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Abstract
Background and Context
Application of Innovative Methodologies
Future Directions in Language Attrition Research
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Languages and Linguistics
Language Acquisition

Guest editorial Language attrition a comprehensive introduction

Profile image of Anastasia N SorokinaAnastasia N Sorokina

2024, Guest editorial Language attrition a comprehensive introduction

https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2024.2307641
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Abstract

This co-authored guest editorial serves as an introduction to a special issue on L1 attrition in the Language Learning Journal (2024) by providing a comprehensive overview of the L1 attrition field.

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Between-language competition as a driving force in foreign language attrition
Kristin Lemhöfer

Cognition, 2020

Research in the domain of memory suggests that forgetting is primarily driven by interference and competition from other, related memories. Here we ask whether similar dynamics are at play in foreign language (FL) attrition. We tested whether interference from translation equivalents in other, more recently used languages causes subsequent retrieval failure in L3. In Experiment 1, we investigated whether interference from the native language (L1) and/or from another foreign language (L2) affected L3 vocabulary retention. On day 1, Dutch native speakers learned 40 new Spanish (L3) words. On day 2, they performed a number of retrieval tasks in either Dutch (L1) or English (L2) on half of these words, and then memory for all items was tested again in L3 Spanish. Recall in Spanish was slower and less complete for words that received interference than for words that did not. In naming speed, this effect was larger for L2 compared to L1 interference. Experiment 2 replicated the interference effect and asked if the language difference can be explained by frequency of use differences between native-and non-native languages. Overall, these findings suggest that competition from more recently used languages, and especially other foreign languages, is a driving force behind FL attrition.

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I Thought I Forgot about it: A Case Study in Attrition of English Grammar and Reading Comprehension
Prof. Thamer Alharthi

International Journal of Linguistics, 2016

The purpose of the present study was to investigate foreign language attrition in Saudi Arabia. It focused on the attrition of English grammar and reading comprehension of university students whose formal learning of English had ceased between one and four years prior to the study. The participants were non-English major Saudi undergraduate female students at a Saudi university who had completed an English course in order to fulfill college requirements. The study adopted the kind of design commonly used in language attrition studies, i.e. a combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches. Various measurements of L2 attrition were conducted, including tests, questionnaires, and can-do scales. The findings suggest that (1) attrition due to ack of use of English did occur, (2) attrition sets in quickly and then levels off after four years of non-use, (3) reading comprehension is more vulnerable to attrition than grammar, and (4) no significant differences between participants were found due to the length of time English had not been used.

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Types and Hypotheses of Language Attrition
Rabia Zouaghi

TESOL Arabia , 2016

The phenomenon of language attrition has been an issue of interest to researchers within the field of applied linguistics. This paper aims to examine what is meant by language attrition, whether it is language modification, shift, or simply loss. This paper also highlights four language attrition types: (1) loss of L1 in L1 environment; (2) loss of L1 in L2 environment; (3) loss of L2 in L1 environment; and (4) loss of L2 in L2 environment. Furthermore, the paper sheds light on the key hypotheses that attempt to explain how language is lost: the regression hypothesis, the activation threshold hypothesis, and the inter-language or interference hypothesis.

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Lexical Attrition in Multilingual Language Learners
Lilik Ulfiati

JELT (Jambi-English Language Teaching), 2022

Multilingual language learners are facing various challenges of language attrition, both internally and externally. Lexical attrition is one of phenomena experienced by the learners since they can no longer do something which s/he had previously been able to do, and this loss of proficiency is not caused by a deterioration of the brain due to age, illness or injury, but by a change in linguistic behaviour due to a severance of the contact with the community in which the language is spoken(Smith, 2017). This article is trying to capture the studies of lexical attrition in the multilingual contexts and suggest several improvement strategies in experiencing the lexical attrition. This study is using content analysis to explore existing literature on lexical attrition in multilingual language learners over the last ten years. A summary of more than seventeen is provided along with the content analysis.The finding of these studies gives a significant contribution to the field of language attrition that focuses on practical analysis in learners or speakers points of view in the multilingual context. It shows that the limitation of understanding on lexical attrition concept from the local authorities in many educationalsettings have resulted in less efficient and effective language maintenance.

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First Language Attrition and Second Language Acquisition in a Second Language Environment.
Conny Opitz

2011

Taking a dynamic, multi-competence view of bilingualism, this thesis is concerned with the outcomes of the parallel processes of first language maintenance and second language acquisition in adult bilinguals placed in a second language environment. In a mixed between-group/within-group design, 27 German late bilinguals resident in Ireland (mean LOR = 19.5 years), and two matching control groups of 18 Irish and 20 German L2 users were tested on an extensive test battery of parallel German and English language tests, which also comprised a linguistic aptitude test and sociolinguistic questionnaires. The thesis presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the proficiency data from the between-group attrition and attainment studies on measures of complexity, accuracy and fluency. Results indicate that the bilingual group performs both similarly and dissimilarly to the respective control groups, though the group differences are larger in the attainment study. There is large inter-individual variability across all three groups, but it is most pronounced in the bilingual group, where in both studies some participants perform outside the native-speaker range provided by the control groups. There is thus evidence of both L1 attrition and native-like (as measured by this test battery) L2 attainment. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge in distinct linguistic subfields, by drawing together perspectives from L1 attrition, L2 acquisition and dynamic approaches to bilingualism.

