French as a Heritage Language in Germany
Research on child heritage speakers (HSs) has shown successful language acquisition, comparable to monolinguals, whereas research on adult HSs often claims incomplete acquisition. This seems to be an evident contradiction in the current state of research, which may be explained by a possible languag...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Languages |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/6/3/122 |
| _version_ | 1797518505597206528 |
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| author | Johanna Stahnke Laia Arnaus Gil Natascha Müller |
| author_facet | Johanna Stahnke Laia Arnaus Gil Natascha Müller |
| author_sort | Johanna Stahnke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on child heritage speakers (HSs) has shown successful language acquisition, comparable to monolinguals, whereas research on adult HSs often claims incomplete acquisition. This seems to be an evident contradiction in the current state of research, which may be explained by a possible language shift during adolescence or adulthood, but which does not necessarily have to be equated with a lack of competence. In an overview of the existing studies on child and adult HSs of French in Germany, we show that HSs are not incomplete acquirers of French and we suggest theoretical and practical implications following these findings. Our aim is to show, first, that HSs of French in Germany are not unanimously disadvantaged compared with French speakers in countries where French is a majority language, and second, that complete acquisition is independent of language dominance, a notion that has received particular attention in studies on multilingual and HL acquisition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:31:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9d08b9ea5ea544129993c2426e917027 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:31:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-9d08b9ea5ea544129993c2426e9170272023-11-22T13:54:19ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2021-07-016312210.3390/languages6030122French as a Heritage Language in GermanyJohanna Stahnke0Laia Arnaus Gil1Natascha Müller2Romance Linguistics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, D-42119 Wuppertal, GermanyRomance Linguistics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, D-42119 Wuppertal, GermanyRomance Linguistics, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, D-42119 Wuppertal, GermanyResearch on child heritage speakers (HSs) has shown successful language acquisition, comparable to monolinguals, whereas research on adult HSs often claims incomplete acquisition. This seems to be an evident contradiction in the current state of research, which may be explained by a possible language shift during adolescence or adulthood, but which does not necessarily have to be equated with a lack of competence. In an overview of the existing studies on child and adult HSs of French in Germany, we show that HSs are not incomplete acquirers of French and we suggest theoretical and practical implications following these findings. Our aim is to show, first, that HSs of French in Germany are not unanimously disadvantaged compared with French speakers in countries where French is a majority language, and second, that complete acquisition is independent of language dominance, a notion that has received particular attention in studies on multilingual and HL acquisition.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/6/3/122French as heritage languagechild and adult heritage speakerslanguage separation and cross-linguistic influence |
| spellingShingle | Johanna Stahnke Laia Arnaus Gil Natascha Müller French as a Heritage Language in Germany Languages French as heritage language child and adult heritage speakers language separation and cross-linguistic influence |
| title | French as a Heritage Language in Germany |
| title_full | French as a Heritage Language in Germany |
| title_fullStr | French as a Heritage Language in Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | French as a Heritage Language in Germany |
| title_short | French as a Heritage Language in Germany |
| title_sort | french as a heritage language in germany |
| topic | French as heritage language child and adult heritage speakers language separation and cross-linguistic influence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/6/3/122 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johannastahnke frenchasaheritagelanguageingermany AT laiaarnausgil frenchasaheritagelanguageingermany AT nataschamuller frenchasaheritagelanguageingermany |