Korean adoptees in Sweden: Have they lost their first language completely?

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
HYEON-SOOK PARK
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Phonetic Perception ◽  
Korean Adoptees ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
Better Than

ABSTRACTTwo current issues in research on first language (L1) attrition among adoptees are explored: whether adoptees have lost their L1 completely and whether relearning can help them recover their L1 if it is not completely lost. These issues are investigated by examining whether Swedish monolingual Korean adoptees’ preexisting knowledge of L1 Korean has an impact on their relearning of Korean as adults. The results suggest that Korean adoptees’ early L1 experience has left traces of the language and that these traces can have an effect on their phonetic perception when relearning the language. The finding that reexposed adoptees performed better than native Swedish learners indicates that the greatest impact on retrieving L1 knowledge comes from relearning. Given the lack of the statistically significant findings, the results demonstrate possibilities but remain open to discussion.

First language retention and attrition in an adult Guatemalan adoptee

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina A. Montrul
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Language Retention ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Korean Adoptees ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
The Subject

This case study illustrates the long-term effects of interrupted input and subsequent re-exposure to the first language in childhood in the adult linguistic competence of an internationally adopted individual. Alicia — the subject of the case study — is a 34-year-old Guatemalan adopted by an American family at age 9 and raised in a small Mid-America town with no Hispanic population at that time. In several sessions, Alicia completed oral production and written tasks (including interpretation, judgment and truth value judgment tasks) targeting knowledge and use of Spanish morphosyntax. On the overall proficiency measures, Alicia demonstrates native-like knowledge of English and significant attrition in Spanish, although not to the extent reported in recent studies of Korean adoptees. Alicia’s degree of L1 attrition and retention after several years of severed input challenges Pallier et al. (2003) and Ventureyra et al.’s (2004) Language Replacement and Impediment Hypothesis, and is more consistent with the view that there are age effects for L1 attrition (Hyltenstam et al. 2009; Montrul 2008).

“I Don’t Fit in Here and I Don’t Fit in There:” Understanding the Connections between L1 Attrition and Feelings of Identity in 1.5 Generation Russian Australians

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrice Venturin
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
1.5 Generation ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
Identity Perception ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
The Relationship

The present study analyzes four adult Russian-Australian 1.5ers, heritage bilinguals whose first language is Russian, and who immigrated to Australia or New Zealand during their primary school years. Semi-structured interviews conducted with the case-study participants examined their attitudes toward their Russian, their L1, and English, their L2. The interviews explored the participants’ schooling history, language use, perceived language proficiency, dominance and use, perceived L1 attrition, and feelings about their identity. The aim of the study was to understand the connections between language, particularly L1 attrition, and identity for this cohort of 1.5 generation speakers, as well as factors that may influence their identity perception. The results emerging from the study’s data reconfirm the role played by language in identity construction. At the same time, they suggest that for 1.5ers the relationship between language and identity also needs to be considered in relation to L1 attrition. This factor, in fact, might contribute to identity conflicts and trigger the desire to return to one’s roots.

A Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective on Personal Background Variables in L1 Attrition

2019 ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Conny Opitz
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
First Language ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Complex Dynamic Systems ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Analytical Approaches

This chapter discusses the methodological challenges associated with studying personal background variables in first language (L1) attrition from the perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). It starts with a review of extant research which, despite concerted efforts to design rigorous, comparable studies, to date has not turned up strong, unambiguous predictors for L1 attrition. I argue that this failure lies in the nature of language as a complex dynamic system, and consequently in the properties of variables, their interaction, and varying contribution to the process and outcome of L1 attrition, and indeed to L1 and L2 (second language) acquisition in the larger context of multilingual development. CDST provides a challenge not just for common empirical and analytical approaches to attrition, but for the very notion of ‘predictor’. The chapter concludes by discussing some ways in which the current stalemate may be overcome.

