Linguistic development of Spanish heritage learners in study abroad: Considerations, implications, and future directions

Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that second-language learners of Spanish often return from study abroad with increased linguistic abilities in the target language. Nevertheless, little is known about the linguistic development of heritage language learners in this context, even though their participation in study abroad programs is increasing. In this theoretical chapter, we explore the state of the field regarding research in discourse-level writing and orality among Spanish heritage language learners and how those skills may be enhanced in the study abroad context. We begin the chapter by defining what linguistic development is for language learners, discussing theoretical constructs and empirical measurements used in past research to characterize such development. We then turn to studies that have explored these measures in the study abroad study-abroad context, considering what concepts are applicable and problematic for heritage language learners. Next, through a review of previous research on heritage learners at home, we discuss the unique skills that these speakers may bring to a study abroad experience. Lastly, we posit four areas of fertile research for future studies.