16h00
Heritage speakers as native speakers of both their languages
Heike Wiese
Humboldt University of Berlin
The talk contributes to the growing body of research on heritage languages that recognises multilingualism as the normal condition of human language, and hence regards heritage speakers as native speakers of both their languages. I critically discuss earlier, deficit-oriented views of heritage speakers and the limitations arising from a restriction to settings in the Global North that are dominated by a monolingual societal habitus. Against this background, I present recent findings that highlight similarities between heritage speakers and monolinguals while pointing to a special dynamic of multilingual settings and an interaction between register and language contact. I discuss the methodological, theoretical and conceptual implications of such findings.
