The learning of Spanish and English as heritage languages in childhood: Implications for classroom instruction in Mexico and the US.
Role: PI
Funding: Fulbright Commission/COMEXUS
The impact of phonetic variability on bilingual morphosyntax
Role: Collaborator
PI: Laura Colantoni (University of Toronto), Co-PI: Ana Teresa Perez Leroux (University of Toronto)
Funding: Funded by Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Insight Grants. Government of Canada
Amount: $179,979 CAN
The role of age of onset of bilingualism and input factors in the acquisition of Spanish as a heritage language in Spanish/English bilingual children of Mexican background
Role: PI
Co-PI: Liliana Sanchez (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Naomi Shin (University of New Mexico)
Funding: Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences Grant
Amount: $42,362
Bare Nominals and Object Drop in the Grammars of Spanish-Portuguese and Chinese-Spanish learners
Role: PI
Co-PIs: Julio César López-Otero (Indiana University) and Jian Jiao (Purdue University).
This project looks at the development of bare nominals and object expression and omission in Portuguese and Chinese speakers of Spanish as heritage and second language respectively.
The morphosyntactic development of Spanish and Catalan in child and adult grammars
Role: PI
Co-PI: Pedro Guijarro Fuentes (University of Balearic Islands)
This project examines the acquisition of three morphosyntactic structures in Spanish-Catalan bilingual children and adults: gender concord and word order; object drop and copula use. We are interested in investigating the effects of language contact and interaction in qualitative changes in the grammar of child bilinguals and the extent to which these changes are also present in the adult grammar.
The acquisition of the semantics of the presente tense
Role: PI
Co-PIs: Julio López-Otero (Purdue University)
This project examines the extent to which L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage speakers have knowledge of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense.
On the Acquisition of L2 Requests in Spanish
Role: Co-PI
PI: Lori Czerwionka (Purdue University)
This project examines the acquisition of the politeness maker por favor among English-speaking L2 learners of Spanish during a short-term study abroad program in Madrid, Spain.
The production and interpretation of pronominal subjects in Cuban Spanish.
Role: PI
Co-PI: José Camacho (Rutgers)
The current project examines the status of third person pronominal subjects in Spanish with inanimate referents in the grammar of heritage speakers of Cuban Spanish.
Cuban Spanish Dialectology: Variation, Contact and Change (in press). Georgetown University Press.
Role: PI
This project examines contemporary approaches to Cuban Spanish linguistics, specifically in the areas of phonetics and phonology, syntax, morphology, sociolinguistics and language contact phenomena.
The Effects of Heritage Language Instruction on Children’s Academic Growth
Role: PI
Co-PI: Becky Chen (OISE, Toronto), Lauren Miller (Purdue), Adrian Pasquarella (Univ.of Delaware)
Funded research by: Kinley Trust Foundation ($20,000), Purdue University Office of Engagement ($4,000), CLA Office of Engagment ($5,000).
This project investigates the effects of heritage language instruction in Hispanic children's academic growth. Particularly, we are interested in examining the extent to which early pedagogical intervention in Spanish as a heritage language plays a role not only in the maintenance and development of Spanish as a heritage language but also in the acquisition of English reading skills. Most of our children come from Mexican background parents, and they are born and raised in Indiana. We expect this project to lead to a better understanding of the advantages of early pedagogical intervention in bilingual children’s linguistic and academic development. It impacts parents and children, educators, psychologists, and school officials by providing insights on how to improve the quality of literacy instruction in a diverse society, while also guiding informed policymaking. It additionally contributes to the development and implementation of a theoretically grounded and empirically tested Spanish curriculum at the elementary level and provides a framework from which to design and validate future standardized measures in foreign language education. This research project paved the way for the founding of the literacy program Aprendiendo a Leer (Learning to Read) in Spring 2012. This is an after school literacy program with over 70 Spanish-English bilingual children every year. Our curriculum includes leveled reading activities, phonemic awareness instruction, the singing of children's music, reading aloud practices, and vocabulary acquisition via cognate instruction. About 20 undergraduate students from Purdue participate in the program every year by teaching heritage Spanish children in Pre K to 5th grade how to read and write in their native language. This project is conducted in collaboration with the Tippecanoe School Corporation and Community Schools of Frankfort. Undergraduate students proficient in Spanish who are interested in participating in this program should not hesitate to contact me for details. We are always looking for additional instructors.
