The Latent Speaker: Attaining Adult Fluency in an Endangered Language

Abstract

This paper focuses on how latent knowledge of an ancestral or heritage language affects subsequent acquisition by adults. The ‘latent speaker ’ is defined as an individual raised in an environment where the ancestral language was spoken but who did not become a speaker of that language. The study examines how attitudes, latent knowledge and learning settings affect the subsequent acquisition process of latent speakers of Alaskan Athabascan languages. The first phase of the study focuses on two successful adult learners and their progress towards developing fluency. The second phase includes an analysis of the backgrounds, attitudes and language proficiency of 15 beginning adult heritage language learners. The results suggest that latent speakers have a number of characteristics distinguishing them from other language learners which may both aid and inhibit language learning. Their receptive skills surpass productive skills, they remember common expressions and emotion-laden vocabulary and their productive phonology is advanced. However, these learners tend to have a low estimate of their language abilities and report being hesitant to speak. These results provide information on factors affecting heritage language acquisition and have implications for adult language programmes. doi: 10.2167/beb428.

Case Study Research on Language Learning and Use

“…Case studies by researchers not investigating their own but rather others’ indigenous language learning include those by Hermes and King (2013) and Basham and Fathman (2008). The former explored Ojibwe (or Chippewa or Anishinaabem) language revitalization in the Minnesota area in eight families with school-aged children.…”

“…Basham and Fathman's (2008) study involved indigenous adult learners in Alaska seeking to revitalize endangered Athabascan languages. The first phase of this 2-year, two-phase study was a case study of two so-called latent learners (who had heard the indigenous language when growing up but were not speakers of the language until later in life), each with high levels of education and metalinguistic knowledge, who now had proficiency in their ancestral language.…”

Indigenous Language Revitalization and Applied Linguistics: Parallel Histories, Shared Futures?

“…It is useful in part due to its inherent acknowledgment of the ancestors in the phrase, which is important to Indigenous people, but also because it avoids some of the issues identified with the above terms. According to Basham and Fathman (2008, p. 577), the term “ancestral language” provides a distinction between languages that are Indigenous to an area and those which are widely spoken in a homeland elsewhere, as is the case with heritage and foreign languages. Interestingly, though, Basham and Fathman (2008) choose to use the term “heritage language” in their paper on Indigenous languages as they identify heritage language as gaining favor in scholarly literature pertaining to Indigenous languages (see Campbell & Christian, 2003; Cummins, 2005; Fishman, 2001).…”

“…According to Basham and Fathman (2008, p. 577), the term “ancestral language” provides a distinction between languages that are Indigenous to an area and those which are widely spoken in a homeland elsewhere, as is the case with heritage and foreign languages. Interestingly, though, Basham and Fathman (2008) choose to use the term “heritage language” in their paper on Indigenous languages as they identify heritage language as gaining favor in scholarly literature pertaining to Indigenous languages (see Campbell & Christian, 2003; Cummins, 2005; Fishman, 2001). Nevertheless, as stated, this term is currently the most useful for Indigenous communities to position and identify within the SLA and ILR research and scholarship.…”

“…Drawn from a survey conducted with Indigenous language learners, Basham and Fathman (2008) found learners’ motivations to be: “the preservation of the language and culture, desire to teach children and desire to communicate with Elders” (p. 589). Daniels-Fiss (2008) expressed similar motivations in expressing that she wanted to “deepen [her] identity as a Cree woman and to pass the language on to [her] children” (p. 235).…”