Heritage Linguistic Proficiency in the Native Grammar (HeLPiNG) - TFS (2019-2023)

The primary objective of HeLPiNG is to answer one of the most perplexing questions in bilingualism research today: Why is HLB characterized by such variation in grammatical knowledge and language use when this is not the case for monolinguals? by addressing these equally fundamental secondary objective questions:

• (Aim 1) when and why do developing monolinguals and HSs begin to diverge for the same language?
•  (Aim 2) at what levels (under what modalities of testing) do HSs truly differ (introducing neuro (EEG/ERP) methods to this question)?
•  (Aim 3) what is the role of the (lack of) HL literacy in explaining (some) observed HS outcomes?

There are three work packages:

• WP1 addresses the dearth of late childhood data issue, namely that most heritage bilingual research is conducted with young adults at an end-state of acquisition as opposed to development in real time.
  • It is the first methodology to address the developmental angle of heritage grammars with a unique  method that combines cross-sections tested over a 4 year period, capturing at the end data representing 15 years of development.
• WP2 and WP3 use psycho-/neuro- linguistic methodologies (the very first brain study of its kind).
  • These methods will reveal the depth of “difference” by looking directly at how the heritage language is processed in real time and if predictive processing is qualitative similar in HSs.

Tromsø Research Foundation