Child second language attrition: a longitudinal case study

Abstract

This paper examines the second stage of natural second language attrition in the first language environment as observed in a Japanese male returnee child. The second stage is the second part of a longitudinal study encompassing a total of 33 months of observation. The first stage, which is reported elsewhere (Tomiyama 1999), commences with month 2 of his return and continues until month 19. The second stage comprises month 20 through month 33, The stages are so labeled retrospectively because of a natural division in the qualitative changes observed in the subject's production data rather than because of absolute chronological periods. The subject, who spent seven years in the United States, was 8;0 at the time of his return. The overall baseline data shows that he was highly proficient in English. The second stage is characterized as a period of change in syntax and morphology yet stability in lexicon and fluency. A structural change in the modification of nouns, from post-nominal to pre-nominal, is noted. The reason for the structural change is attributed in part to syntactic reduction and in part to interlingual transfer to cope with the deficiency in L2. Some attrition in morphology, plural and past irregular morphemes, in particular, is also observed. On the other hand, no substantial amount of loss in productive vocabulary is observed; there is even recovery of some items. Also it is noted that the level of fluency at the beginning of the second stage remains constant throughout this stage. Overall, the study reveals the differential attrition pattern in the subject's linguistic subsystems and fluctuation in the subject's performance. It also illustrates the value and relevance of examining data over a long span of time to capture a macroscopic view of language behavior patterns