The factor attitude is generally considered to be among the most influential for first language (L1) attrition. Nevertheless, empirical validations have proven difficult to establish. While some studies could not find clear links between measures of attitude and L1 attrition (Hulsen, 2000; Yağmur, 1997), others showed that attitudes generated from exceptional life events strongly influenced attrition (Schmid, 2002) and that pragmatic vs. ideological motivation to emigrate and ensuing attitudes were clearly linked to L1 attrition (Ben-Rafael & Schmid, 2007). A closer examination of these studies yields a noteworthy pattern: those studies that relied on questionnaires (Hulsen, 2000, Yağmur, 1997) seemed to find no straight correlations between attitude and L1 performance, while the studies that used interviews (Ben-Rafael & Schmid, 2007; Schmid, 2002) established a clearer link between the two. The present study explores the impact of attitude – as measured through both questionnaires and interviews – on L1 attrition and second language (L2) proficiency. The quantitative analysis revealed partially significant results, thus suggesting that the factor attitude would have a limited impact on L1 attrition. Individual qualitative analyses, on the other hand, revealed important links between attitudes and the migrants’ language proficiency profiles. The article argues for a combination of methodological approaches in the study of L1 attrition and underlines the idea that individual-level analyses are well suited to capture the non-linearity of attitude and its impact on L1 attrition. These conclusions fit well with a Dynamic Systems Theory perspective in relation to the constant flux of attitude perceptions and their unpredictable role in attrition (de Bot, Lowie & Verspoor, 2007).

At the heart of most investigations into language attrition are the actual linguistic manifestations of the process: observable phenomena of how a particular individual uses or comprehends language differently after becoming bilingual from how they used or comprehended it in the past, or from how other monolingual speakers do this. This chapter gives a brief introduction to how research into these phenomena has unfolded and developed historically, and also presents a ‘sneak preview’ to some aspects of ongoing research, particularly in the area of phonetics/phonology and lexical access. It then introduces the contributions to the present section.

One of the most puzzling explanatory challenges to language attrition research is to identify the circumstances and predictors under which any particular speaker is likely to experience more or less attrition phenomena: it is a well-established finding that speakers who use more than one language in their daily lives develop increased variability concerning their first language (L1) skills across the full range of the linguistic repertoire, from phonetics through the lexicon and morphosyntax to pragmatics and beyond. However, the search for predictive factors—those features of an individual’s personal background, language habits and experience, and attitudes and motivation which may contribute to making someone a good vs. a poor L1 maintainer—has, to date, been largely inconclusive. This chapter provides a brief overview of the available research and sketches some open questions, before introducing the contributions to the present section.

This volume is the first handbook dedicated to language attrition, the study of how a speaker’s language may be affected by cross-linguistic interference and non-use. The effects of language attrition can be felt in all aspects of language knowledge, processing, and production, and can offer unique insights into the mind of bilingual language users. In this book, international experts in the field explore a comprehensive range of topics in language attrition, examining its theoretical implications, psycho- and neurolinguistic approaches, linguistic and extralinguistic factors, second language (L2) attrition, and heritage languages. The chapters summarize current research and draw on insights from related fields such as child language development, language contact, language change, pathological developments, and second language acquisition.

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