Age Effects in Language Attrition

2019 ◽  
pp. 276-287
Author(s):  
Emanuel Bylund
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Age Effects ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Language Attrition ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

The present chapter discusses age effects in first language (L1) attrition. In particular, focus is placed on the age-related decline in attrition susceptibility, the extent to which age effects be counterbalanced by other factors, and the underlying mechanisms of age effects. In view of extant evidence, it is suggested that the change in heightened attrition susceptibility occurs at around 12 years of age (or puberty) (though this by no means implies that attrition does not occur past puberty). Relatedly, it is suggests that socio-psychological and cognitive factors have greater compensatory potential for prepubescent than postpubescent attriters. As to the underlying mechanisms of age effects, the impediment account, the psychosocial account, and the maturational account are discussed. It is suggested that out of these, the maturational account has the greatest explanatory potential. The chapter concludes with a number of testable principles of age effects on L1 attrition.

scholarly journals Effect of Age, Education, and Bilingualism on Confrontation Naming in Older Illiterate and Low-Educated Populations

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer Ashaie ◽  
Loraine Obler
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Cognitively Normal ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Confrontation Naming ◽  
L2 Speaking ◽  
Low Educated ◽  
Naming Performance ◽  
Naming Test ◽  
Better Than

We investigated the effects of age as well as the linked factors of education and bilingualism on confrontation naming in rural Kashmir by creating a culturally appropriate naming test with pictures of 60 objects. We recruited 48 cognitively normal participants whose ages ranged from 18 to 28 and from 60 to 85. Participants in our study were illiterate monolinguals(N=18)and educated Kashmiri-Urdu bilinguals(N=30). Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that younger adults performed better than older adults(P<0.01)and the age effect was quadratic (age2). It also showed Age X Education and Age X L2 Speaking interactions predicted naming performance. The Age X Education interaction indicated that the advantages of greater education increased with advancing age. Since education is in the second language (L2) in our population, this finding is no doubt linked to the Age X L2 Speaking interaction. This suggests that L2 speaking proficiency contributed more to first language (L1) naming with advancing age.

scholarly journals The Perception of Tone and Focus in Mandarin by Indonesian Learners: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-26
Author(s):  
Hana Nurul Hasanah
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Identification Accuracy ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Mandarin Language ◽  
Perceptual Ability ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Better Than

 In a tone language, the interface between tone, intonation, and focus will affect the pitch height and contour of tones. Previous perceptual studies revealed the potential conflicts in perceiving pitch variations at lexical and post-lexical levels that were experienced by either native listeners or listeners who speak Mandarin language as a second or foreign language. Rarely we find research in Indonesia that provides evidence for Mandarin language learners’ perceptual ability at a post-lexical level. This paper investigated how well learners with distinct first language (L1) background identify tones that are affected by the realization of focus and the presence and location of focus in distinct intonation types. Perceptual experiments were conducted towards two groups of listeners: Mandarin learners with Indonesian L1 and learners with a tone language L1 background (Hakka or Hokkien). Their identification accuracy (IA) rate in recognizing the tone type for the last syllable with a narrow focus was compared with their IA in identifying the location of the focus. In general, identifying tone type was easier than identifying focus position for both groups. However, the Mean from each group showed that learners with a tone language L1 were slightly better than the other group. Results exhibited more similarities between the two groups of the listener, which indicates that L1 background only has a mild effect on the perceptual ability of Indonesian learners of Mandarin as a foreign language.  

Morphological Attrition

2019 ◽  
pp. 227-240
Author(s):  
Elena Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Differential Susceptibility ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Morphological Operations ◽  
Activation Threshold ◽  
Morphological Studies ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Morphological Aspects ◽  
L1 Attrition

This chapter provides a review of research on morphological aspects of first language (L1) attrition, focusing on derivational and inflectional morphology in various languages. Morphological attrition is considered from perspectives of the Markedness Theory (e.g., Sharwood Smith, 1994), Regression Hypothesis (e.g., Keijzer, 2010a), Activation Threshold Hypothesis (e.g., Paradis, 2007), Interface Hypothesis (e.g., Sorace, 2011), and 4-M Model (e.g., Myers-Scotton & Jake, 2017). Two main directions in accounting for differential susceptibility of morphemes to attrition are identified: a) focus on inherent properties of morphemes; and b) focus on mechanisms underlying morphological processing. The chapter concludes by considering challenges faced by morphological studies, including lack of consistency in types of informants, data, and data collection techniques, and limitations of the available theoretical approaches for the analysis of the complexity and variety of morphological operations and morphemes that become restructured, modified, and ultimately lost in the course of L1 attrition.

