Languages - Special Issue on Language Processing in Spanish Heritage Speakers

The purpose of this Special Issue is to create a forum for sharing empirical evidence on how speakers of Spanish as a Heritage Language process different types of linguistic input. Our aim is to bring together contributions from researchers who study the processing of Spanish as a Heritage Language from different theoretical perspectives, psycholinguistic paradigms, and language structures. In such a way, we want to create a unique space to gain a comprehensive insight into how speakers process their heritage language in the light of their linguistic nature, the impact of social factors, and the typology of the contact situations. 

Furthermore, we invite all scholars working on Spanish as a Heritage Language processing from any theoretical or experimental perspective to contribute to the Issue with their research. We believe that this Issue will be an important step forward in the field of psycholinguistics of heritage languages by filling an important niche currently existing in the literature.

  • We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200 words summarizing their intended contribution.
  • Please send it to both guest editors to oscar.loureda@uni-heidelberg.de and olga.ivanova@usal.es, or to Languages editorial office (languages@mdpi.com).
  • Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

The tentative completion schedule of this Special Issue is as follows:

  • Abstract Submission Deadline: 20 September 2024
  • Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 1 October 2024
  • Full Manuscript Submission: 20 April 2025
  • Notification of Full Manuscript Acceptance: 20 June 2025

Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Óscar Loureda (University of Heidelberg) & Dr. Olga Ivanova (University of Salamanca)