native speaker
Enable an agent to describe and assess a person's native-speaker relationship to a particular language or variety without confusing acquisition history, current proficiency, identity or institutional eligibility.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 17 findings · 35 questions
Language relationship Identifies whose relationship to which language is being described and what native means in context.
Language and variety
Locates the designation at the appropriate language or variety boundary.
Target of designation
Record the language or variety named in the designation, including signed languages and unresolved naming boundaries.
- Which spoken or signed language, and which variety if relevant, does the native-speaker designation concern? definition
- Does the evidence concern this variety specifically, or only a broader language label? boundary
Operative definition
Makes the meaning of native-speaker status explicit for the setting.
Classification criteria
Record whether the designation rests on early acquisition, identity, community recognition or an institution's stated criteria.
- What definition of native speaker is being applied in this setting? definition
- Who supplied that definition, and where is it documented? provenance
- Would another relevant definition classify the same history differently? boundary
Early language acquisition Captures the timing and interactional settings through which the language entered the person's life.
Onset and interaction
Records when sustained exposure began and what participation it involved.
Early acquisition history
Record approximate onset, interlocutors and opportunities for understanding and producing the language, allowing incomplete recall.
- At what age or during which developmental period did sustained interaction in this language begin? measurement
- With whom and in which settings did the person understand, speak or sign the language? provenance
- Was exposure interactive, primarily receptive or too poorly documented to distinguish? boundary
Multilingual development
Represents overlapping acquisition histories and interruptions.
Acquisition sequence and continuity
Record other languages acquired during childhood and periods that substantially changed access or use.
- Which languages were acquired concurrently or sequentially during childhood? provenance
- When did household, schooling or community changes interrupt or expand use of this language? measurement
- Does the stated definition allow more than one native language for this history? definition
Present language repertoire Separates current abilities and patterns of use from early acquisition.
Abilities by activity
Describes what the person can currently do in the target language.
Uneven ability profile
Record comprehension, production, interaction and applicable literacy separately, with register and assessment context.
- What current evidence describes comprehension, production and interaction in the target language? measurement
- Which literacy, formal-register or specialist abilities have been assessed separately? measurement
- Which abilities remain unknown despite the native-speaker designation? boundary
Use and dominance
Tracks present language use and changes relative to other languages.
Current language position
Record where the language is used now and whether its accessibility or relative dominance has changed.
- In which household, social, educational or work settings is the language currently used? measurement
- Has another language become more frequently used or more accessible, and on what evidence? provenance
- What reassessment is needed before relying on older ability evidence? action
Identity and attribution Distinguishes a person's own language identification from labels assigned by others.
Self-description
Preserves the person's own terminology and its intended meaning.
Language self-identification
Record whether and how the person uses native language, first language, mother tongue or another term without automatically equating them.
- How does the person describe their relationship to this language? provenance
- Does their chosen term refer to acquisition, family affiliation, belonging, strongest language or a combination? definition
External designation
Records classifications made by communities, researchers or institutions.
Attribution and disagreement
Attach each external designation to its author, criteria and context, retaining conflicts with self-description.
- Who assigns or disputes native-speaker status, and what evidence or criteria do they cite? provenance
- Is the attribution based on language history or on proxies such as accent, nationality or ancestry? boundary
- How should conflicting designations remain visible without silently selecting one as definitive? action
Evidence and permitted inference Connects documented language history to defensible assessments and task decisions.
History evidence
Qualifies the evidence supporting acquisition and status claims.
Claim support and gaps
Distinguish self-report, family recollection, records and assessment results according to the particular claims they can support.
- Which source supports each claim about acquisition timing, exposure and continuity? provenance
- Which details are approximate, contradictory or unavailable? measurement
- Does an assessment demonstrate present ability while leaving acquisition history unresolved? boundary
Task-specific use
Limits operational conclusions to evidence relevant to the proposed activity.
Decision relevance
Determine whether a task requires early acquisition history, present language ability, community knowledge or a separate professional qualification.
- What property does the proposed task actually require, and why is native-speaker status relevant to it? action
- What direct ability evidence or professional qualification is needed before assigning the task? action
- Would using this designation incorrectly imply expertise across varieties, registers or all members of a language community? boundary
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of native speaker this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- SOC
- Domain
- SOC.PER
What it is Filled
A native speaker of a language is a person who acquired it through ordinary social interaction in early childhood, although the category's boundaries and its relationship to proficiency and identity are contested.
