Doctoral Dissertation Research: Educational experiences of youth heritage speakers

一个人的口语变化会影响他们生活的许多方面，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功，特别是当品种被认为是非标准的。例如，一个学生可能会因为使用了非标准的表达方式而在语言测试中失败，这些表达方式通常被认为是错误的，尽管它们是他们语言的有效方言变体。由于波多黎各西班牙语经常偏离规范的西班牙语，使用这种语言作为遗产语言的美国高中生可能会受到歧视或受到围绕其语言的某些意识形态的影响。这个博士论文项目研究和描述波多黎各西班牙语的青少年遗产发言人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验。从社会语言学访谈和焦点小组收集语言数据，本研究项目有四个总体目标：1。了解波多黎各西班牙语的青少年遗产使用这种语言变体的有据可查的特征的程度，这是一种耻辱化的方言2。了解自己的语言意识形态和周围的西班牙人的意识形态。探索青少年与西班牙语相关的感知学术经验，以及4。研究使用功能，意识形态和感知的学术经验之间的联系。该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价值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.