The study of first language attrition: an overview

Seliger, Herbert W.; Vago, Robert M.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511620720.001

Cited by 145 publications

(72 citation statements)

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“…This view was prevalent in early research on language attrition, as for example illustrated by Seliger & Vago's (1991) model which makes reference to two types of language learner systems first proposed by Ervin & Osgood (1954): Compound Bilingualism (labelled Compound I Bilingualism by Seliger & Vago), in which the L1 is the source for hypotheses about the target language and both grammars are subserved by a common knowledge base from the L1 (if the learner fails to progress beyond this stage, fossilization will occur). In Coordinate Bilingualism, on the other hand, both languages exist largely independently of each other and traffic in either direction is minimal.…”

Section: The Scope Of Attrition Effectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The relevance of first language attrition to theories of bilingual development

Schmid

Köpke

2017

LAB

182

112

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Abstract:Research on second language acquisition and bilingual development strongly suggests that when a previously monolingual speaker becomes multilingual, the different languages do not exist in isolation: they are closely linked, dependent on each other, and there is constant interaction between these different knowledge systems. Theoretical frameworks of bilingual development acknowledge this insofar as they usually draw heavily on evidence of how the native language influences subsequent languages, and how and to what degree this influence can eventually be overcome.The fact that such crosslinguistic transfer is not a one-way street, and that the native language is similarly influenced by later learned languages, on the other hand, is often disregarded. We review the evidence on how later learned languages can re-shape the L1 in the immediate and the longer term and demonstrate how such phenomena may be used to inform, challenge and validate theoretical approaches of bilingual development.Author Comments: This is the final version of the Epistemological paper which has previously been submitted by Barbara Kopke. As she is currently away the editors requested that I make a new submission.

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Section: The Scope Of Attrition Effectsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The relevance of first language attrition to theories of bilingual development

Schmid

Köpke

2017

LAB

182

112

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“…Nonetheless, discussions of attrition in such contexts are also relevant to BFLA, assuming that the term L1 refers to both languages acquired by the child and that attrition can affect either of them. Seliger and Vago (1991) describe L1 attrition as disintegration of the structure of a first language in contact situations with a second language. Seliger (1991) argues that L1 attrition in the case of bilinguals is marked by an increased dominance of the majority language and lessened exposure to the L1.…”

Section: Language Attrition and Language Reactivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language attrition and reactivation in the context of bilingual first language acquisition

Slavkov

2014

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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“…The effects of transfer may take different forms, including simplification and overregularization (Albirini et al, 2011;Altenberg, 1991;Cornips & Hulk, 2006;Klee, 1996;Montrul, 2004Montrul, , 2010Montrul et al, 2008;Polinsky, 1997), borrowing (Altenberg, 1991;Pavlenko, 2000;Pavlenko & Jarvis, 2002), avoidance (Albirini et al, 2011;Pavlenko, 2004;Rothman, 2007), omission (Moag, 1995;Montrul & Bowles, 2009;Polinsky, 2008;Song, O'Grady, Cho, & Lee, 1997), restructuring (Pavlenko, 2000(Pavlenko, , 2004Schmid, 2002;Seliger & Vago, 1991), convergence (Pavlenko, 2000(Pavlenko, , 2004, and misinterpretation (Montrul & Ionin, 2010). For example, Cornips and Hulk (2006) report that heritage speakers overgeneralize the unspecified, default value of nonneuter for the Dutch definite determiner, which is acquired early by monolingual children.…”

Section: Language Transfer Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aspects of second-language transfer in the oral production of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage speakers

Albirini

Benmamoun

2012

International Journal of Bilingualism

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The nature and extent of the impact of language transfer in majority-minority language contexts have been widely debated in both second-and heritage-language acquisition. This study examines four linguistic areas in three oral narratives collected from Egyptian and Palestinian heritage speakers in the United States (namely, plural and dual morphology, possessive constructions, and restrictive relative clauses), with a special focus on how the second language (English) influences the structure and use of these areas in connected discourse. In addition, the study examines the relationship between second-language transfer and the incompleteness and attrition of heritage Arabic. The findings show that heritage speakers have various gaps in their knowledge of the examined areas, particularly in forms and patterns that diverge from their counterparts in their dominant L2. The results also suggest that transfer effects are restricted to specific forms that are marked (e.g. broken plurals), infrequent (duals), or characterized by processing difficulty (as seems to be the case with the dependencies in the relative clauses). Moreover, transfer effects are intimately related to both the attrition and incomplete acquisition of the speakers' knowledge of the four areas under study. The implications of the study for heritage language research are discussed.

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The study of first language attrition: an overview

Cited by 145 publications

References 0 publications

The relevance of first language attrition to theories of bilingual development

The relevance of first language attrition to theories of bilingual development

Language attrition and reactivation in the context of bilingual first language acquisition

Aspects of second-language transfer in the oral production of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage speakers

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