Avizia Yim Long

Language identity, an understudied factor, can influence isolation and discrimination, leading to disparities in well-being and mental health among immigrants. This study aims to investigate the role of language identity on structural racism and discrimination among 1.5 generation Asian/Asian American immigrants in a diverse U.S. state. We developed a three-step sequential approach: Stage 1—qualitative analysis (1A, focus group discussion; 1B, in-depth interviews); Stage 2—quantitative analysis (2A, language identity measurement scale; 2B, cross-sectional online survey; 2C, multivariate multiple linear regression); Stage 3—another round of qualitative analysis (3A, follow-up in-depth chronological interviews). Therefore, this study will contribute to the field by introducing a novel three-step mixed methods approach, marking a notable improvement over conventional explanatory or exploratory sequential designs.

In Border Uruguayan Spanish, intervocalic voiced obstruents have been known to be produced as stops due to the variety’s contact with Portuguese. The present study investigates intervocalic /ɡ/ in a corpus of sociolinguistic interviews. Using an acoustic measure, a consonant-vowel intensity ratio, as an index of constriction of /ɡ/, we found that, similar to /b/ and /d/, the speaker’s age, Spanish use, and sex have a strong impact on the realization of intervocalic /ɡ/. Specifically, younger speakers, those that speak Spanish most of the time, and men are likely to use less constricted variants such as approximants and elision. Given the parallels that these results have with findings of studies of intervocalic /d/ and, to a lesser extent, /b/ in this variety, we discuss support for the notion that the three phonemes behave as a series and not independently.

This study examines a 30-item Spanish elicited imitation task (EIT) as a measure of global language proficiency for heritage language (HL) learners of Spanish. Results from Rasch modeling suggest that, while EIT scores demonstrated excellent reliability, the ability of much of the HL sample far exceeded the difficulty of the items. Differential item functioning analysis revealed that several items functioned differently for the present study’s HL sample than for the second language learners from a prior study. Additionally, although EIT scores were strongly correlated with another proficiency measure for the present HL sample (e.g., the Diploma de español como lengua extranjera or DELE), common-person equating suggested that the EIT and the DELE may measure different latent variables. Overall, the results provide evidence of the EIT’s utility as a proficiency assessment tool for research on HL learners, however, with limitations and the need for additional analyses discussed.

Within the scope of research that lies at the intersection of sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, there is a growing body of empirical work on learners’ acquisition of variable subject expression in Spanish. This research has been instrumental for demonstrating that second language (L2) learners acquire linguistic and social constraints on subject form use. The present study extends research on variable Spanish subject expression to an understudied learner population: native Korean-speaking learners. Interview data were examined for the range and frequency of first-person subject forms produced by Korean-speaking learners at four instructional levels as well as linguistic and individual (extralinguistic) predictors of subject use. Results showed that learners at each level produced primarily null subjects, and verb number, verb-form regularity, verb semantics, and use of Spanish outside of class significantly predicted use of an overt personal pronoun over null subjects.

Research on the second language (L2) acquisition of the Spanish copulas has been central to our understanding of key concepts and issues in the field of SLA such as stages of development and variability in L2s. However, this research has focused nearly exclusively on native English-speaking learners. The present study examined native Korean-speaking learners’ acquisition and use of the Spanish copulas with adjectives in oral production. Analyses of the range and frequency of copula forms produced across four levels of Spanish language study revealed an increase inserandestaruse and a decrease in developmental omission as learner level increased. Predicate type, resultant state, and Spanish grammar score significantly influenced use ofestaroverser.Comparison with native English-speaking learners revealed differences between first language groups in terms of rates of form use, but similar developmental trends and predictors ofestaruse overall.

