Language attrition occurs when people lose their native language due to becoming bilingual or multilingual. The process of acquiring new languages can affect a person’s use of their native language, leading to linguistic death. First language attrition describes the gradual loss of a first language as proficiency in a second language is gained. External factors such as exposure and motivation influence language acquisition, and changes in grammar and syntax are due to incompatibilities between language systems. The regression hypothesis and age of acquisition are factors studied in linguistic attrition.
Language attrition occurs when people lose command of their native language due to becoming bilingual or multilingual. The process of acquiring new languages can affect a person’s use of the language in which they were born as well as those used later in life. With international immigration becoming much more common in the 20th century, the field of applied linguistics has created models to better understand how acquiring new languages results in linguistic attrition. Loss of language skills can be the result of many different factors and can ultimately lead to what linguists call “linguistic death”.
Linguists use the term “first language attrition” to describe the gradual loss of a first language (L1) as the migrant gains proficiency in a second language (L2). Language friction has been observed to work both ways. Native speakers’ L1 skills may undergo changes in fluency as they acquire L2 skills. The extent to which L1 is affected may correlate with the degree to which L2 becomes dominant in the person’s life, combined with decreased exposure to L1 and its surrounding culture. Linguists have tried to identify the degree to which interference between L1 and L2 can be considered normal versus abnormal, but, without a standard of “normality” of language, current thinking tends to view linguistic friction as a continuum rather than a series of fixed events.
Research has shown that both first language acquisition (FLA) and second language acquisition (SLA) are influenced by external factors, such as the degree of exposure to language, as well as a person’s aptitude for language and motivation . These external factors tend to influence L2 acquisition more than L1. Both L1 attrition and L2 learners often use the language in ways different from native speakers, especially in the areas of grammar and syntax. These changes appear to be the result of incompatibilities between the two language systems rather than a change in the speaker’s underlying language skills and understanding.
The process of linguistic attrition is still a theoretical field of study. Some of the factors that linguists continue to investigate include the regression hypothesis, which holds that loss of L2 occurs more rapidly than that of L1 due to psychological and social factors. The age at which L1 and L2 skills are acquired can influence how quickly both can be subjected to attrition. Studies of pre- and post-pubescent migrants indicate that prepubertal language learners tend to lose their L1 skills more slowly while gaining fluency in L2 more rapidly.
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