First Language Attrition: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and What It Can Be

Abstract

This review aims at clarifying the concept of first language attrition by tracing its limits, identifying its phenomenological and contextual constraints, discussing controversies associated with its definition, and suggesting potential directions for future research. We start by reviewing different definitions of attrition as well as associated inconsistencies. We then discuss the underlying mechanisms of first language attrition and review available evidence supporting different background hypotheses. Finally, we attempt to provide the groundwork to build a unified theoretical framework allowing for generalizable results. To this end, we suggest the deployment of a rigorous neuroscientific approach, in search of neural markers of first language attrition in different linguistic domains, putting forward hypothetical experimental ways to identify attrition’s neural traces and formulating predictions for each of the proposed experimental paradigms.

Network science reveals the early signs of L1 lexical attrition: Introducing the Lexical Attrition Foundation (LeAF) framework

“…Still, neither response counts nor time-course analyses are informative about the structure of the semantic system, which is believed to be a significant contributor to lexical attrition (see discussion in Gallo et al, 2021). Differences between monolinguals and potentially attrited bilinguals may arise from variations in the connectivity of words at different representational levels or from discrepancies in the system's overall efficiency.…”

“…This and other similar phenomena encompassing impaired accessibility to or the modification of the native language after substantial exposure to an L2 are commonly known as first language (L1) attrition (Schmid & Köpke, 2009. Traditionally, LEXICAL ATTRITION in particular has attracted researchers' attention, likely because of the prevalence of word usage difficulties, which are commonly observed in bilinguals experiencing L1 attrition (Gallo et al, 2021;Jarvis, 2019;Schmid & Jarvis, 2014).…”

Longitudinal study of phonetic drift in L1 speech of late Czech-French bilinguals

“…The effect of an L2 influence on the L1 is often referred to by a wide range of terms where three of them are the most common (Gallo et al, 2021;Köpke, 2004): a first language attrition, a cross-linguistic influence (CLI) and a phonetic drift. The first language attrition is commonly associated with a non-pathological and non-ageing effect of changes in L1 of a late bilingual resulting from a long-term immersion into an L2 environment (Köpke & Schmid, 2004;Kornder & Mennen, 2021).…”

Contatto Tra Italiano E Spagnolo in Contesto Migratorio: Il Ruolo Dei Segnali Discorsivi

“…Si tratterebbe di scelte operate dall'individuo non a livello strategico ma inconscio, facendo dunque leva su dinamiche di tipo cognitivo (Matras, 1998;, che muovono verso un principio universale riconducibile a quello del minimo sforzo, intrinseco in ambito acquisizionale e, dunque, anche estendibile a una prospettiva contattologica (vd. Chini, 2005;Gallo et al, 2021). La selezione di specifici SD legati a un certo codice, non in ultimo, può dipendere dalle dinamiche socio-pragmatiche attivate dal contesto comunicativo, per cui gli heritage speakers ricorrerebbero all'uso di SD non nativi nell'ambito di un frame più formale, in situazioni di maggiore distanza gerarchica fra attanti, mentre un contesto più informale e una maggiore prossimità, soprattutto emotiva e in termini di affiliazione sociale e identitaria con i propri interlocutori, innescherebbero l'uso più frequente di SD in lingua nativa (vd.…”