Jacqueline Aguiar
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Teresa Satterfield
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Romance Languages Literatures / LSA
Program:
Authors: Jacqueline Aguiar, Teresa Satterfield
Session: Session 3: 11:00 am – 11: 50 am
Poster: 96
Abstract
A heritage language speaker (HL) is an individual raised with a home language that differs from the majority language spoken in a community (Valdes, 1999).This study delves into linguistic and cultural adaptation among HL Spanish learners. Specifically, we examine the HL dynamic in US-born children of immigrant first-generation (Gen1) households and in second-generation (Gen2) families. We ask whether children in Gen1 households will exhibit a greater inclination to maintain the Spanish HL than those with Gen2 Spanish-speaking parents. Studies show that parental lived experiences have a large impact on children, along with generational values (Vega, 2022), and parents of all generations have a strong influence on their children’s acquisition (or lack) of the HL (Arredondo, Rosado & Satterfield, 2016). We hypothesize that Spanish HL children in Gen1 immigrant households will carry stronger bilingual (linguistic) and cultural competencies than their peers of Gen2-parental households, even while the latter group often receives more social and educational support (Bartels, 1995). Observational data was collected on an average of 16 HL participants, aged 7-9, in a SE Michigan Spanish HL Saturday school. Spanish language and literacy were assessed through standard tests. These measures were quantitatively analyzed to compare HL development between students of Gen1 (N=10) and Gen2 households (N=5). Parents of the participants completed an online Spanish survey and the HL children were interviewed in Spanish to explore aspects related to self-comparison, home language usage, and HL learning/parenting practices. Interviews and surveys were transcribed and thematically coded for qualitative analysis between Gen1 and Gen2 participants. Preliminary results are nuanced and suggest that HL children are the product of their environment. When it comes to maintaining the HL, individualized factors of support, need, and motivation may compete with familial Gen1 or Gen2 status.
