Mandarin heritage young language learners’ perspectives: Cognitive validity evidence in reading assessment via eye-tracking

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Graduate Student Roundtable Showcase (Table 2)

Abstract

Heritage language learning has been a burgeoning area for bilingualism, multilingualism, and social justice, yet heritage language (HL) assessment has been far less explored. Three main areas in HL assessment are understudied: HL assessment validation (Kondo-Brown, 2021), HL assessment validation studies in languages beyond Spanish (Kondo-Brown, 2021), and young heritage language testtakers' perspectives (Jegerski & Sekerina, 2021). The purpose of the study is to address these research gaps through rigorous empirical investigation to reveal young (7-12 years old) Mandarin heritage language learners test-taking perspectives, strategies, behavior, and cognitive processes. We address how beginner and advanced MHLLs differ in their eye-tracking patterns when taking the Children’s Chinese Competency Certification (CCCC) reading assessment, and how cognitive processes between each group differ during the assessment.

Author

• Chia-Hsin Yin, The Ohio State University