ABSTRACT
A growing body of research on heritage language acquisition has suggested that, for heritage speakers, the acquisition of the standard variety of their colloquial dialects is similar to learning a new language or L3. This chapter examines the proficiency in Standard Arabic (SA) that heritage Arabic speakers bring to elementary SA classrooms and its relationship to a number of linguistic, socio-affective, socio-contextual, and demographic factors. It investigates the factors that could predict heritage speakers' proficiency in SA based on their pre-college linguistic and social experiences. Proficiency in SA was found to correlate positively with proficiency in colloquial Arabic dialects (CA), linguistic input, language attitudes, ethnic identity, religious practice, and self-reported proficiency in SA. Heritage speakers are an integral part of many Arabic language programs across the United States. These learners are typically exposed to their parents' colloquial Arabic dialects early in their lives.
