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Article published In:
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 3:1 (2013) ► pp.94–115

First language attrition

| University of Groningen

The overwhelming bias for investigations of bilingualism is to focus on the increase of knowledge and crosslinguistic traffic from the L1 to the L2. Developments which concern loss, deterioration or reduced accessibility of knowledge and traffic from the L2 to the L1 are much less well-studied and understood, and are usually treated as a somewhat marginal issue. The present contribution provides an overview of research in first language attrition and argues that changes to the first language system are part and parcel of the development of bilingual knowledge and processing. As such, they can help provide additional insight into controversial issues, such as questions about the existence of maturational constraints in L2 learning, and potentially help resolve these matters.

Keywords: First language attrition, critical period, international adoption, competence and performance, L1 attrition-L2 learning comparison, incomplete acquisition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Competence or performance?
  • 3.L2 learning and the Critical Period debate
  • 4.The potential contribution of L1 attrition research
  • 5.Is attrition an underlying or a superficial phenomenon?
  • 5.1Error rates and representational deficits
  • 6.Attrition vs. incomplete acquisition: The age factor
  • 7.International adoption: The impact of L1 exposure
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 February 2013
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.3.1.05sch
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