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Different situations, similar outcomes : Heritage grammars across the lifespan

Putnam, Michael T. ; Kupisch, Tanja LU and y Cabo, Diego Pascual (2018) In Studies in Bilingualism 54. p.251-279
Abstract
The rise of scientific inquiry focusing on bilingualism over the past few decades has also borne witness to an increase in the study of individuals and communities who speak a native language that is not the sociolinguistically dominant language of the environment in which they grew up. While it is common practice to refer to these diverse groups and individuals as “heritage speakers”, it is unclear whether it is appropriate to classify all of them under the same terminology. In this chapter, we take a closer look at three different groups: (i) children, (ii) young adults, and (iii) elderly, moribund bilinguals who have all been referred to as heritage speakers in the literature. After exploring aspects of phonological, (morpho)syntactic,... (More)
The rise of scientific inquiry focusing on bilingualism over the past few decades has also borne witness to an increase in the study of individuals and communities who speak a native language that is not the sociolinguistically dominant language of the environment in which they grew up. While it is common practice to refer to these diverse groups and individuals as “heritage speakers”, it is unclear whether it is appropriate to classify all of them under the same terminology. In this chapter, we take a closer look at three different groups: (i) children, (ii) young adults, and (iii) elderly, moribund bilinguals who have all been referred to as heritage speakers in the literature. After exploring aspects of phonological, (morpho)syntactic, and semantic/pragmatic developments, we show that a great deal of symmetry exists between them, thus justifying the cohesive, overarching label of “heritage speakers” to all three sub-groups. Finally, we outline what this broader definition of heritage speakers means for long-standing debates in the literature, such as those that concern the acquisition, development, and maintenance of the heritage grammar across the lifespan. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
heritage speakers, attrition, moribund languages, bilingualism
host publication
Bilingual cognition and language : The state of the science across its subfields - The state of the science across its subfields
series title
Studies in Bilingualism
editor
Miller, David ; Bayram, Fatih ; Rothman, Jason and Serratrice, Ludovica
volume
54
pages
251 - 279
publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
external identifiers
  • scopus:85063989943
ISSN
0928-1533
ISBN
9789027200150
9789027264541
DOI
10.1075/sibil.54.12put
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
655e84b0-ae60-40ea-9d12-a578af4dd217
date added to LUP
2025-01-10 17:12:47
date last changed
2025-07-15 11:37:30
@inbook{655e84b0-ae60-40ea-9d12-a578af4dd217,
  abstract     = {{The rise of scientific inquiry focusing on bilingualism over the past few decades has also borne witness to an increase in the study of individuals and communities who speak a native language that is not the sociolinguistically dominant language of the environment in which they grew up. While it is common practice to refer to these diverse groups and individuals as “heritage speakers”, it is unclear whether it is appropriate to classify all of them under the same terminology. In this chapter, we take a closer look at three different groups: (i) children, (ii) young adults, and (iii) elderly, moribund bilinguals who have all been referred to as heritage speakers in the literature. After exploring aspects of phonological, (morpho)syntactic, and semantic/pragmatic developments, we show that a great deal of symmetry exists between them, thus justifying the cohesive, overarching label of “heritage speakers” to all three sub-groups. Finally, we outline what this broader definition of heritage speakers means for long-standing debates in the literature, such as those that concern the acquisition, development, and maintenance of the heritage grammar across the lifespan.}},
  author       = {{Putnam, Michael T. and Kupisch, Tanja and y Cabo, Diego Pascual}},
  booktitle    = {{Bilingual cognition and language : The state of the science across its subfields}},
  editor       = {{Miller, David and Bayram, Fatih and Rothman, Jason and Serratrice, Ludovica}},
  isbn         = {{9789027200150}},
  issn         = {{0928-1533}},
  keywords     = {{heritage speakers; attrition; moribund languages; bilingualism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{251--279}},
  publisher    = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
  series       = {{Studies in Bilingualism}},
  title        = {{Different situations, similar outcomes : Heritage grammars across the lifespan}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sibil.54.12put}},
  doi          = {{10.1075/sibil.54.12put}},
  volume       = {{54}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}