Given the notable increase in participation in short-term (e.g., eight weeks or less) study abroad, especially in the US, recent empirical work on the role of context in second language (L2) learning has sought to investigate the impact of a short-term stay abroad on language development. The present study examined English-speaking learners’ syntactic complexity development in oral narratives after a four-week stay abroad. With regard to three measures of syntactic complexity (length of analysis of speech [AS]-units, number of clauses per AS-unit, length of clause), findings revealed that the study abroad group demonstrated no statistically significant change over the study period. However, individual-level analyses revealed that over half of the study abroad learners increased complexity in narratives in terms of clause length. Further, half of the study abroad learners exhibited increases in syntactic complexity on at least two of the three syntactic complexity measures examined.

Aims and objectives: While previous research has shown that phonetic variation in language contact situations is affected by whether a word has a cognate in the contact language, this paper aims to show that such an effect is not monotonic. According to the usage-based model, items in memory are organized according to similarity, thus we anticipated that formally more similar cognates would show a stronger cognate effect. Methodology: This variationist sociophonetic study investigates the relationship between cognate similarity and phonetic realization. We examined this relationship in the bilingual community of Rivera, Uruguay, in which both Portuguese and Spanish are spoken with regularity. Specifically, we focused on intervocalic /d/, which in monolingual Spanish is realized as an approximant [ð̞] or phonetic zero, but in monolingual Brazilian Portuguese is produced as a stop [d] or, in most varieties, an affricate [ʤ] before [i]. Data and analysis: We analyzed a corpus of sociolinguistic interviews of the Spanish spoken in Rivera. Acoustic measurements were taken from approximately 60 tokens each from 40 different speakers. Using a linear mixed-effects model, we examined the relationship between several predictors and the degree of constriction of intervocalic /d/. Findings/conclusions: While there is an overall frequency effect whereby more frequent words exhibit less constriction of intervocalic /d/, as both frequency and cognate similarity increase, less constriction of intervocalic /d/ obtains. Therefore, frequent cognates in Portuguese that have very similar forms affect the production of intervocalic /d/ more so than other cognates. Originality: No previous study has demonstrated that the cognate effect on phonetic variation in a situation of language contact is regulated by form similarity between cognate pairs. Significance/implications: The data support the usage-based model in that similar cognates have more lexical connections and can therefore show greater influence on phonetic realization than can cognates that share less phonetic material.

The present study examined individual patterns of use of variable Spanish copula choice by advanced-level Korean learners. Participants were nine native speakers of Korean enrolled in fourth-year Spanish courses at a South Korean university. To examine variable copula use, learners participated in a sociolinguistic interview and picture book description task from which all pre-adjectival contexts were identified and the distribution (i.e., range and frequency) of copula forms was examined. To examine individual patterns of use, learners completed a background questionnaire and Spanish grammar task. Results revealed that advanced-level Korean learners produced primarily ser, estar, and developmental omission in pre-adjectival contexts, and there was a positive relationship between higher rates of estar and four of the five individual characteristics examined.

An important goal for most PhD students is to procure gainful employment. Although PhD students receive a great deal of training in the areas of critiquing, conducting, and publishing research, the process of searching, applying for, and securing an academic job is one that is often shrouded in mystery. This chapter attempts to shed some light on this arduous and stressful task, and in doing so make it less mysterious. Although the chapter is written with PhD students in mind, it may also be helpful for early career scholars with limited experience on the job market. Regardless of your individual background/circumstance, training, and previous job-searching experiences (or lack thereof), the goal is a shared one: To navigate the academic job market effectively and obtain one or more job offers. In this chapter, we cover three key phases in the job search process, including preparing for the job market (as early as possible), starting the search (approximately one year before one hopes to be employed), and excelling in job interviews. In each section, we highlight key aspects of the preparation stage, and provide specific steps an aspiring academic can take. It is our experience that few reasonably comprehensive resources exist that provide insight into the entire process of securing an academic job (see Kelsky, 2015). Furthermore, few resources offer the joint perspective(s) of new (i.e., Avizia and Kris) and seasoned (i.e., Graham) scholars who have successfully obtained academic jobs in the field. A particular goal of this chapter is to provide such a resource within the particular context of the field of applied linguistics.