In this introduction to the special issue on Romance languages as heritage languages, I aim to contextualize the scope of this issue and the contribution it makes to the emerging field of linguistic studies to heritage language bilingualism. Key issues pertaining to the empirical study and epistemology of heritage language bilingualism are presented as well as a critical introduction to the individual articles that comprise this issue.
Cazzoli-Goeta, M.A., Rothman, J., & Young-Scholten, M. (2008). Cross-disciplinary investigation of heritage language variation. GLOW Newsletter, 60.
2.
Iverson, M. (forthcoming). Knowledge of noun-drop across various lexical and functional categories in heritage Spanish bilinguals. In Proceedings of GALANA 3. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
3.
Montrul, S. ( 2002). Incomplete acquisition and attrition of Spanish tense/aspect distinctions in adult bilinguals. Bilingualism, Language and Cognition, 5, 39-68.
4.
Montrul, S. ( 2004). Subject and object expression in Spanish heritage speakers: A case of morpho-syntactic convergence. Bilingualism, Language and Cognition, 7, 125-142.
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Montrul, S. ( 2007). Interpreting mood distinctions in Spanish as a heritage language. In K. Potowski & R. Cameron (Eds.), Spanish Contact: Policy, Social and Linguistic Inquiries (pp. 23- 40). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
6.
Montrul, S. ( 2008). Incomplete Acquisition in Bilingualism: Re-examining the Age Factor. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
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Montrul, S., Foote, R., & Perpiñán, S. (2008). Gender agreement in adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers: The effects of age and context of acquisition. Language Learning, 58(3), 503-553.
8.
Polinsky, M. ( 1997). American Russian: Language loss meets language acquisition . In W. Browne, E. Dornisch, N. Kondrashova, & D. Zec (Eds.), Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics (pp. 370-407). Ann Arbor: Michigan Slavic Publications.
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Polinsky, M. ( 2006). Incomplete acquisitionAmerican Russian. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 14, 191-262.
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Polinsky, M. ( 2008). Gender under incomplete acquisition: Heritage speakers’ knowledge of noun categorization. Heritage Language Journal , 6, 1.
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Polinsky, M., & Kagan, O. ( 2007). Heritage languages: In the ‘wild’ and in the classroom. Language and Linguistics Compass, 1(5), 368-395.
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Rothman, J. ( 2007). Heritage speaker competence differences, language change, and input type: Inflected infinitives in Heritage Brazilian Portuguese. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 11, 359-389.
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Schmid, M. ( 2007). The role of L1 use for L1 attrition. In B. Köpke, M. Schmid , M. Keijzer, & S. Dosterst (Eds.), Language Attrition: Theoretical Perspectives (pp. 135-154). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
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Schmid, M.S., & Köpke, B. (2007). Bilingualism and attrition . In B. Köpke, M. S. Schmid, M. Keijzer & S. Dostert (Eds.), Language Attrition (pp. 1-7). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
15.
Silva-Corvalán, C. ( 1994). Language Contact and Change: Spanish in Los Angeles. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Sorace, A. ( 2004). Native language attrition and developmental instability at the syntax-discourse interface: Data, interpretations and methods. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7, 143-145.
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Tsimpli, I.M., & Sorace, A. ( 2006). Differentiating interfaces: L2 performance in syntax-semantics and syntax-discourse phenomena. BUCLD Proceedings, 30, 653-664.
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Tsimpli, I.M., Sorace, A., Heycock, C., & Filiaci, F. ( 2004). First language attrition and syntactic subjects: A study of Greek and Italian near-native speakers of English. International Journal of Bilingualism, 8, 257-277.
19.
Valdés, G. ( 1995). The teaching of minority languages as academic subjects: Pedagogical and theoretical challenges. Modern Language Journal , 79, 299-328.
20.
Valdés, G. ( 2000). Introduction. Spanish for Native Speakers, Volume I. AATSP Professional Development Series Handbook for teachers K-16. New York: Harcourt College.
21.
Zapata, G.C., Sánchez, L., & Toribio, A.J. ( 2005). Contact/contracting Spanish among Spanish heritage bilinguals in the U.S. International Journal of Bilingualism, 9, 377-396.
