Análisis lingüístico de la escritura bilingüe (español-inglés) de los hablantes de español como lengua hereditaria en los Estados Unidos

Abstract

Traditionally; Spanish heritage speakers (HELH) in the U.S. learn Spanish at home and in their community. However; very few of them receive formal instruction in Spanish (i.e. reading and writing). As a consequence; their written expression in both Spanish and English displays very relevant characteristics. The present study analyses the argumentative/persuasive essays of university-level students: Spanish heritage speakers (HELH); Spanish second language learners (EESL) who are English native speakers; and Spanish native speakers from Mexico (HNE). Our linguistic and statistical analysis suggests that there are very noteworthy differences in the way in which these three groups incorporate the diverse linguistic variables examined in this study when composing Spanish or English essays. This study also demonstrates that bilingual heritage speakers writing discourse has particular linguistic characteristics that make its written expression not only very unique but also of great interest for teaching and research.