Gender assignment in German as a heritage language in an English-speaking context : A case study of acquisition and maintenance
(2024) p.88-116- Abstract
- We present a case study of a heritage speaker of German, Luisa, who is growing up in an English-speaking part of Canada, focussing on the acquisition of grammatical gender in German. While German has cues to gender assignment, the acquisition of gender in this setting is compromised by the magnitude of gender cues and form syncretism, and the absence of gender in English. We present longitudinal, naturalistic data from three periods: age 1–2, age 4–5, and age 7. We ask whether Luisa develops grammatical gender akin to monolingual children or whether there are indications of delay, stagnation, or attrition, as observed for heritage speakers of other languages. The results show monolingual-like development despite a shift in dominance from... (More)
- We present a case study of a heritage speaker of German, Luisa, who is growing up in an English-speaking part of Canada, focussing on the acquisition of grammatical gender in German. While German has cues to gender assignment, the acquisition of gender in this setting is compromised by the magnitude of gender cues and form syncretism, and the absence of gender in English. We present longitudinal, naturalistic data from three periods: age 1–2, age 4–5, and age 7. We ask whether Luisa develops grammatical gender akin to monolingual children or whether there are indications of delay, stagnation, or attrition, as observed for heritage speakers of other languages. The results show monolingual-like development despite a shift in dominance from German to English. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/dafecebd-fca8-4c15-91b9-2b40134f931f
- author
- Kupisch, Tanja LU and Dressler, Roswita
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- gender assignment, German, heritage speaker, language dominance, cross-linguistic influence
- host publication
- Perspectives on Input, Evidence, and Exposure in Language Acquisition : Studies in Honor of Susanne E. Carroll - Studies in Honor of Susanne E. Carroll
- editor
- Hracs, Lindsay
- pages
- 88 - 116
- publisher
- John Benjamins Publishing Company
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85201817913
- DOI
- 10.1075/lald.69.04kup
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- dafecebd-fca8-4c15-91b9-2b40134f931f
- date added to LUP
- 2024-10-25 15:02:13
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:27:16
@inbook{dafecebd-fca8-4c15-91b9-2b40134f931f,
abstract = {{We present a case study of a heritage speaker of German, Luisa, who is growing up in an English-speaking part of Canada, focussing on the acquisition of grammatical gender in German. While German has cues to gender assignment, the acquisition of gender in this setting is compromised by the magnitude of gender cues and form syncretism, and the absence of gender in English. We present longitudinal, naturalistic data from three periods: age 1–2, age 4–5, and age 7. We ask whether Luisa develops grammatical gender akin to monolingual children or whether there are indications of delay, stagnation, or attrition, as observed for heritage speakers of other languages. The results show monolingual-like development despite a shift in dominance from German to English.}},
author = {{Kupisch, Tanja and Dressler, Roswita}},
booktitle = {{Perspectives on Input, Evidence, and Exposure in Language Acquisition : Studies in Honor of Susanne E. Carroll}},
editor = {{Hracs, Lindsay}},
keywords = {{gender assignment; German; heritage speaker; language dominance; cross-linguistic influence}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{88--116}},
publisher = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
title = {{Gender assignment in German as a heritage language in an English-speaking context : A case study of acquisition and maintenance}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/lald.69.04kup}},
doi = {{10.1075/lald.69.04kup}},
year = {{2024}},
}