In scope
- The person-language or person-variety relationship to which native-speaker status refers
- Early acquisition environments, timing and continuity of exposure
- Multiple native languages and changes in language dominance
- Current abilities and use, recorded separately from acquisition status
- Self-identification, external attribution and context-specific definitions
- Evidence and decision limits when native-speaker status is used
Out of scope
- The person's complete biography, nationality, ethnicity or citizenship
- The grammar, history and classification of the language itself
- Complete proficiency assessment instruments and scoring systems
- Teaching, translation or interpreting occupations and their qualifications
- Employment policies, legal eligibility rules and discrimination adjudication
- Clinical diagnosis of language, speech or hearing conditions
Why it exists Filled
Enable an agent to describe and assess a person's native-speaker relationship to a particular language or variety without confusing acquisition history, current proficiency, identity or institutional eligibility.
Distinguishing features Filled
- The designation concerns a person in relation to a specified language or variety; it is not a freestanding property that applies equally to all languages the person uses.
- Early acquisition history is relevant to the designation; a high proficiency score alone does not establish that history.
- Nationality, ancestry, residence and accent alone do not establish native-speaker status.
- A person may have more than one native language, and the strongest current language need not be the earliest acquired.
- Native-speaker status does not by itself establish literacy, specialist vocabulary, teaching competence or translation qualifications.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Label a person a native or non-native speaker from their accent or name.
- Use native-speaker status to screen people out of jobs or housing.
- Treat a native speaker as an authority on every question about their language.
- Mock accents or ways of speaking.
Only with a human decision
- Using language background in any decision about a person.
May
- Describe the concept of native speaker and debates about it from linguistic sources.
- Record a user's own statement of their first languages when they choose to share it.
Moral aspects Filled
- Job adverts demanding native speakers can exclude qualified people and hide discrimination by origin.
- Language is tied to identity; labels can erase multilingual people.
Who is affected
- Language learners
- Migrants and multilingual people
- Language teachers
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody: it is a description of people, not an owned thing.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q16657634 - registry parent class
- Q2324479 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.native-speaker
- Wikidata: Q924130 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q924130)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Target language or variety: Reference to a named spoken or signed language or variety; unresolved boundaries recorded explicitly
- Acquisition onset: Age or age interval in years or months, with uncertainty; unknown permitted
- Early acquisition environment: Household interaction, community interaction, early education, other, mixed or unknown
- Acquisition trajectory: Single-language early acquisition, simultaneous multilingual acquisition, sequential acquisition, unresolved
- Exposure continuity: Continuous, intermittent, substantially interrupted, resumed or unknown, with relevant periods
- Current ability profile: Dated observations or assessments by comprehension, production, interaction and literacy where applicable
- Current language dominance: Relative strength or use among the person's languages, qualified by domain and date; unknown permitted
- Status attribution: Person or institution asserting the designation, their definition, context and date
- Status resolution: Supported under a stated definition, self-reported only, disputed, unresolved or not applicable under that definition
Plane SOC: no invented physical properties.
Recognition not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Native-speaker status concerns language acquisition history and cannot be established from visual appearance.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Record a qualified native-speaker designation for a specified language or variety.
- Compare an acquisition history with an explicitly stated definition and identify missing evidence.
- Represent multiple native languages and changes in dominance without overwriting earlier history.
- Identify which current abilities require direct assessment for a proposed task.
- Flag unsupported inferences from accent, nationality, ancestry or native-speaker status.
- Preserve conflicting self-descriptions and institutional classifications with their provenance.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- The label can be used as a proxy for discrimination by nationality or ethnicity.
- Assuming native intuition is always correct can mislead research.
Standards and interfaces not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
No universal official classification or standard establishes native-speaker status across languages and institutions.
Context of use required Filled
- The term native speaker is used in linguistics, language education and descriptions of personal language history.
- It can describe early language acquisition, but does not by itself establish current proficiency, literacy or teaching ability.
- Careful use distinguishes acquisition history from identity and any separately defined institutional eligibility criteria.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q924130: native speaker - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Native speaker - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which definition of native speaker should govern this registry entry, and how should competing scholarly and community definitions be represented?
- How should early receptive bilingualism, interrupted childhood acquisition and later reclamation affect classification under the chosen definition?
- Which distinctions among native language, first language, mother tongue and heritage language are necessary across the communities using this model?
- How should the model accommodate signed-language acquisition histories, including delayed access to an accessible first language?
- What minimum evidence is appropriate for each intended use, and when should the model leave status unresolved?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q924130/spec.json