First Language Attrition on Prosody in a Foreign Language Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Gargiulo ◽  
Mechtild Tronnier
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Anaphora Resolution ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
The Status ◽  
Response Preferences ◽  
Language Environment

In this study, we explore whether first language (L1) attrition affects the use of prosodic cues in anaphora resolution. 18 late Italian–Swedish bilinguals completed a speech production task in L1 Italian, wherein we measured the inter-clausal pause duration and the pronoun’s degree of prosodic prominence. They also completed a control interpretation task, wherein we analysed response preferences, to test the status of L1 attrition on anaphora resolution when sentences are not vocalized. Prominence patterns and pause features exhibited by the late bilinguals were compared to those shown by Italian and Swedish monolinguals investigated in a previous study in 2019. The results suggest L1 attrition to affect the use of prosodic cues in anaphora resolution. The attrition rate was influenced by length of residence (LoR): the longer the residence in the foreign language (FL) environment, the higher the probability of adaptation to the FL prominence patterns, for most of the prosodic cues.

scholarly journals Second language attainment and first language attrition: The case of VOT in immersed Dutch–German late bilinguals

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Stoehr ◽  
Titia Benders ◽  
Janet G van Hell ◽  
Paula Fikkert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
First Language ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
At Home ◽  
Late Bilinguals

Speech of late bilinguals has frequently been described in terms of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) from the native language (L1) to the second language (L2), but CLI from the L2 to the L1 has received relatively little attention. This article addresses L2 attainment and L1 attrition in voicing systems through measures of voice onset time (VOT) in two groups of Dutch–German late bilinguals in the Netherlands. One group comprises native speakers of Dutch and the other group comprises native speakers of German, and the two groups further differ in their degree of L2 immersion. The L1-German–L2-Dutch bilinguals ( N = 23) are exposed to their L2 at home and outside the home, and the L1-Dutch–L2-German bilinguals ( N = 18) are only exposed to their L2 at home. We tested L2 attainment by comparing the bilinguals’ L2 to the other bilinguals’ L1, and L1 attrition by comparing the bilinguals’ L1 to Dutch monolinguals ( N = 29) and German monolinguals ( N = 27). Our findings indicate that complete L2 immersion may be advantageous in L2 acquisition, but at the same time it may cause L1 phonetic attrition. We discuss how the results match the predictions made by Flege’s Speech Learning Model and explore how far bilinguals’ success in acquiring L2 VOT and maintaining L1 VOT depends on the immersion context, articulatory constraints and the risk of sounding foreign accented.

scholarly journals Qualitative study of patient views on a ‘telephone-first’ approach in general practice in England: speaking to the GP by telephone before making face-to-face appointments

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e026197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L Ball ◽  
Jennifer Newbould ◽  
Jennie Corbett ◽  
Josephine Exley ◽  
Emma Pitchforth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Practice ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
First Language ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Negative Comments ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
General Practices ◽  
To Come ◽  
New System ◽  
Better Than

ObjectiveTo understand patients’ views on a ‘telephone-first’ approach, in which all appointment requests in general practice are followed by a telephone call from the general practitioner (GP).DesignQualitative interviews with patients and carers.SettingTwelve general practices in England.Participants43 patients, including 30 women, nine aged over 75 years, four parents of young children, five carers, five patients with hearing impairment and two whose first language was not English.ResultsPatients expressed varied views, often strongly held, ranging from enthusiasm for to hostility towards the ‘telephone-first’ approach. The new system suited some patients, avoiding the need to come into the surgery but was problematic for others, for example, when it was difficult for someone working in an open plan office to take a call-back. A substantial proportion of negative comments were about the operation of the scheme itself rather than the principles behind it, for example, difficulty getting through on the phone or being unable to schedule when the GP would phone back. Some practices were able to operate the scheme in a way that met their patients’ needs better than others and practices varied significantly in how they had implemented the approach.ConclusionsThe ‘telephone-first’ approach appears to work well for some patients, but others find it much less acceptable. Some of the reported problems related to how the approach had been implemented rather than the ‘telephone-first’ approach in principle and suggests there may be potential for some of the challenges experienced by patients to be overcome.

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