ERIC Number: EJ873548
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jan
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1366-7289
EISSN: N/A
The Regression Hypothesis as a Framework for First Language Attrition
Keijzer, Merel
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, v13 spec iss n1 p9-18 Jan 2010
In an attempt to explain first language attrition in emigrant populations, this paper investigates the explanatory power of a framework that has--until now--received little attention: the regression hypothesis (Jakobson, 1941). This hypothesis predicts that the order of attrition is the reverse of the order of acquisition. The regression hypothesis was tested in relation to the loss of morphology and syntax in Dutch immigrants in Anglophone Canada. Evidence in favor of regression was found, but mainly in the morphological domain. Syntax, on the other hand, was mostly characterized by L2 influences from English. As it is problematic to treat regression as a theory in its own right, these findings are then explained in the light of both generative and usage-based approaches, as well as the more recent Dynamic Systems Theory. (Contains 5 footnotes and 5 tables.)
Descriptors: Language Skill Attrition, Syntax, Systems Approach, Foreign Countries, Immigrants, Bilingualism, Language Acquisition, Linguistic Theory, Indo European Languages, Morphology (Languages), English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Interference (Language), Language Usage, Generative Grammar
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada; Netherlands
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