Incomplete Acquisition and Attrition of Young Heritage Speakers’ Vocabulary Knowledge

Why do some heritage speakers have higher vocabulary knowledge of their mother tongue compared to others?

 
Incomplete L1 acquisition and attrition are some of the main causes of language loss in heritage speakers. In this talk, I report on a study involving thirty young Persian-English bilinguals (aged 6 – 18) living in New Zealand, whose knowledge of Persian vocabulary was assessed in comparison with that of matched monolingual counterparts in Iran. Information about the heritage speakers’ language use and parental attitude towards heritage language acquisition and maintenance was collected through semi-structured interviews. In an effort to account for the marked differences among the bilingual participants, I will explore various factors, including their age at emigration, length of residence in New Zealand, heritage language use and their parents’ attitude towards heritage language acquisition and maintenance.