Video abstract for Structured Variation in Child Heritage Speakers' Grammars

1. Language and
Linguistics Compass
Open Access!
https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/jou
rnal/1749818x
http://www.unm.edu/~naomishin/
https://lobolanguage.unm.edu/home.html

2. Child heritage speaker
Child learning a minority language in the home

3. Child heritage speakers’ grammars
Deficit view: analyzed as deficient or unsystematic.
Harmful:
•Can lead to children being told that the way they
talk is wrong
•Linguistic insecurity
•Unwillingness to speak the heritage language
•Affects academic performance
•Affects well-being

4. Child heritage speakers’ grammars
Deficit view: analyzed as deficient or
unsystematic.
Variationist approaches can help affirm and
celebrate the richness of child heritage speakers’
developing grammars.

5. Structured variation
The interchange of linguistic forms where the choice to use one
form over the other is probabilistically conditioned by linguistic
and social factors.
Image: https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/nature

6. Structured variation: Spanish subject pronouns
(1) . . . primero vino aquí mi hermano. . . y, y luego yo
porque yo nací hasta el último. Ø Tengo dos hermanos.
‘. . .first my brother came here. . . and, and later I
because I was born last. (I) have two brothers.’

7. Structured variation: Spanish subject pronouns
(1) . . . primero vino aquí mi hermano. . . y, y luego yo
porque yo nací hasta el último. Ø Tengo dos hermanos.
‘. . .first my brother came here. . . and, and later I
because I was born last. (I) have two brothers.’
Multiple factors probabilistically condition usage, for example:
• Singular vs. plural subject pronouns
• Tense/mood/aspect of the verb
• Switching or maintaining reference (‘I was born … I have’ versus ‘I
was born … ‘he has’)

8. Why does this matter for research on language
development?
Variation is sometimes misunderstood and usage analyzed as a
sign of not having learned a particular part of grammar.

9. Variation misunderstood
Yo nací … Ø tengo
I was born (I) have
Yo nací … Yo tengo
I was born I have
Images: https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/green-check, https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/police

10. Variation widespread
Yo nací … Ø tengo
I was born (I) have
Yo nací … Yo tengo
I was born I have
Images: https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/green-check, https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/police

11. Variation misunderstood
Can lead to overestimation of difference between
heritage and other speakers

12. Variationist studies revealing similarities between
heritage and monolingual Spanish-speaking children:
•Differential object marking
•Variable clitic placement
•Subject pronoun expression

13. Variation ≠ unsystematic
Learners may show variation where others do not, but their
variation may be systematic and complex

14. Gender agreement
Gender
• Eva no encuentra su teléfono y lo necesita para llamarte.
• Eva can’t find her phone and she needs it to call you.

15. Gender agreement
• Eva no encuentra su teléfono y lo necesita para llamarte.
• Eva can’t find her phone and she needs it to call you.
• Eva no encuentra su teléfono y la necesita para llamarte.
• Eva can’t find her phone and she needs it to call you.
• How do we analyze this?
• Child ‘struggles’ with gender agreement
• Child has constructed a different, yet complex grammar

16. Different, but systematic
• Eva no encuentra su telefono y lo necesita para llamarte.
• Eva can’t find her phone and she needs it to call you.
• Eva no encuentra su telefono y la necesita para llamarte.
• Eva can’t find her phone and she needs it to call you.
Shin et al. 2022

17. Child heritage speakers of Spanish
Variationist studies showing different, but systematic grammatical patterns:
• Direct object gender agreement
• Direct object omission

18. The importance of the variationist approach
for research on child heritage speakers’
grammars
Helps us to avoid overestimating differences.
Helps us to avoid underestimating grammatical systematicity.
Variationist approaches can help affirm and celebrate the richness
of child heritage speakers’ developing grammars.

19. Thank you!
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation for Open Access Fees
• Lobo Language Acquisition Lab for support.
• Anonymous reviewers, editors, and Lobo
Language Acquisition Lab member Aster
Forrest for feedback on article.
https://lobolanguage.unm.edu/home.html
https://bilingualism.unm.edu/