The implications of language attrition for dynamic systems theory: Next steps and consequences

Herdina, Philip; Jessner, Ulrike

doi:10.1177/1367006912454625

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…With the recognition that complexity perspectives can serve “both as a useful heuristic and an integrative platform” (Vallacher & Nowak, , p. 756), research in applied linguistics is now moving beyond the purely metaphorical use of complexity principles to the development and empirical application of complexity models (de Bot, ; Verspoor, de Bot, & Lowie, ). While interest in complexity conceptualizations of SLA phenomena is far from uniform, two areas where footholds are now firmly established are motivation (e.g., Dörnyei, ; Dörnyei et al, ) and multilingualism (e.g., Aronin & Jessner, ; Jessner, , ; Herdina & Jessner, ).…”

Section: Complexity Theories and Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are good reasons why people working with motivation and multilingualism are finding complexity approaches appealing. While motivation researchers are faced with the task of investigating a phenomenon that by nature is “dynamic and changeable” (Waninge, Dörnyei, & de Bot, , p. 704), and where “the common experience would seem to be motivational flux rather than stability” (Dörnyei, , p. 46), for those researching multilingualism the level of complexity inherent in the multitude of interactions between different language systems “renders conventional approaches to L1 and L2 acquisition ineffective” (Herdina & Jessner, , p. 755).…”

Section: Complexity Theories and Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Embracing complexity perspectives requires a restructuring of the way that language acquisition processes are conceptualized (de Bot, , ). A challenge common for researchers in both fields where focal phenomena continually “wax and wane depending on environmental demands” (Herdina & Jessner, , p. 754) is to develop designs and methodologies that can capture the constant variation characteristic of the systems they investigate (Hiver & Al‐Hoorie, ). While an eclectic range of Complex Dynamic Systems (CDS) principles has been drawn upon, some have been found to offer particularly “meaningful and valid mappings on to the problem spaces” of the respective fields (Larsen–Freeman & Cameron, , p. 25).…”

Section: Complexity Theories and Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

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L2 Motivation and Multilingual Identities

Henry

2017

The Modern Language Journal

161

132

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By tradition, L2 motivation research has a monolingual bias – the motivational systems of a learner's different languages conceptualized as separate entities rather than as cognitively interconnected. At a time when multilingualism has become a new world order (Douglas Fir Group, ) and where there is evidence of powerful identity experiences connected to speaking several languages (Pavlenko, ) this is unfortunate. In alignment with the multilingual and dynamic turns in SLA (de Bot, ; May, ), and adopting a complexity thought modeling approach (Larsen–Freeman & Cameron, ), this article explores multilingual learners’ L2 motivation. It is suggested that the motivational systems of a multilingual learner's different languages can be understood as constituting a higher‐level multilingual motivational self system that is part of an ecology of interconnected and interpenetrating systems. This system contains multilingual self guides, one of which is the ideal multilingual self. Drawing on construal‐level theory (Trope & Liberman, ), the manner and effects of mental representations of an ideal multilingual self are assessed. Finally, it is suggested that motivation deriving from a broader identity that encompasses but, in important ways, transcends a multilingual person's language‐specific identities has a central role to play in multilingual education.

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Section: Complexity Theories and Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Complexity Theories and Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Complexity Theories and Emergencementioning

confidence: 99%

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L2 Motivation and Multilingual Identities

Henry

2017

The Modern Language Journal

161

132

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“…We do not know of any studies of phonological recovery/improvement with re-exposure to target-like forms (as has been found for grammatical phenomena, e.g. Chamorro, Sorace & Sturt, 2016 on subject pronouns), however, it has been proposed that once re-immersed in the L1 environment, speakers would gradually become re-tuned to the non-migrant variant of the L1 (Herdina & Jessner, 2013). Whether this is indeed true, and how long this process of re-adaptation would take, is a matter for future research.…”

Section: Effects Of Attrition On the Native Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

17. First language attrition and contact linguistics

Schmid¹,

Yılmaz²

2019

Handbücher Zur Sprach- Und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK)

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Language attrition research investigates the process of change or deterioration of knowledge in a language that has previously been acquired by an individual: When speakers change their linguistic environment, they often undergo attrition partly through interference from the dominant contact language (externally induced), and partly through reduced accessibility due to non-use (internally induced). Similarly, growing contact with the dominant language can eventually result in change of either form or function in the language of a society and, in extreme cases, lead to language shift and loss over time. As such, attrition research describes the incipient stages of potential wider, contact-induced language change and thus can provide valuable insight for questions in the field of contact linguistics such as maintenance and loss of languages at the societal level and across generations and the nature of very early stages of contactinduced language change. The aim of this chapter is to provide a selective overview of previous research on first language (L1) attrition in order to demonstrate its relevance for explanations of contact-induced language change at the societal and intergenerational level.

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“…It remains an open question, however, how much of this school-learned foreign language knowledge, proficiency and skills is retained later in life. In general, the phenomenon of foreign language attrition is still underresearched (Herdina & Jessner, 2013;Mehotcheva, 2010), and research on the attrition of more than one (foreign) language within the individual is virtually nonexistent to date.…”

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confidence: 99%

The attrition of school-learned foreign languages: A multilingual perspective

Jessner

Oberhofer

Megens

2020

Applied Psycholinguistics

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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 speaking skills in one of their foreign languages had improved were correct in their self-assessment, but the degree to which the remaining subjects felt their speaking skills had deteriorated was not reflected in their productions.

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The implications of language attrition for dynamic systems theory: Next steps and consequences

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

L2 Motivation and Multilingual Identities

L2 Motivation and Multilingual Identities

17. First language attrition and contact linguistics

The attrition of school-learned foreign languages: A multilingual perspective

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