Dynamic systems, maturational constraints and L1 phonetic attrition

The present study comprises a phonetic analysis of the lateral phoneme /l/ in the first (L1) and second language (L2) of 10 late German–English bilinguals. The primary objective of the study was to compare the predictive power of dynamic systems theory with that of maturational constraints through a phonetic investigation of L1 attrition in the lateral phoneme /l/ of the late bilinguals. The results revealed L1 attrition in the lateral phoneme /l/, as well as a high degree of interpersonal and intrapersonal variation. These patterns are discussed in relation to dynamic systems theory and maturational constraints. Moreover, the degree of permanency of L1 attrition is discussed in relation to methodological considerations in studies on L1 attrition. It is proposed that maturational constraints are insufficient in explaining the results and that bilingual language development can be more adequately explained through dynamic systems theory, which explicitly incorporates a multitude of predictor variables across the lifespan, in addition to age constraints.

[1]  J B Poline,et al.  Brain imaging of language plasticity in adopted adults: can a second language replace the first? , 2001, NeuroImage.

[2]  William Gamwell Moulton,et al.  The sounds of English and German. , 1962 .

[3]  Peter Ecke.  Language attrition and theories of forgetting: A cross-disciplinary review , 2004 .

[4]  Raymond D. Kent,et al.  Acoustic Analysis of Speech , 2009 .

[5]  D. Recasens.  Darkness in [l] as a scalar phonetic property: implications for phonology and articulatory control , 2004, Clinical linguistics & phonetics.

[6]  J. Bowers,et al.  Preserved Implicit Knowledge of a Forgotten Childhood Language , 2009, Psychological science.

[7]  L. Petitto,et al.  Biological Foundations of Language , 1967, Neurology.

[8]  Wander Lowie,et al.  A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition , 2007, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

[9]  T. Scovel,et al.  FOREIGN ACCENTS, LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, AND CEREBRAL DOMINANCE1 , 1969 .

[10]  E. Lenneberg.  Biological Foundations of Language , 1967 .

[11]  John Coleman,et al.  Acoustics of American English speech : a dynamic approach , 1993 .

[12]  James Emil Flege,et al.  Interaction between the native and second language phonetic subsystems , 2003, Speech Commun..

[13]  Emanuel Bylund,et al.  Maturational Constraints and First Language Attrition , 2009 .

[14]  Kenneth Hyltenstam,et al.  Age of Onset and Nativelikeness in a Second Language: Listener Perception Versus Linguistic Scrutiny , 2009 .

[15]  Magnús Pétursson,et al.  Elemente einer Akustischen Phonetik , 1986 .

[16]  James M Scobbie,et al.  An articulatory investigation of word final /l/ and /l/-sandhi in three dialects of English. , 2003 .

[17]  J. Werker,et al.  Perceptual flexibility: maintenance or recovery of the ability to discriminate non-native speech sounds. , 1984, Canadian journal of psychology.

[18]  P. Ladefoged.  A course in phonetics , 1975 .

[19]  Linda B. Smith,et al.  A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action , 2007, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[20]  A. C. Gimson,et al.  An introduction to the pronunciation of English , 1991 .

[21]  E. D. Leeuw.  When your native language sounds foreign : a phonetic investigation into first language attrition , 2008 .

[22]  S. Kroon,et al.  Social Determinants of Language Loss , 1989 .

[23]  Paul Boersma,et al.  Praat: doing phonetics by computer , 2003 .

[24]  Janet S. Oh,et al.  Overhearing a Language During Childhood , 2002, Psychological science.

[25]  C. Fowler,et al.  Gestural drift in a bilingual speaker of Brazilian Portuguese and English , 1997 .

[26]  Philip Herdina.  A dynamic model of multilingualism , 2002 .

[27]  Paul Boersma,et al.  Praat, a system for doing phonetics by computer , 2002 .

[28]  Michael H. Long.  Maturational Constraints on Language Development , 1990, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[29]  Kutlay Yagmur,et al.  Issues in finding the appropriate methodology in language attrition research , 2004 .

[30]  Matthias Hutz.  Is there a natural process of decay?: A longitudinal study of language attrition , 2004 .

[31]  P. Ladefoged,et al.  The sounds of the world's languages , 1996 .

[32]  Janet S. Oh,et al.  Holding on to childhood language memory , 2003, Cognition.

[33]  R. Major.  Losing English as a First Language. , 1992 .

[34]  Lisa M. Lavoie,et al.  Consonant Strength: Phonological Patterns and Phonetic Manifestations , 2001 .

[35]  Kenneth Hyltenstam,et al.  Maturational constraints in SLA , 2008 .

[36]  C. Pallier,et al.  The loss of first language phonetic perception in adopted Koreans , 2004, Journal of Neurolinguistics.

[37]  Coarticulation • Suprasegmentals,et al.  Acoustic Phonetics , 2019, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders.

[38]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  वाक्यविन्यास का सैद्धान्तिक पक्ष = Aspects of the theory of syntax , 1965 .

[39]  J. Scobbie,et al.  Singing a different tune in your native language: first language attrition of prosody , 2012 .

[40]  John C. Wells,et al.  Accents of English , 1982 .

[41]  Jonathan Harrington,et al.  An acoustic analysis of 'happy-tensing' in the Queen's Christmas broadcasts , 2006, J. Phonetics.

[42]  P. Boersma.  Praat : doing phonetics by computer (version 4.4.24) , 2006 .

[43]  K. Bot,et al.  Language attrition, Language Shift and Ethnolinguistic Vitality of Turkish in Australia , 1999 .

[44]  F. Grosjean,et al.  Life with Two Languages: An Introduction to Bilingualism.@@@Language Spread: Studies in Diffusion and Social Change. , 1983 .

[45]  William C. Ritchie,et al.  Handbook of Second Language Acquisition , 1998 .

[46]  P. L. C. Van Geert.  A comprehensive dynamic systems theory of language development , 2009 .

[47]  Monika S. Schmid,et al.  The effects of contact on native language pronunciation in an L2 migrant setting* , 2009, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.