For more information on the Aprendiendo a Leer Program please visit:
http://www.jconline.com/VideoNetwork/2021197346001/Spanish-Program
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2012/Q4/program-helps-spanish-speaking-children-learn-family-language.html
http://www.cla.purdue.edu/think/pages/2013/speaking_spanish_for_life.html
Grammatical Gender Selection and Phrasal Word Order in Child Heritage Spanish
Role: PI
Co-PI: Pérez-Tattam (Swansea University)
Funding: Purdue Research Foundation ($8,000)
This project examines the role of transfer and age effects in the acquisition of gender assignment, agreement and directionality in child and adult heritage Spanish. Participants include Spanish-English bilingual children of Mexican background born and raised in Indiana, Spanish-Portuguese bilingual children born and raised in Portugal and adult heritage speakers.
Phonetic L1 Attrition of Heritage Spanish in Contact with English
Role: Co-PI (together with Natalia Mazzaro, University of Texas at El Paso)
PI: Laura Colantoni
This project examines the production and perception of Spanish consonantal and vocalic contrasts among heritage speakers and long-term Spanish immigrants in the US. Particularly, we are interested in examining the role of transfer from English, task effects and language dominance.
Morphosyntactic Asymmetries in Child Heritage Spanish: Evidence from Differential Object Marking and Past Tense Aspectual Contrasts
Role: PI
Co-PI: Lauren Miller (Purdue University) & Rocío Pérez-Tattam (Swansea University)
This project examines the role of transfer, age effects and patterns of language use at home in the development of two syntax-semantic interface structures in Spanish, namely preterite vs imperfect distinctions and the use of personal -a. Participants include bilingual children, adult heritage speakers and adult L2 learners of Spanish.
Role: PI
Funding: Fulbright Commission/COMEXUS
The impact of phonetic variability on bilingual morphosyntax
Role: Collaborator
PI: Laura Colantoni (University of Toronto), Co-PI: Ana Teresa Perez Leroux (University of Toronto)
Funding: Funded by Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Insight Grants. Government of Canada
Amount: $179,979 CAN
The role of age of onset of bilingualism and input factors in the acquisition of Spanish as a heritage language in Spanish/English bilingual children of Mexican background
Role: PI
Co-PI: Liliana Sanchez (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Naomi Shin (University of New Mexico)
Funding: Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences Grant
Amount: $42,362
Bare Nominals and Object Drop in the Grammars of Spanish-Portuguese and Chinese-Spanish learners
Role: PI
Co-PIs: Julio César López-Otero (Indiana University) and Jian Jiao (Purdue University).
This project looks at the development of bare nominals and object expression and omission in Portuguese and Chinese speakers of Spanish as heritage and second language respectively.
The morphosyntactic development of Spanish and Catalan in child and adult grammars
Role: PI
Co-PI: Pedro Guijarro Fuentes (University of Balearic Islands)
This project examines the acquisition of three morphosyntactic structures in Spanish-Catalan bilingual children and adults: gender concord and word order; object drop and copula use. We are interested in investigating the effects of language contact and interaction in qualitative changes in the grammar of child bilinguals and the extent to which these changes are also present in the adult grammar.
The acquisition of the semantics of the presente tense
Role: PI
Co-PIs: Julio López-Otero (Purdue University)
This project examines the extent to which L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage speakers have knowledge of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense.
On the Acquisition of L2 Requests in Spanish
Role: Co-PI
PI: Lori Czerwionka (Purdue University)
This project examines the acquisition of the politeness maker por favor among English-speaking L2 learners of Spanish during a short-term study abroad program in Madrid, Spain.
The production and interpretation of pronominal subjects in Cuban Spanish.
