Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This paper argues for a greater consideration of the role of register in the retention of heritage languages by analyzing data on adolescent heritage-language speakers in Germany. The study addresses the following question: Which language external factors have the greatest impact on heritage-language retention in the intimate vs formal registers? A questionnaire was filled out by 202 students (age 15–17) in an urban area in Germany, who are all heritage-language speakers of 42 different languages. The major finding of this study is that heritage-language retention is determined by different language-external factors in each register. The fact that different models of heritage-language retention can be postulated for different language registers emphasizes the need to describe the language competences of heritage-language speakers according to registers.
Source: Register Studies
DOI: 10.1075/rs.20017.olf
Author: Helena Olfert
Institution: University of Münster
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4309865864