Heritage Languages at the Crossroads: Cultural Contexts, Individual Differences, and Methodologies

This Research Topic focuses on heritage languages at the crossroads by approaching heritage language bilingualism in an interdisciplinary way. A language qualifies as a heritage language if it is a minority language spoken at home in a majority language context. Any language can be the societal majority language in one context and the heritage language in another. While the number of empirical studies on language acquisition and processing in heritage language bilingualism has increased in recent years, heritage language bilinguals are an understudied subgroup of bilinguals. When examined as adults, heritage-speaker bilinguals tend to show significant differences in their heritage language performance (use) and competence (grammatical knowledge) from one another. This variation is particularly unusual because heritage speakers, like monolinguals, are native speakers of the heritage language.

Heritage language speakers exhibit a level of variation in both their language use and grammatical knowledge that is not typically observed in monolinguals. Although this variation is evident, research is focused on when and why heritage speakers diverge from monolinguals and from one another, as well as determining which methodologies can best account for this variation. Despite recent progress in heritage language research, studies that consider the role of varying cultural contexts on individual differences and draw on different disciplines to interpret these findings are strongly needed. This research topic aims to advance heritage language research by bringing together diverse perspectives and promoting the use of advanced methodologies. Ultimately, the topic will offer a comprehensive and current overview of the field, outlining its accomplishments, challenges, and future directions.

This Research Topic welcomes submissions on heritage language bilingualism in any and all contexts globally, including returnees. The special issue aims to bring together contributions investigating heritage language bilingualism from various disciplines, including (applied, psycho-, neuro-) linguistics, cognitive science, neuroscience, deaf/hearing impaired studies, language policy, ethnolinguistic studies, language pedagogy, and other related fields. Empirical work on language acquisition, linguistic processing, attrition, linguistic and (related) cognitive development, motivation, identity, equality, education, and policy as well as theoretical and methodological epistemology are welcome. This includes all domains of language (e.g., syntax, morphology, semantics, phonology, the lexicon and discourse/pragmatics, and their interfaces) and any and all appropriate methodologies, online and offline experimental or other methods (e.g., corpora).

We particularly welcome the following topics (but are not limited to):

• linguistic properties of heritage languages in children and adults
• heritage language acquisition and development
• the role of extra-linguistic variables in heritage language acquisition/maintenance
• crosslinguistic influence in heritage language speech production and comprehension
• code-switching/translanguaging in heritage speakers
• neurocognitive adaptations within heritage bi-/multilingualism
• first language / cross-generational attrition
• heritage language instruction
• multimodal language and communication
• research investigating so-called “returnee” contexts
• methods in heritage language bilingualism
• empirical and/or epistemological work on motivation, identity, and equality in Heritage Language Research.

Keywords: heritage language, bilingualism, language acquisition, language processing, cognitive development, language policy, language pedagogy

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.