Role: PI
Co-PI: José Camacho (Rutgers)
The current project examines the status of third person pronominal subjects in Spanish with inanimate referents in the grammar of heritage speakers of Cuban Spanish.
Cuban Spanish Dialectology: Variation, Contact and Change (in press). Georgetown University Press.
Role: PI
This project examines contemporary approaches to Cuban Spanish linguistics, specifically in the areas of phonetics and phonology, syntax, morphology, sociolinguistics and language contact phenomena.
The Effects of Heritage Language Instruction on Children’s Academic Growth
Role: PI
Co-PI: Becky Chen (OISE, Toronto), Lauren Miller (Purdue), Adrian Pasquarella (Univ.of Delaware)
Funded research by: Kinley Trust Foundation ($20,000), Purdue University Office of Engagement ($4,000), CLA Office of Engagment ($5,000).
This project investigates the effects of heritage language instruction in Hispanic children's academic growth. Particularly, we are interested in examining the extent to which early pedagogical intervention in Spanish as a heritage language plays a role not only in the maintenance and development of Spanish as a heritage language but also in the acquisition of English reading skills. Most of our children come from Mexican background parents, and they are born and raised in Indiana. We expect this project to lead to a better understanding of the advantages of early pedagogical intervention in bilingual children’s linguistic and academic development. It impacts parents and children, educators, psychologists, and school officials by providing insights on how to improve the quality of literacy instruction in a diverse society, while also guiding informed policymaking. It additionally contributes to the development and implementation of a theoretically grounded and empirically tested Spanish curriculum at the elementary level and provides a framework from which to design and validate future standardized measures in foreign language education. This research project paved the way for the founding of the literacy program Aprendiendo a Leer (Learning to Read) in Spring 2012. This is an after school literacy program with over 70 Spanish-English bilingual children every year. Our curriculum includes leveled reading activities, phonemic awareness instruction, the singing of children's music, reading aloud practices, and vocabulary acquisition via cognate instruction. About 20 undergraduate students from Purdue participate in the program every year by teaching heritage Spanish children in Pre K to 5th grade how to read and write in their native language. This project is conducted in collaboration with the Tippecanoe School Corporation and Community Schools of Frankfort. Undergraduate students proficient in Spanish who are interested in participating in this program should not hesitate to contact me for details. We are always looking for additional instructors.
For more information on the Aprendiendo a Leer Program please visit:
http://www.jconline.com/VideoNetwork/2021197346001/Spanish-Program
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2012/Q4/program-helps-spanish-speaking-children-learn-family-language.html
http://www.cla.purdue.edu/think/pages/2013/speaking_spanish_for_life.html
Grammatical Gender Selection and Phrasal Word Order in Child Heritage Spanish
Role: PI
Co-PI: Pérez-Tattam (Swansea University)
Funding: Purdue Research Foundation ($8,000)
This project examines the role of transfer and age effects in the acquisition of gender assignment, agreement and directionality in child and adult heritage Spanish. Participants include Spanish-English bilingual children of Mexican background born and raised in Indiana, Spanish-Portuguese bilingual children born and raised in Portugal and adult heritage speakers.
Phonetic L1 Attrition of Heritage Spanish in Contact with English
Role: Co-PI (together with Natalia Mazzaro, University of Texas at El Paso)
PI: Laura Colantoni
This project examines the production and perception of Spanish consonantal and vocalic contrasts among heritage speakers and long-term Spanish immigrants in the US. Particularly, we are interested in examining the role of transfer from English, task effects and language dominance.
Morphosyntactic Asymmetries in Child Heritage Spanish: Evidence from Differential Object Marking and Past Tense Aspectual Contrasts
Role: PI
Co-PI: Lauren Miller (Purdue University) & Rocío Pérez-Tattam (Swansea University)
This project examines the role of transfer, age effects and patterns of language use at home in the development of two syntax-semantic interface structures in Spanish, namely preterite vs imperfect distinctions and the use of personal -a. Participants include bilingual children, adult heritage speakers and adult L2 learners of Spanish.