Attrition of Vocabulary Knowledge

Weltens, Bert; Grendel, Marjon

doi:10.1075/sibil.6.08wel

Cited by 61 publications

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“…Previous research on FL attrition includes works by Cohen (1989), Gardner (1985, Nakuma (1997), Starren (1998), Weltens, van Els andSchils (1989), Weltens and Grendel (1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, there is need to confirm the validity of the existing findings since they are based on a very limited number of studies and target languages. Second, there is still a great deal to be discovered about the governing principles of FL attrition and third, it The main findings in the field so far can be grouped as follows:• productive skills are more vulnerable to attrition than receptive ones (Hakuta & D'Andrea, 1992;Weltens, 1988;Weltens & Grendel, 1993) -the authors did not find signs of attrition in receptive lexical knowledge and concluded that recall is much more challenging than recognition and should be the focus of future studies (see the work byHansen (2011) on receptive vs. productive lexical knowledge in L2 attrition);• attrition seems to set in rapidly and then level off (Bahrick, 1984a;Weltens, 1988) -more attrition was found in initial periods (0-3 years) of non-use than in ensuing ones (5-25 years);• time alone is not enough for a language to attrite (Murtagh, 2003;Weltens, 1988) -attrition does not occur only as a function of time of attrition;• attrition is not a linear process (Mehotcheva, 2010;Taura, 2008) -the length of the incubation period does not predict the amount of loss;• initial proficiency (Harley, 1993;Mehotcheva, 2010;Murtagh, 2003;Weltens, 1988), course grades and number of courses taken (Bahrick, 1984a) might be predictors of attrition/retention -higher initial proficiency, higher course grades and higher number of courses were associated with better retention of the language;• once a language is sufficiently established/entrenched, it becomes impervious to deterioration (Bahrick, 1984a, b;Mehotcheva, 2010) (it is unclear to what extent this is linked to proficiency level vs. amount of rehearsal);• rehearsal during the attrition period is not a sufficient factor to prevent attrition (Bahrick, 1984;Mehotcheva, 2010;Xu, 2010).It should be noted that generalizing the findings from the earlier FL studies to the present context might be problematic, as foreign language teaching, learning and use have changed considerably over the last two decades. This implies the necessity for FL studies to take into account the characteristics of the language teaching and learning method used at the time of study.…”

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Foreign language attrition

Schmid

Mehotcheva²

2012

DuJAL

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The present contribution discusses recent developments and future directions in the attrition of instructed foreign languages, arguing for a distinction between this type of attrition and attrition involving second languages acquired implicitly in an immersion setting. An overview of the history of research in the field and the most prominent findings is provided, followed by a discussion of theoretical models and methodologically problematic issues. We conclude by outlining some future directions for the field. IntroductionIt is usually taken for granted that a foreign language will be forgotten once it is no longer used or studied, regardless of whether it is a school/university acquired language or a language learned abroad. Empirical findings, however, have so far failed to validate this assumption of the inevitability of language attrition. Some studies suggest individual variation in the susceptibility to foreign language attrition, although it is not yet clear what factors cause or contribute to linguistic resilience.While interest in the phenomenon of language attrition can be traced back to as far as the 16 th century (See Berko-Gleason, 1982), it was not until the 1980s that the decrease of linguistic skills in healthy individuals over time began attracting the attention of modern linguistics. In the early years, different terms were used to refer to the same phenomenon, amongst which language attrition, language loss and language regression. However, with the development of the field it became evident that this variation caused confusion. Consequently, language loss was suggested as a cover/general term for any type of decline in linguistic skills, both at individual or group level, encompassing both language shift, an intergenerational and societal phenomenon usually associated with diglossia situations, and language attrition, an intragenerational and individual phenomenon (de Bot & Weltens, 1995:151; de Bot, 1996:579; Hansen, 2001:61). With some minor exceptions, language regression is now mainly used to denote decay in the linguistic ability of previously normally developing infants, a symptom usually associated with medical conditions such as autism or degenerative disorders of the brain (Hyltenstam & Viberg, 1994) Within the field of language attrition, a further distinction is made between L1 attrition or the attrition of a native language associated with immigrants, as in the studies of de Bot and Clyne (1994), Gürel (2004), Hulsen (2000, Dostert (2007), Opitz (2004), Seliger and Vago (1991), Schmid (2002), Schmid, Köpke, Keijzer and Weilemar (2004), Yağmur, de Bot and Kurzillus (1999), and L2/foreign language (FL) attrition, the attrition of languages acquired later in life.Traditionally, no distinction is made between L2 and FL attrition, but we shall argue that there are substantial differences between languages that are learned by instruction through explicit processes, where the learner focusses on the input, on rules etc., and naturalistically acquired L2s (for the ...

