A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese

This paper reviews findings of some studies of heritage Portuguese bilingualism (both European and Brazilian Portuguese), with a focus on morphosyntax, and reflects on some theoretical observations about heritage bilingualism. We conclude that th...

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Main Authors: Acrisio Pires, Cecilia Solís Barroso
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Jagiellonian University Press 2024-01-01
Series:Romanica Cracoviensia
Online Access: https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/romanica-cracoviensia/artykul/a-non-deficit-perspective-on-heritage-language-acquisition-the-case-of-portuguese
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author Acrisio Pires
Cecilia Solís Barroso
author_facet Acrisio Pires
Cecilia Solís Barroso
author_sort Acrisio Pires
collection DOAJ
description This paper reviews findings of some studies of heritage Portuguese bilingualism (both European and Brazilian Portuguese), with a focus on morphosyntax, and reflects on some theoretical observations about heritage bilingualism. We conclude that there is mostly successful heritage language acquisition among the heritage speakers considered in each study, although one can still observe variability depending on the linguistic phenomenon, similarly to what happens in other speaker communities. The picture emerging from these studies indicates that there is no overarching trend towards incomplete acquisition, reduced ‘complexity’ or simplification across linguistic domains. This is particularly relevant regarding appeal to incomplete acquisition, given that it is not possible to apply such a concept formally and epistemologically, because one cannot define deterministically what counts as a complete grammatical system (Pires 2011).
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publisher Jagiellonian University Press
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series Romanica Cracoviensia
spelling doaj-art-70f2e962d35648fda3759880734b18802025-08-20T02:06:40ZengJagiellonian University PressRomanica Cracoviensia1732-87052084-39172024-01-01Tom 24 (2024)334335310.4467/20843917RC.24.026.20981A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of PortugueseAcrisio Pires0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3528-8027Cecilia Solís Barroso1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1308-8120 University of Michigan University of Michigan This paper reviews findings of some studies of heritage Portuguese bilingualism (both European and Brazilian Portuguese), with a focus on morphosyntax, and reflects on some theoretical observations about heritage bilingualism. We conclude that there is mostly successful heritage language acquisition among the heritage speakers considered in each study, although one can still observe variability depending on the linguistic phenomenon, similarly to what happens in other speaker communities. The picture emerging from these studies indicates that there is no overarching trend towards incomplete acquisition, reduced ‘complexity’ or simplification across linguistic domains. This is particularly relevant regarding appeal to incomplete acquisition, given that it is not possible to apply such a concept formally and epistemologically, because one cannot define deterministically what counts as a complete grammatical system (Pires 2011). https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/romanica-cracoviensia/artykul/a-non-deficit-perspective-on-heritage-language-acquisition-the-case-of-portuguese
spellingShingle Acrisio Pires
Cecilia Solís Barroso
A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese
Romanica Cracoviensia
title A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese
title_full A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese
title_fullStr A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese
title_full_unstemmed A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese
title_short A Non-Deficit Perspective on Heritage Language Acquisition: The Case of Portuguese
title_sort non deficit perspective on heritage language acquisition the case of portuguese
url https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/romanica-cracoviensia/artykul/a-non-deficit-perspective-on-heritage-language-acquisition-the-case-of-portuguese
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