><p dir="ltr">The findings from these experiments provide concrete evidence of L2 CLI in L1 phonetics and phonology. Importantly, the results demonstrate that not only the timing of L2 acquisition and the quantity and quality of L2 input but also the quality and quantity of L1 acquisition and bilingual balance contribute to the direction and the degree of L2 CLI in L1 speech. These findings align with the predictions of the revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r, Flege & Bohn, 2021) and expand its scope of application to include both HSs and LTIs. In particular, the evidence of category assimilation and dissimilation lends support to the bidirectional CLI hypothesis proposed by SLM-r. To conclude, the present dissertation expands our understanding of the nature of L2 CLI in L1 phonetics and phonology in bilingual speakers.</p>

Heritage languages are increasingly seen as a source of important insight in linguistics. Latvian has a long and under-researched history as a heritage language, with a heterogenous community of heritage speakers from two waves of migration in many countries including Sweden. A qualitative case study of a small written corpus identifies and analyses the key divergences in heritage Latvian in texts by nine preadolescent children that attend the complementary Latvian community school in Stockholm. Self-reported background information on language practices by study participants and their parents is used to estimate and compare their heritage language exposure level. This composite measure helps to evaluate the vulnerability of various areas of grammar to reduced language input. The observed language changes are analysed in the context of a recent study on Latvian language change in second-generation post-war immigrants to Sweden, earlier findings of contact-induced change in heritage Latvian in the USA as well as common features identified in other heritage languages. Changes attested in texts by several study participants and in previous studies are likely to point to common features of heritage Latvian. Recognition of their language as a heritage variety of Latvian can facilitate language maintenance efforts in the language community. / Arvsspråken ses alltmer som en källa till viktiga insikter inom språkvetenskap. Lettiskan har en lång och underutforskad historia som arvsspråk, med en heterogen gemenskap av kulturarvstalare från två migrationsvågor i många länder, inklusive Sverige. En kvalitativ fallstudie av en liten skriftlig korpus identifierar och analyserar de viktigaste avvikelserna i lettiska som arvsspråk i texter av nio barn i förpubertal ålder vilka alla går i den lettiska lördagsskolan i Stockholm. Självrapporterad bakgrundsinformation om språkbruk av studiedeltagarna och deras föräldrar används för att uppskatta och jämföra deras kontaktnivå med arvsspråket. Denna sammansatta indikator används för att utvärdera hur stor påverkan den minskade kontakten med språket har på olika grammatiska funktioner. De observerade språkförändringarna analyseras mot bakgrund av en nyligen genomförd studie om språkförändringar i lettiskan hos andra generationens efterkrigsinvandrare i Sverige, med en tidigare studie i USA om kontaktinducerade arvsspråksförändringar samt med gemensamma drag som identifierats i andra arvsspråk. Förändringar som observerats i flera av studiedeltagarnas texter och i tidigare studier pekar sannolikt på gemensamma drag i det lettiska arvsspråket. Om arvsspråket erkänns som en variant av lettiskan skulle det underlätta möjligheterna att underhålla språket i diasporans gemenskaper. / Etniskā mantojuma valodām lingvistikā tiek pievērsta arvien lielāka uzmanība. Latviešu valodai kā mantojuma valodai ir gara un maz pētīta vēsture. Saistībā ar vairākiem migrācijas viļņiem latviešu valoda ir mantojuma valoda daudzās pasaules valstīs, tai skaitā arī Zviedrijā. Šis pētījums veikts ar kvalitatīvu gadījuma analīzes metodi, izmantojot maza apjoma rakstveida teksta korpusu. Deviņu Stokholmas latviešu papildskolas audzēkņu rakstu darbos konstatētas un tālāk analizētas tipiskākās izmaiņas mantojuma latviešu valodā. Pētījuma dalībnieku un to vecāku sniegtās ziņas par valodu lietojumu izmantotas, lai novērtētu un salīdzinātu katra dalībnieka mantojuma valodas saskarsmes līmeni. Šis saliktais rādītājs palīdz novērtēt, cik lielu ietekmi uz dažādiem latviešu gramatikas moduļiem atstāj samazināta saskarsme ar latviešu valodu. Novērotās valodas izmaiņas tiek salīdzinātas ar rezultātiem nesenā pētījumā, kas analizē latviešu valodas izmaiņas otrās paaudzes pēckara imigrācijā Zviedrijā, kā arī ar senāku ASV latviešu valodas pētījumu un vispārējām etniskā mantojuma valodai raksturīgām pazīmēm. Izmaiņas, kas novērotas vairāku pētījuma dalībnieku darbos un iepriekšējos pētījumos, iespējams, norāda uz kopīgām iezīmēm, kas raksturīgas latviešu valodai kā mantojuma valodai. Izpratne par etniskā mantojuma valodu kā vienu no latviešu valodas paveidiem var palīdzēt uzturēt latviešu valodu diasporas valodas kopienās.