Doctoral Dissertation Research: The effects of experience and attitudes on heritage bilinguals' language processing

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation project examines how the prior experiences and language attitudes of heritage speaker bilinguals in the United States influences their speech perception in both languages. Heritage language bilinguals speak as a first language a minority language that they have cultural ties to (e.g., Spanish), but, because of societal reasons, have become dominant in the majority language (e.g., American English). After English, Spanish is the most frequently spoken language in the United States. Many Spanish speakers in the U.S. are heritage speakers (i.e., children and descendants of immigrants), yet Spanish heritage speakers of Mexican descent are an underrepresented population in research. Conducting this project broadens the participation of Mexican Americans in research. Prior research has shown that different experiences with language, such as the language exposure received in one's early years, as well as throughout one's life, affect a person's perceptual abilities. Heritage language bilinguals offer unique insight into this relationship as heritage language speakers exhibit significant variation in both experiences and attitudes. Although they are mainly exposed to their heritage language in their early lives, once they begin formal schooling, there is a shift to more majority language input and interactions, leading to a switch in dominance. Like many bilinguals, heritage speakers code-switch (i.e., use both of their languages in one sentence or conversation), and there is variation in code-switching practices based on experience and attitudes. The project consists of two experimental studies that examine how variation in language experience and attitudes affects Spanish heritage speakers' speech perception in both their languages. The first focuses on better understanding how heritage speakers' experience and attitudes with Spanish and English affects their speech perception when they interact with non-native vs. native talkers in each of their languages. The second investigates how heritage speakers' experiences and attitudes impacts perception of code-switched vs. single language speech. The results of these studies will advance the understanding of how social experiences and attitudes towards language influence speech perception, which in turn advance the understanding of language and cognition. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.