Doctoral Dissertation Research: Educational experiences of youth heritage speakers

一个人的口语多样性影响着他们生活的方方面面，其中之一就是教育经历和学校轨迹。学生使用的品种可能会影响他们的学业成绩，特别是当这种品种被认为是非标准的时候。例如，一名学生可能会因为使用非标准表达而未能通过语言测试，尽管这些表达通常被认为是错误的，尽管这些表达是他们语言的有效方言变体。由于波多黎各西班牙语经常与标准西班牙语不同，使用这种变体作为传统语言的美国高中生可能会受到歧视，或者受到围绕他们语言的某些意识形态的影响。这个博士论文项目研究并描述了说波多黎各西班牙语的青少年的语言使用和意识形态，以了解这些做法是如何与他们的教育经历联系在一起的。从社会语言学访谈和焦点小组收集语言数据，这项研究项目有四个首要目标：1)为了了解说波多黎各西班牙语的青少年在多大程度上使用这种语言变体的有据可查的特征，一种被污名化的方言2。理解他们自己的语言意识形态和其他人的西班牙语3.)探索青少年感知的与西班牙语相关的学习经历，以及4.)考察特征的使用、意识形态和可感知的学术经历之间的联系。这项研究有助于了解学生的语言实践如何影响他们的教育经历和成功，并为实际应用提供建议。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A person’s spoken language variety affects many aspects of their life, one of them being the educational experience and school trajectory. The variety a student uses may affect their academic success, especially when the variety is considered non-standard. For example, a student may fail a language test for using non-standard expressions that are generally considered wrong in spite of being valid dialectal variations of their language. Because Puerto Rican Spanish often diverges from normative Spanish, US high school students who use this variety as a heritage language may experience discrimination or be subject to certain ideologies around their language. This doctoral dissertation project examines and describes the language uses and ideologies of teen heritage speakers of Puerto Rican Spanish, in order to understand how these practices are tied to their educational experiences. Gathering linguistic data from sociolinguistic interviews and focus groups, this research project has four overarching goals: 1.) to understand the extent to which teen heritage speakers of Puerto Rican Spanish use well-documented features of this language variety, a stigmatized dialect 2.) to understand their own language ideologies and those of others around their Spanish 3.) to explore the teens’ perceived academic experiences related to Spanish, and 4.) to examine the connections between the use of features, ideologies and perceived academic experiences. The research provides an understanding of how students’ linguistic practices may affect their educational experiences and success as well as providing suggestions for practical applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.