Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Situating the Discipline
- Part II Internal Factors
- Part III External and Social Factors
- Part IV Profiles of Bilinguals
- 16 First Time Literacy Acquisition in a Second Language by Adults
- 17 Childhood Second Language Acquisition
- 18 The Contributions of Heritage Language Speakers to Second Language Acquisition
- 19 Third Language Acquisition
- 20 Literacy and Adults’ Acquisition of Morphosyntax
- Part V Properties of Interlanguage Systems
- Part VI Models of Development
- Index
18 - The Contributions of Heritage Language Speakers to Second Language Acquisition
from Part IV - Profiles of Bilinguals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2026
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Situating the Discipline
- Part II Internal Factors
- Part III External and Social Factors
- Part IV Profiles of Bilinguals
- 16 First Time Literacy Acquisition in a Second Language by Adults
- 17 Childhood Second Language Acquisition
- 18 The Contributions of Heritage Language Speakers to Second Language Acquisition
- 19 Third Language Acquisition
- 20 Literacy and Adults’ Acquisition of Morphosyntax
- Part V Properties of Interlanguage Systems
- Part VI Models of Development
- Index
Summary
Heritage language speakers are second language (L2) speakers of a sociopolitically majority language. Their native heritage language is a minority language which typically develops under linguistic pressure from the majority L2 and eventually becomes secondary and weaker than the L2. In the past decade, research on heritage language speakers has investigated the degree of acquisition of different aspects of the heritage grammar and how the process and outcome of heritage language acquisition are similar to and different from adult L2 acquisition. Advances in the acquisition of heritage languages have contributed significantly to inform key questions in L2 acquisition. This chapter discusses the latest research on how L2 learners’ and heritage speakers’ exposure and use of the L2 and L1 affect the processing and acquisition the L2 and the heritage language and points to areas in need of further research.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition , pp. 427 - 448Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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