Original scientific paper

Heritage speakers and their motivation for learning Croatian

Lidija Cvikić ; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Zagreb
Zrinka Jelaska ; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Zagreb
Lada Kanajet Šimić ; Croatian Heritage Foundation

Abstract

In the field of second language acquisition heritage speakers are considered to be a special
group of language learners and their acquisition of a target language is in the focus of researchers..
Research results show that learning of a heritage language varies from acquiring a second
language and learning a foreign language. Besides the specific features of their interlanguage,
this group of students also has specific motivation for learning a target language while the heritage
language is an important part of their identity.
Heritage language learners make a great part of all learners of Croatian as a second or
foreign language. Therefore is very important to understand all the specifities of their acquisition
of Croatian, including their motivation for learning the language. This paper deals with motivation
of learning Croatian among Croatians that live abroad. The reasearch was conducted on the basis
of a questionnaire on motives and needs for e-learning of Croatian. The results show that knowing
Croatian is perceived to be an important part of learners identity and they are motivated to learn
it in order to transfer the language to the next generation.

Keywords

heritage speakers; Croatian as a heritage language; language acquisition

Hrčak ID:

86321

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/86321

Publication date:

15.12.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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