Destabilizing effects of L2 explicit pronunciation instruction on L1 speech:

Anchored in a Complex Dynamic perspective on language development, this study explores the effects of L2 explicit pronunciation instruction on L2 English and L1 Brazilian Portuguese VOT production. To this end, 16 Brazilian intermediate users of L2 English were investigated. Volunteers were divided into control and experimental groups. The latter received explicit pronunciation instruction on the production of the English voiceless stops. The study included three data collections, a pre-test, an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test. An acoustic analysis of VOT duration is reported. The results revealed that the control group did not produce the expected VOT pattern for L2 English at any time of the study. No alterations in the L1 were reported. On the other hand, after the instruction, the experimental group produced higher L2 English VOT values. First language attrition was reported since the L1 BP VOT durations also increased after instruction. In addition to highlighting the effects of explicit instruction on L2 development and L1 attrition, this study confirms that language development is constant, and that even L1 adult grammars are not rigid, with potential to change due to the perception and processing of novel nonnative phonetic-phonological categories.

Understanding Language Attrition through Orthography

The decay in the proficiency of the native language (L1), known as first language attrition, is one of the least understood phenomena associated with the acquisition of a second language (L2). Indeed, the exact cause for the deterioration in L1 performance, be that either the interference from L2 acquisition or the less frequent use of L1, still remains elusive. In this opinion paper, we focus on one largely understudied aspect of L1 attrition—namely, the erosion of the L1 orthographic knowledge under the influence of L2 orthography. In particular, we propose to study differences in orthographic processing between mono- and bilingual populations as an approach, which, in turn, will allow to address both cognitive and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying L1 attrition. We discuss relevant experimental paradigms, variable manipulations and appropriate research methods that may help disentangle the largely debated question of L2 interference vs. L1 disuse, clarifying the nature of the L1 orthographic attrition.

First Language Attrition: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and What It Can Be

This review aims at clarifying the concept of first language attrition by tracing its limits, identifying its phenomenological and contextual constraints, discussing controversies associated with its definition, and suggesting potential directions for future research. We start by reviewing different definitions of attrition as well as associated inconsistencies. We then discuss the underlying mechanisms of first language attrition and review available evidence supporting different background hypotheses. Finally, we attempt to provide the groundwork to build a unified theoretical framework allowing for generalizable results. To this end, we suggest the deployment of a rigorous neuroscientific approach, in search of neural markers of first language attrition in different linguistic domains, putting forward hypothetical experimental ways to identify attrition’s neural traces and formulating predictions for each of the proposed experimental paradigms.

Longitudinal Developments in Bilingual Second Language Acquisition and First Language Attrition of Speech: The Case of Arnold Schwarzenegger

The purpose of this investigation was to trace first (L1) and second language (L2) segmental speech development in the Austrian German–English late bilingual Arnold Schwarzenegger over a period of 40 years, which makes it the first study to examine a bilingual’s speech development over several decades in both their languages. To this end, acoustic measurements of voice onset time (VOT) durations of word-initial plosives (Study 1) and formant frequencies of the first and second formant of Austrian German and English monophthongs (Study 2) were conducted using speech samples collected from broadcast interviews. The results of Study 1 showed a merging of Schwarzenegger’s German and English voiceless plosives in his late productions as manifested in a significant lengthening of VOT duration in his German plosives, and a shortening of VOT duration in his English plosives, closer to L1 production norms. Similar findings were evidenced in Study 2, revealing that some of Schwarzenegger’s L1 and L2 vowel categories had moved closer together in the course of L2 immersion. These findings suggest that both a bilingual’s first and second language accent is likely to develop and reorganize over time due to dynamic interactions between the first and second language system.

Definiteness constraint on subjects in L2 and L3 Mandarin grammars Empirical evidence concerning the source of transfer in L3 acquisition

Recent research on third language acquisition has been focusing on identifying the source of transfer in third language (L3) acquisition. In this article, we report on an empirical study of a less-studied language combination of Mandarin, Cantonese and English, which examines how speakers of Mandarin as a first, second and third language process Mandarin indefinite and definite subjects. Our data reveals that both typologically and structurally similar and less similar languages are available for transfer in third language acquisition, thus such transfer can be facilitative as well as detrimental. We also find that the frequency and length of exposure to the second language and the vulnerability of the property under investigation may cause first language attrition, which could also influence third language acquisition.

Acquisition of a Foreign Accent by Native Speakers of English Living in the Czech Republic

First language attrition has been shown to affect many areas of linguistic performance in immigrants to other countries. In phonetics, there is often a shift towards the majority language phonetic features, and, in some cases, the speakers may cease to be perceived as native altogether. This article presents the results of a foreign accent rating study, showing that even Anglophone expatriates are not immune to L1 attrition despite the (relative) lack of pressure to linguistically assimilate due to the status of their mother tongue as a prestigious and desirable-to-master language. The quantitative results are augmented by personal narratives of the expatriate informants, showing that what is often dismissed as mere anecdotal evidence may in fact bear a strong correspondence to the quantitative data.