Language Attrition

An introduction to language attrition, providing an overview of linguistic and extralinguistic features involved and a description of research methods.

Monika S. Schmid (Author)

9780521759939, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 July 2011

306 pages, 51 b/w illus. 20 tables
21.6 x 13.9 x 1.3 cm, 0.4 kg

'In this book, every crucial aspect of language attrition research is highlighted and clearly explained. Each chapter starts with essential questions that describe its focus and main ideas. In doing so, each chapter acts as a scaffold for the following one, and the reader is well-prepared and trained for what is next.' Bahar Otcu-Grillman, The Linguist List (linguistlist.org)

'Language attrition' describes the loss of, or changes to, grammatical and other features of a language as a result of declining use by speakers who have changed their linguistic environment and language habits. In such a situation there may, for example, be simplification in the tense system or in certain properties of subordinate clauses; some vocabulary items might fall into disuse and phonetic features may be restructured. These changes can be affected by features of the speaker's environment, but also by his or her attitudes and processes of identification. This book provides a detailed and up-to-date introduction to the way in which language attrition can affect language, as well as to the extra- and sociolinguistic features involved. It also familiarizes the reader with experimental approaches to attrition and data analysis techniques and provides hands-on guidelines on how to apply them.

1. Introduction
Part I. Linguistic Aspects of Language Attrition: 2. What is attrition?
3. Cross-linguistic influence and the mental lexicon
4. Attrition in the mental lexicon
5. Attrition and the structure of language
Part II. Extralinguistic Aspects of Language Attrition: 6. Personal background factors
7. The role of L1 input and output
8. Attitudes and identities
Part III. Conducting Research on Language Attrition – Preliminary Considerations: 9. The test populations: participant characteristics and acquisition
10. Types of linguistic knowledge
Part IV. Experimental Designs for Attrition Research – The Language Attrition Test Battery: 11. Lexical tasks
12. Grammaticality judgment tasks
13. Other grammatical tasks
14. Free speech
Part V. Coding and Analysing the Data: 15. Transcribing and coding free speech: the CHILDES project
16. Coding and reporting experimental data
17. Interpreting your data: inferential statistics
18. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Psycholinguistics [CFD], Sociolinguistics [CFB]