An investigation of heritage language speakers of Turkish: evidentiality processing and the effects of language experience

This dissertation analyses the evidentiality processing of Turkish heritage language speakers grew up in English-dominant Australia, whose Turkish proficiencies show divergences from baseline norms and are shaped by the language experience factors. Particular attention was paid to their online and offline sentence processing and how these factors, namely heritage language exposure/use during childhood and adulthood, schooling, reading skills, print exposure, crosslinguistic-influences, defined their performance and competence. Their processing was compared to a group of Türkiye-born second language learners of English, emigrant speakers. This project has implications for expanding the heritage language speakers’ linguistic framework and improving heritage language education policies.