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Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 48:2 (2025) ► pp.403–424

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The transmission of Spanish as a heritage language in Australia

A preliminary retrospective overview of individual maintenance factors in adult speakers

ORCiD logo with link | Western Sydney University
 | Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Published online: 4 March 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.23039.her
Abstract
Although the terms ‘heritage speakers’ and ‘heritage languages’ are relatively new, the phenomena themselves date back to the beginning of migration. In many situations heritage languages do not survive these changes, but in others they are maintained successfully. This research explores the individual factors that promote the maintenance of Spanish as a heritage language in Australia. To achieve this, we preselected the most relevant individual factors found in the literature, that were then included in a questionnaire that reflected the research questions of this study and was distributed online. Participants in this study were 27 adult Australian heritage speakers who were either born in Australia or have lived in Australia since childhood. The results suggest / indicate that the preselected individual factors: the feeling of identification with the heritage language, the motivation to speak the heritage language, and the prestige that is given to Spanish by both the parents and the heritage speakers correlate statistically with the maintenance of Spanish as a heritage language.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Spanish in Australia: Sociopolitical and sociolinguistic context
    • 2.2Migration, heritage languages and heritage speakers
    • 2.3Seeking a definition of heritage speakers
    • 2.4Heritage language maintenance, attrition and loss
    • 2.5Maintenance individual factors: Attitudes towards HL
      • 2.5.1The feeling of identification with the heritage culture
      • 2.5.2Instrumental and integrative motivation
      • 2.5.3The prestige of the HL
      • 2.5.4The pride associated with speaking the HL
  • 3.This study
    • 3.1Methodology
    • 3.2Findings and discussion
      • 3.2.1Heritage language maintenance
      • 3.2.2Exposure to Spanish in the family residence during childhood
      • 3.2.3Individual factors of maintenance
        • 3.2.3.1The HS’s feeling of identification with their heritage culture and their parents’/guardians’ feeling of identification with their culture of origin
        • 3.2.3.2The instrumental and integrative motivation of the HSs and their parents/guardians to maintaining the HL
        • 3.2.3.3The prestige accorded to the HL by the HSs and their parents/ guardians and the pride that the HSs and their parents/guardians feel in speaking the HL
  • 4.Conclusions and future lines of research
  • Notes
  • References
References (40)
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