Responses to inquiry: Differences between heritage & non-heritage learners

[Scott McGinnis]

From: Hi-Sun Helen Kim [mailto:hisun at hawaii.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 2:59 PM

First of all, thank you so much for your responses.

Apparently, the definition of "heritage learners" must be further
investigated.  That is, as everyone has pointed out, there are so many
different types of heritage learners.  Thus, the "variability" among
heritage learners must first be identified before any research takes place,
especially from a "psycholiguistics" perspective & approach, (as opposed to
sociolinguistics) to see if there any generalization that can be made among
heritage learners.  For instance, an empirical study needs to be done to
identify their (linguistic) weaknesses and strengths in comparison to
non-heritage learners.  From there, one can do further studies on the what
types of instruction (e.g. implicit, explicit, metalinguistic, etc.) or
what types of corrective feedback (e.g. recast, clarification, etc.) is
most efficient for heritage learners.

Based on some of my recent readings in psycholinguistics,(Korean) heritage
learners seem to have native-like characteristics in their language
process, especially in their listening and comprehension. That is, meaning
is automatically processed (like a native speaker) and therefore they are
not able to 'notice' or pay attention to form. I have a feeling that this
could be one of the reasons why they don't improve in language classes as
much as the non-heritage learners who have to pay attention to form for
meaning.  As to how I would prove this....well, I'm still thinking and
reading....

Motivation is definitely one of the big issues among Korean heritage
learners.  I have done a survey for part of my research this semester, and
there seems to be more motivation then I expected (both intergrative and
some instrumental).  Furthermore, their attitude towards being bilingual or
learning Korean seems to be rising.  That is, with the rise of Korean
economy and popular culture in the past 10 years or so, I believe, their
attitude is changing, in which will affect their motivation.

I will stop here for now...
I apologize for such a lengthy message and thank you for your time.

Hi-Sun Helen Kim
University of Hawaii at Manoa