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“…Previous research on FL attrition includes works by Cohen (1989), Gardner (1985, Nakuma (1997), Starren (1998), Weltens, van Els andSchils (1989), Weltens and Grendel (1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Foreign language attrition

Schmid

Mehotcheva²

2012

DuJAL

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“…In another study which was conducted by Ebbinghaun (1885), it was indicated that in spite of the proficiency level of students being the best and clear predictor of attrition, attitude and motivation of students have indirectly influenced on attrition throughout their study. Ebbinghaun (1885, as cited in Weltens andGrendel, 1993) elaborated that there is a positive correlation between proficiency level and amount of attrition; in other words the" more you know the more you will forget". Kuhberg (1992, as cited in Kopke andSchmid, 2004) stated that educational level of subject, is also another factor playing an important role in L2 attrition studies.…”

Section: Important Variables In Attrition Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocabulary Attrition among Adult English as A Foreign Language Persian Learners

Asgari¹,

Mustapha²

2010

ELT

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This study aims to investigate the attrition rate of EFL concrete and abstract vocabulary among continuing and non-continuing Iranian female and male English language learners across different proficiency levels. They are students of a University and majored in different fields (between 20 and 25 years old). There was no treatment in this study where the researcher compared two groups on the same variables. Hence, the design of the current study is an ex-post facto design. A 40-item vocabulary test which varied across two proficiency levels are used to measure rate of vocabulary attrition as the instrument of this research. In the two stages, after an interval of three months, the students are taken the same tests. The results revealed that there was no significant difference between EFL attrition rate of abstract and concrete nouns among the continuing students across different proficiency levels. However, this hypothesis was rejected for the non-continuing learners at intermediate and advanced proficiency level. Keywords: Vocabulary attrition, Abstract and concrete nouns, Continuing and non-continuing students, Proficiency level IntroductionThe study of language attrition has recently emerged as a new field of study. The conception of loss in language skills occurred in a conference at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in 1980. This conference was dedicated to the theoretical basis of research in the field of language attrition and other related conferences that probed the process of language loss as a natural disorder from many other perspectives. Kopke (2004) stated that "attrition refers to the natural (non-pathological) loss of a language in bilinguals; generally speaking, changes in the linguistic environment and termination of an instructional program may lead to attrition"(p.15).In terms of language learning, researchers have used the same definition to develop a framework which involved divergent methods of data collection, sampling and instrumentation on language attrition in papers and publications. This taxonomical framework was the one provided by Van Els (1986, as cited in Kopke and Schimd, 2004) which was as following categories:1. L1 loss in L1 environment: Dialect loss 2. L1 loss in L2 environment: Immigrant 3. L2 loss in L1 environment: Foreign language attrition 4. L2 loss in L2 environment: Language reversion in elderly peopleThe main phases reported in the field of language attrition are the above categories as the framework has divided the field of attrition into four simple and discrete categories. But, in order to gain a better and clearer picture of the concept of attrition, other methodological issues such as the distinction between attrition in adults and children, the effect of age at the amount of attrition, the effect of age at bilingualism, the effect of gender at the amount of L2 attrition and so forth also needs to be taken into consideration. Stages in Language AttritionWeltens and Grendel (1993) suggested that in "the first stage of language attrition that it t...

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“…Rigorous investigations describing the nature of FL attrition have failed to demonstrate whether forgetting FL linguistics aspects is permanent but might in fact improve or recover after a period of no or limited use (Alharthi, 2012, Hedgcock, 1991Murtagh & der Slik, 2004Weltens & Grendel, 1993Weltens, 1989;Xu, 2010). While there seems to be a consensus that deterioration in skills or linguistic aspects is likely to occur as exposure to the FL ends, there is no widely accepted theory that accounts for the various manifestation of attrition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the amount and the rate of attrition are not uniform across different language features and skills. For example, productive skills are more prone to attrition than receptive skills (Hakuta & D'Andrea, 1992;Weltens & Grendel, 1993). In his series of investigations on the attrition of single lexical items of English among college students, Alharthi (2013Alharthi ( , 2014b concluded that attrition affects larger portions of productive vocabulary than of receptive vocabulary (see also the work by Alharthi (2015b) on recall and recognition of formulaic sequences in FL attrition).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Alharthi¹,

Al-Hassan²

2016

IJL

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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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Attrition of Vocabulary Knowledge

Cited by 61 publications

References 0 publications

Foreign language attrition

Foreign language attrition

Vocabulary Attrition among Adult English as A Foreign Language Persian Learners

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

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