Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). Original ArticleWith the advent of Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, same-sex marriages are legal across the United States, and in some states, same-sex marriages and other governmentally recognized unions were legal several years prior. Levels and patterns of the stability of this relatively new type of union are not well understood. While some studies have shown that samesex unions are at higher risk of dissolution compared to malefemale unions, others have found similar dissolution rates for same-sex and male-female unions. A common finding across the literature, however, is that female-female unions in particular are less stable than their male-male or male-female counterparts. It is unclear, however, whether this gendered difference in union stability is found for both cohabiting and formalized unions (i.e., marriage, domestic partnership, or civil union). Additionally, the mechanisms underlying the relative instability of female-female unions remain unexplained.This article seeks to compare the stability of male-male, female-female, and male-female couples in both cohabitational and formalized unions, exploring the interaction effects between the gender composition and the formal union status of couples. While the literature on this topic has divergent findings, each study has approached this issue in a slightly different way, some investigating only cohabitational unions or only formal unions and some considering same-sex couples as a single group rather than separating male-male and female-female unions, for example. Using recent longitudinal data from coupled individuals, we separate male-male, female-female, and male-female couples as well as cohabitational and formalized unions to provide an understanding of similarities and differences in stability between couple types. We find that all cohabitational unions experience the same risk of union dissolution and that all formalized unions have a lower risk of dissolution compared to their cohabitational peers. However, we find that formalized female-female unions have higher risk of union dissolution compared to formalized male-male and male-female unions. This article also seeks to shed light on mechanisms that drive this difference in stability. AbstractFindings on comparative couple stability between same-sex and male-female unions vary, with some studies finding similar dissolution rates among same-sex and male-female unions and others finding higher rates of dissolution among same-sex unions. The authors extend previous research by examining the association between gender composition of couples and dissolution patte...

This study analyzes the choices that heritage language (HL) learners make when enrolling in language courses at community colleges. Data from the Students and Instructors of Languages at Community Colleges (SILCC) Surveys, a nationwide survey with 1,756 students taking language courses at 101 community colleges across 33 states in the U.S., show that as many as 42.2% of community college students in modern language classrooms are identified as HL speakers. Surprisingly, more than half of these HL speakers are studying a language other than their own HL despite their prior linguistic knowledge, cultural familiarity, and familial ties with their HL. This paper evaluates a few possible explanations why a large proportion of HL speakers are opting to learn a new, third language. Building upon prior research and current data, we discuss differences in linguistic backgrounds, demographics, motivational attributes, and academic goals between HL learners studying their own HL and those studying a new language.

No abstract

No abstract

This article presents and analyzes instructor data from the Students and Instructors of Languages at Community Colleges (SILCC) Survey. The SILCC Survey was designed to collect data from language professionals teaching at community colleges (CCs) on the specific challenges, opportunities, and potential areas of growth in their field. Results from 140 instructor responses in 101 CCs in 33 U.S. states are used to document the current state of teaching and learning of modern languages at CCs through a systematic survey procedure. The data on modern language instruction at CCs, a segment of the U.S. educational system underrepresented in scholarly discussions in the field of modern language, shows both strengths and areas in need of improvement.