Thesisgreen2011

Between Attrition and Acquisition: the Dynamics between Two Languages in Adult Migrants

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Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Multilingual Education and Policy

Abstract

In the context of language use of Romanian migrants living in Canada, this thesis examines the linguistic changes and the contributing social, personal, and affective factors involved in the maintenance of a migrant’s first language (L1) as she or he simultaneously acquires a second language (L2) in an L2-dominant environment. Specifically, it investigates the incidence of L1 attrition in the bilingual group, the existence of a possible systematic relationship between the levels of L1 and L2 proficiency, and the influence of sociolinguistic and cognitive factors on L1 attrition and L2 acquisition in bilingual contexts. L1 attrition is defined here as both the reduction of L1 language skills and the restructuring of the L1 according to L2 patterns to the point where communication in the L1 is impaired. The present study involves extensive elicitation of written and oral data in both Romanian and English. First, an assessment of the participants’ history of language acquisition, their attitudes, their patterns of language use, and the nature of their social networks was conducted via sociolinguistic questionnaires and individual interviews. The language aptitude tests used in this project examined phonetic memory, vocabulary learning, and grammatical inferencing abilities. As an indicator of overall language proficiency, formal tests (a C-test and a verbal fluency task) and samples of spontaneous speech in the form of film commenting tasks were analyzed for fluency and grammatical complexity. The results showed that L1 attrition is a possible, but not obligatory, outcome in the first generation of migrants. With the exception of two participants, the majority of the bilinguals in this study, while not perfect matches for the L1 monolinguals, remained within the L1 native range even after a long residence in the L2 country. While proficiency trade-off patterns are not observable at the group level, they were evidenced in the cases of the two attriters identified in this study. With respect to cognitive predictor variables, L1 maintenance does not appear to be a direct function of linguistic aptitude. At the same time, levels of L1 attrition and L2 achievement are dependent on a combination of attitudinal and personal background variables.

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References

1992The CHILDES project: tools for analyzing talk 2014Individual Differences in Second Language Learning 2000THE ROBUSTNESS OF CRITICAL PERIOD EFFECTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 2007A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition 2006Emotions and Multilingualism 2009Psychology and language 2006Age and Second Language Acquisition and Processing: A Selective Overview 1991The poverty-of-the-stimulus argument and multicompetence

Cited by

2013Bilingual language development among the first generation Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands 2016The LLAMA tests and the underlying structure of language aptitude at two levels of foreign language proficiency 2022Professional Identities of French Lx Economic Immigrants: Perceptions from a Local French-Speaking Community

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