Attriters and Bilinguals: What's in a Name?

Federico Gallo,Andriy Myachykov,Yury Shtyrov,Keerthi Ramanujan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.558228

Abstract

The use of language as a universal tool for communication and interaction is the backbone of human society. General sociocultural milieu and specific contextual factors can strongly influence various aspects of linguistic experience, including language acquisition and use and the respective internal neurolinguistic processes. This is particularly relevant in the case of bilingualism, which encompasses a diverse set of linguistic experiences, greatly influenced by societal, cultural, educational, and personal factors. In this perspective piece, we focus on a specific type of linguistic experience: non-pathological first-language (L1) attrition—a phenomenon that is strongly tied to immersion in non-L1 environments. We present our view on what may be the essence of L1 attrition and suggest ways of examining it as a type of bilingual experience, in particular with relation to its neurocognitive bases.

Highlights

Globalization and mobility are increasingly establishing themselves as defining features of current world
We focused on one specific type of language experience that is closely associated with the latter—L1 attrition—the non-pathological, gradual decrease of native language performance that takes place alongside with, and even without (Baladzhaeva and Laufer, 2018), increase in L2 proficiency (Köpke and Schmid, 2004)
Research on L1 attrition emerged in the early 1980s, and at present, almost 40 years later, still occupies a relative niche in the field of bilingualism

Summary

Introduction

Globalization and mobility are increasingly establishing themselves as defining features of current world. Reports of the United Nations highlight a steady yearly growth in migration; in the last 20 years, the phenomenon doubled in magnitude, with the number of migrants reaching the figure of 260 million in 2017 (United Nations, 2018). As a result of such mobility, alongside changes in educational requirements, and internationalization of the job market, more than half of the world population is currently estimated to be bilingual (e.g., Grosjean, 2010). Research on L1 attrition emerged in the early 1980s, and at present, almost 40 years later, still occupies a relative niche in the field of bilingualism. A great progress has been made in the last two decades, due to a remarkable effort from attrition researchers to affine definitions and develop tools to investigate the phenomenon and its underlying mechanisms

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Conclusion