Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines how adolescents, and young people of Latin American origin in Switzerland construct and re-signify Spanish as a heritage language in contexts of high linguistic diversity. Adopting a qualitative and multimodal approach based on the language portrait method, the study analyzes the visual and narrative representations produced by 22 participants with heterogeneous linguistic trajectories. The findings show that, despite the diversity of profiles, recurring patterns emerge, particularly with regard to intergenerational transmission and speakers’ agency. While the early stages of Spanish transmission are largely shaped by parental investment, at later stages young people actively re-signify and, in some cases, reactivate the language as an identity resource. In parallel, English positions itself as a language of youth socialization and global prestige, reconfiguring linguistic hierarchies without displacing the symbolic value of Spanish.
Authors: Livio Bonaduce, Yvette Bürki
Institution: University of Bern
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7168399494