ERIC Number: EJ873549
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jan
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1366-7289
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
"Die Muttersprache Vergisst Man Nicht"--or Do You? A Case Study in L1 Attrition and Its (Partial) Reversal
Stolberg, Doris; Munch, Alexandra
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, v13 spec iss n1 p19-31 Jan 2010
Is it possible to undo or reverse language attrition? In other words, has there been, in the case of attrition, a permanent change with respect to the speaker's L1 knowledge, or do we only see temporary effects on the control of that knowledge? It is proposed here that the concept of attrition should include the temporary loss of language skills since it is, so far, not clear whether or to what extent once-acquired linguistic abilities can be permanently lost at all, particularly with respect to an L1. A reversal in the development of attrition after renewed contact with the L1 can support the claim that a decrease in L1 proficiency can be TEMPORARY, and that it is the ACCESSIBILITY of items and structures that is affected by attrition rather than the L1 knowledge (competence) itself. Our primary research interest in the present study is to analyze what skills and features are recoverable and what phenomena persist, (possibly) indicating permanent loss. (Contains 13 footnotes, 6 tables, and 5 figures.)
Descriptors: Language Skill Attrition, Language Acquisition, Language Proficiency, Language Maintenance, Second Language Learning, Bilingualism, German, Case Studies, Code Switching (Language), English (Second Language), Immigrants, Syntax, Morphology (Languages), Video Technology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Identifiers - Location: Germany
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