Save

Dominance, Language Experience, and Increased Interaction Effects on the Development of Pragmatic Knowledge in Heritage Bilingual Children

Acceptance of Null and Overt Subjects in Spanish and English

In: Heritage Language Journal
Authors:
Liliana Sánchez Professor, Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, University of Illinois Chicago, IL USA

Search for other papers by Liliana Sánchez in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0991-5392
,
Michele Goldin Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, Touro University New York, NY USA

Search for other papers by Michele Goldin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2574-9806
,
Esther Hur Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, Baylor University Waco, TX USA

Search for other papers by Esther Hur in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9783-4727
,
Abril Jimenez Assistant Professor, Department of Hispanic Studies, Davidson College Davidson, NC USA

Search for other papers by Abril Jimenez in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5498-7651
,
Julio César López Otero Assistant Professor, Department of Hispanic Studies, University of Houston Houston, TX USA

Search for other papers by Julio César López Otero in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6678-722X
,
Patrick Thane PhD Student, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ USA

Search for other papers by Patrick Thane in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1884-7002
,
Jennifer Austin Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ USA

Search for other papers by Jennifer Austin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5193-4792
, and
Jennifer Markovits Rojas PhD Student, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ USA

Search for other papers by Jennifer Markovits Rojas in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1469-2055
Download Citation Get Permissions

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institution

Purchase

Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

$34.95

Abstract

We investigate whether dominance, language experience, and increased interaction have an effect on the development of heritage bilingual children’s knowledge of the discourse-pragmatic constraints guiding null and overt subjects. A group of child heritage bilinguals (n = 18, mean age = 5;5) and comparison groups of adults: Mexican Spanish monolinguals (n = 15), heritage bilinguals in the United States (n = 16), and English monolinguals in the United States (n = 16) completed a language background questionnaire, a portion of the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA) in English and Spanish, a forced-choice task (FCT) in Spanish, and two acceptability judgment tasks (AJT s): one in English and one in Spanish. Results showed that heritage children and adults pattern similarly and differently from adult monolinguals. Increased interaction at home has a positive effect on accuracy in the pragmatic conditions that license null subjects in Spanish without affecting overt subject patterns in English, the dominant language.

Content Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 244 244 35
Full Text Views 260 260 4
PDF Views & Downloads 508 508 7