Heritage Speaker Phonetics and Phonology: Testing Models and Expanding the Range of Data

Dear Colleagues,

Language-specific phonetic/phonological development is fundamentally driven by innate learning mechanisms and is largely in place within the first year of life (Werker et al., 1981). This process is necessary for the elaboration of language-specific perceptual and production abilities that form the basis for lexical development over time. Such early language-specific specialization poses interesting questions for phonetic/phonological development in heritage language speakers, who undergo a dominance shift at some point during early childhood. Heritage speakers are often judged as closer to the monolingual norms than late L2 learners, whose spoken language and speech perception retain L1 influences even after years of exposure to their second language (Flege & MacKay, 2004; Iverson et al., 2003).

Recent empirical evidence suggests, however, that the heritage speaker phonological/phonetic advantage belies important differences when they are compared to monolinguals of the heritage and majority languages (Chang, to appear; Chang et al., 2011; Ahn et al., 2017; Ronquest & Rao, 2018), indicating that the dominance shift from the heritage to the majority language is nuanced in nature. As Chang et al. (2011) note, there seems to be something ‘different’ about heritage language learners that sets them apart from monolinguals and late L2 learners. One possibility is that the perceptual system of heritage learners undergoes a change when dominance shifts to the majority language. Another possibility is that the system as a whole does not shift but rather other factors, such as dialect, language experience, vocabulary depth and breadth, and language use, lead to changes in performance across different tasks or different language modes (Amengual, 2018).

In this Special Issue, we are interested in research focusing on how speech learning models capture heritage speaker phonetic and phonological development. While current speech learning models have characterized many features of L2 (Flege, 1995; Best & Tyler, 2007, Escudero, 2005) and early bilingual development (Paradis & Genesee, 1996; Fabiano-Smith & Goldstein, 2010; Fabiano-Smith & Barlow, 2010), direct transferability of these models to the specific case of heritage language phonetic and phonological development is not necessarily straightforward since in some ways, heritage language speakers are uniquely positioned on the bilingualism continuum.

In this Special Issue, we call for contributions that focus on three primary areas of research:

(1) Testing Current L2 Speech Models: How does the role of early language-specific development play out in heritage speakers whose initial commitment was to a language that has since become non-dominant? What does this mean for speech categories and directionality of language influence and transfer?

(2) Broaden the range of heritage language experiences: In order to test models across a broader range of languages and contexts, we encourage submissions that examine heritage speakers of less-studied languages, in contexts outside of those typically considered (e.g., Chinese or Korean speakers in Latin America; Nahuatl/Mayan/Zapotec in Mexico and Central America; Quechua/Aymara in South America; Navajo in the United States; Aboriginal languages in Australia). It is well-recognized that sociolinguistic factors such as language prestige and community social cohesion play a role in heritage language maintenance (Velázquez et al., 2015). How do these factors affect the production and perception of heritage languages?

(3) Perception and Production links: Finally, because perception and production are so closely coupled, we also welcome research that covers the connection between them (Kim, 2020).

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors ([email protected]; [email protected]) and to /Languages/ editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

The tentative completion schedule is as follows:

• Abstract submission deadline: 31 March 2021
• Notification of abstract acceptance: 30 April 2021
• Full manuscript deadline: 15 August 2021

References

Ahn, S., Chang, C. B., DeKeyser, R., & Lee‐Ellis, S. (2017). Age effects in first language attrition: Speech perception by Korean‐English bilinguals. Language Learning, 67(3), 694-733.

Amengual, M. (2018). Asymmetrical interlingual influence in the production of Spanish and English laterals as a result of competing activation in bilingual language processing. Journal of Phonetics, 69, 12-28.

Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. (2007). Nonnative and second-language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. In O. S. Bohn & M. Munro (Eds.), Second-language Speech Learning: The Role of Language Experience in Speech Perception and Production. A Festschrift in Honour of James E. Flege (pp.13–34). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Chang, C. B. (to appear). Phonetics and phonology. In S. Montrul & M. Polinsky (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics (Chapter 23). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Chang, C. B., Yao, Y., Haynes, E. F., & Rhodes, R. (2011). Production of phonetic and phonological contrast by heritage speakers of Mandarin. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 129(6), 3964-3980.

Escudero, P. (2005). Linguistic perception and second language acquisition: Explaining the attainment of optimal phonological categorization. PhD Dissertation. Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics.

Fabiano-Smith, L., & Barlow, J. A. (2010). Interaction in bilingual phonological acquisition: Evidence from phonetic inventories. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13(1), 81-97.

Fabiano-Smith, L., & Goldstein, B. A. (2010). Phonological acquisition in bilingual Spanish-English speaking children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(1),160–178.

Flege, J. E. (1995). Second-language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Theoretical and Methodological Issues (pp. 229–273). Timonium, MD: York Press.

Flege, J. E., & MacKay, R. A. (2004). Perceiving vowels in a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 1-34.

Iverson, P., Kuhl, P., Yamada, R., Diesch, E., Tohkura, Y., Ketterman, A., & Siebert, C. (2003). A perceptual interference account of acquisition difficulties for non-native phonemes, Cognition, 87, B47–B57.

Kim, J.-Y. (2020). Discrepancy between heritage speakers' use of suprasegmental cues in the perception and production of Spanish lexical stress. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(2), 233-250.

Paradis, J., & Genesee, F. (1996). Syntactic acquisition in bilingual children: Autonomous or interdependent? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(1), 1–25.

Ronquest, R., & Rao, R. (2018). Heritage Spanish Phonetics and Phonology. In K. Potowski (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Spanish as a Heritage Language (pp. 164-177). London/New York: Routledge.

Velázquez, I., Garrido, M., & Millán, M. (2015). Heritage speakers of Spanish in the US Midwest: reported interlocutors as a measure of family language relevance. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 36(4), 386-403.

Werker, J., Gilbert, J., Humphrey, K., & Tees, R (1981). Developmental aspects of cross-language speech perception. Child Development, 52, 349–355.

Dr. Christine Shea
Dr. Ji Young Kim
Guest Editors

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• phonetics
• phonology
• heritage speakers
• speech perception
• production