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When does second language learning lead to first language attrition?
Norbert Francis

Communication & Cognition, 2023

Nowhere is the discussion on the relationship between competence and performance more interesting than in the research on bilingualism. Fortuitously, it is in this field of language acquisition and language learning where proponents of both Universal Grammar and Usage-Based approaches have found space for discussion on a number of language contact phenomena. This dialogue parallels a similar coincidence in the study of literacy learning. On this point, a new proposal for research on second language learning and first language attrition appears to fundamentally redefine basic concepts in the field. This response counters that future research will be best served by continuing to apply current conceptions until the discussion of research findings presents a new framework. In addition, a better understanding of language attrition will benefit from an exchange among researchers who work within the framework of different theoretical models. In the end, the exchange will contribute to better understanding the concept of Language Faculty, beginning with an open-ended discussion.

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The Role of Language Aptitude in First Language Attrition: The Case of Prepubescent Attriters
Kenneth Hyltenstam

Applied Linguistics, 2010

While language aptitude has been investigated actively within second language research, there is a current dearth of research on the effects of aptitude in cases of attrition. The aim of the present investigation was to explore the role of language aptitude for L1 proficiency in speakers who experienced a break with their L1 setting prior to puberty. Twenty-five L1 Spanish-L2 Swedish bilinguals residing in Sweden participated in the study, and 15 native speakers of Spanish living in Chile were recruited as controls. The L1 proficiency was measured by means of a grammaticality judgement test (GJT) and language aptitude data were obtained through the Swansea Language Aptitude Test . Results showed a positive correlation between GJT performance and language aptitude. More specifically, the bilinguals with above-average aptitude were more likely to score within the native range on the GJT than those with below-average aptitude. It was also seen that among the participants with below-average aptitude, GJT scores were related to daily L1 use. In view of these findings, we suggest that language aptitude has a compensatory function in language attrition, helping the attriter to retain a high level of L1 proficiency despite reduced L1 contact.

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L1 attrition in an L2 environment
Aglaia-Dimitra Tziafalia

2011

The main focus of this study was on finding out whether first language attrition can be observed in adults after they have migrated to a country where a language other than their original is spoken. For this purpose a 35 year--old Russian woman (E) was chosen, who migrated to Germany when she was 18 years old and has lived there ever since.

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The attrition of French as a foreign language
Bert Weltens

Studies on Language Acquisition, 1989

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First Language Attrition in the Native Environment
Boikanyego Sebina

2014

First language (L1) attrition is the disintegration of a first language as a result of second language domination. Even though L1 attrition literature on adult immigrants is abundant, little is known of people going through attrition in the native environment, particularly children. Similarly, though there is rich literature on other linguistic elements there is not much on phonetics and phonology. This paper argues for L1 attrition in the native environment by children who attend private English-medium schools for whom English is a dominant language, a language they acquired as a second language, like those in Botswana. The language situation in Botswana where English is afforded the high and prestigious status immensely contributes to the situation. In addition to reviewing literature on L1 attrition in phonetics, the paper offers an overview discussion of the language situation in Botswana as well as the Setswana penultimate syllable, a phonetic element from which L1 attrition ca...

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Language attrition refers to a gradual reduction or loss of linguistic knowledge and skills in an individual. It is defined as "the non-pathological decrease in proficiency in a language that had previously been acquired by an individual" (Kopke & Schmid, 2004, p. 3). This definition accurately captures the meaning of the term as it is currently used in the field, and the use of the word "non-pathological" illustrates that the decline in proficiency is caused not by illness nor by deterioration of or damage to the brain, but rather by a change in one's contact with the language(s) in question. This definition also makes it clear that the attrition phenomenon takes place in an individual, rather than in groups or speech communities.

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Foreign Language Retention and Attrition: A Study of Regression Models
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This article discusses current perspectives on foreign language loss and offers a reinterpretation of regressionist theories of attrition in which last-presented FL material is predicted to deteriorate first. Before reporting the results of asmall-scalestudy of the retention and loss of Spanish among college undergraduates, the author describes a processing model of FL maintenance which holds that FL material having cognitive associations i s most likely to be retained. Results of the investigation, whichprovide evidence for a processing view, are then discussed with respect to developing a more widely-based research paradigm. The State of Foreign Language Attrition Research The field of language retention and loss has received a great deal of attention in the research literature and has given rise to several interesting theories regarding the dynamics of attrition, the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors it involves, and the conditions under which it is most likely to set in. Unfortunately, as Weltens (26) has pointed out, most current hypotheses concerning this process can do little more than provide descriptions of patterns in the research data. The regression hypothesis, first advanced by Jakobson (lo), has nevertheless enjoyed some empirical support and has given rise to several theoretical models which could lead to a deeper knowledge of the psychological underpinnings

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In the vast body of research on language learning, there is still surprisingly little work on the attrition or retention of second/foreign languages, particularly in multilinguals, once learning and/or use of these languages ceases. The present study focuses on foreign language attrition and examines lexical diversity and (dis)fluency in the oral productions of 114 multilingual young adults, first language German speakers who learned English as their first (FL1) and French or Italian as their second foreign language (FL2), shortly before and approximately 16 months after graduation from upper secondary school. The level of foreign language use after graduation was found to have a noticeable impact on the measured change in output quality in the FL2, but only little in the FL1, where participants’ initial proficiency was considerably higher. The amount of use in the FL1 had no visible connection with attrition/maintenance in a rarely used FL2. Those participants who felt their speaki...

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