期刊名称：Divergencias : Revista de Estudios Linguisticos y Literarios
印刷版ISSN：1555-7596
出版年度：2006
卷号：4
期号：01
出版社：University of Arizona
摘要：The current study seeks to evaluate language loss through examination of code-switching structure in Heritage Language Learner Spanish. Due to the complex natureof bilingualism, it is necessary to define what is meant by Spanish Heritage LanguageLearner (HLL) in the United States. HLLs of Spanish are characterized by varyingdegrees of exposure to the language as well as various levels of proficiency (Roca &Colombi, 2003: 3). It may be the case that a HLL was born in the U.S. to a family inwhich one or both parents speak Spanish, or that he or she was born in a Spanish-speaking country and immigrated to the U.S. at an early age. Spanish may be a HLL'sfirst or native language or a HLL may have been exposed to both Spanish and English inthe home. For those HLLs born in the U.S. and enrolled in U.S. schools, English may betheir cognitively dominant language. According to Roca and Colombi (2003), "Someheritage learners of Spanish may understand basic informal communication but mayhave limited repertoires and registers and may be unable to speak with much confidencein Spanish without resorting to English, their dominant language" (3-4). Other HLLsmay have completed some formal schooling in Spanish prior to arriving in the U.S.Typically, these students are placed in Spanish for Native Speakers classes in U.S. schools.The complexity arises from the fact that the HLL population is comprised of diversesociocultural backgrounds and differing communicative abilities, presenting importantissues to both educators and researchers concerning their language development. Theinherent variability that characterizes the grammar and discourse of HLLs gives rise tospecific instructional considerations that teachers must address, such as heighteninglearner awareness of variability in dialect and register. The situation is further complicatedby issues of language contact. Poplack (1993) explains that "sustained contact betweentwo languages may manifest itself linguistically in one or more of the following ways:code-switching, lexical borrowing on the community and individual levels, incompleteL2 acquisition, interference, grammatical convergence, stylistic reduction, languagedeath" (255). HLLs in the Southwestern United States are faced with challenges involvinglanguage maintenance, loss and individual attrition that may be attributable to contact with the dominant language, English. Due to this fact, the language development of HLLs isparticularly subject to variation caused by both internal linguistic and external social factors.
