Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Heritage Spanish

Psycholinguistics is closely related to linguistics and the two fields of study overlap to an increasing degree, but there are still subtle differences. This chapter reviews existing research on online language processing among heritage Spanish bilinguals and emphases on the specific methodologies used in psycholinguistic research. It introduces the fundamental concepts of language processing and the classification of some research methods as online. It provides basic descriptions of four specific research methods that have been or will likely be employed in the study of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL). Language processing at the word level involves the perception of different letters, sounds, and morphological sub-components that enable the reader or listener to access the appropriate word entry in a mental dictionary known as the lexicon. Online methods examine the moment-by-moment cognitive processes that occur along the way in order to arrive at that meaning, and especially the timing and order of different steps.