ERIC Number: EJ1076224
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: N/A
Language Attrition and Reactivation in the Context of Bilingual First Language Acquisition
Slavkov, Nikolay
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v18 n6 p715-734 2015
This paper reports on a case study of a child raised in the context of bilingual first-language acquisition in English and Bulgarian, where the latter represents a minority (heritage) language. Using diary data and spontaneous speech recordings, the study identifies a period of loss of production in Bulgarian (1;7-2;3) and a subsequent reactivation of the passive language facilitated by a brief change in input and social environment during a 10-day trip to Bulgaria. The data are analyzed in terms of proportion of utterances in each language, code-mixing, utterance length, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, choice of language in narrating stories, and parental discourse strategies. The results are discussed with regards to family socialization factors, including the one-parent, one-language model, and with regards to language attrition and language recovery phenomena. Overall, the study offers a renewed perspective on some long-standing challenges and opportunities associated with the acquisition and maintenance of a minority language, highlights the dynamic nature of childhood bilingualism, and demonstrates that continued input in a language that has become passive can be beneficial.
Descriptors: Case Studies, Bilingualism, Child Rearing, Linguistic Input, Syntax, Code Switching (Language), Parent Child Relationship, Language Acquisition, Social Environment, Travel, Slavic Languages, Foreign Countries, Family Relationship, Diaries, English, Language Usage, Narration, Discourse Analysis, Language Skill Attrition, Language Maintenance, Infants, Toddlers, Statistical Analysis, Vocabulary Development
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Bulgaria; Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A