Heritage Spanish in Montreal: An Analysis of Clitics in Spontaneous Production Data

This study investigates clitic use in adult heritage speakers (HL speakers) of Spanish, with French as their dominant language. We conducted an exploratory case study using spontaneous production data from HL speakers of Spanish and first-generation Spanish immigrants living in Montreal, Canada. Data were collected through two guided production tasks, one oral and one written, to account for task-induced performance variations. Our analysis focused on clitic production, omission, function, optionality, and grammaticality. The findings reveal both similarities and differences compared to monolingual native Spanish speakers, highlighting a broad range of clitic structures produced by all participants and a potential tendency among HL speakers to favour fixed choices in optional structures. This study provides valuable insights into the production patterns of clitics in adult HL speakers of Spanish with French as their dominant language, contributing to our understanding of bilingual grammar.