First Language Attrition and Second Language Acquisition

341 Pages·2011·2.63 MB·English

by  Conny Opitz

First Language Attrition and Second Language Acquisition in
a Second Language Environment

Cornelia Opitz

Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics

University of Dublin, Trinity College
Centre for Language and Communication Studies
June 2011
ii
Declaration

I hereby declare that this thesis, submitted in candidature for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin, has not previously been submitted for a degree at
this or any other university.

This thesis is entirely my own work, and any assistance is acknowledged.

I am willing to grant permission to Trinity College Library to lend or copy the thesis
upon request.

Conny Opitz
iv
Summary
This thesis is concerned with the outcomes of the parallel processes of first language
maintenance and second language acquisition in adult bilinguals resident in a second language
environment. Current perspectives on first language attrition and bilingualism makes a strong
case for considering L1 attrition as a feature of multi-competence in bilinguals, and for taking
into account changes across the range of languages known by a bilingual in assessing
proficiency. They suggest that the simultaneous maintenance of several languages by a
bilingual may result in trade-offs between those languages, but also that dynamic interactions
between languages and a host of other factors will result in very different outcomes for
individuals.
In a mixed between-group/within-group design, 27 native speakers of German who emigrated
to Ireland as adults (mean age at arrival = 26.8 years; mean LOR = 19.5 years), and two
matching control groups of 18 Irish and 20 German L2 users were tested on an extensive test
battery of parallel German and English language tests. Participants additionally attempted a
linguistic aptitude test and responded to several questionnaires, allowing the comprehensive
probing of a wide range of predictor variables for L1 attrition and L2 acquisition.
The thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the between-group data, assessing participants'
L1 and L2 performance across three tasks. Participants' proficiency is thoroughly investigated
on quantitative and qualitative measures of complexity, accuracy and fluency at the group and
individual levels.
The results of the attrition study show that the bilingual group's performance does not differ
significantly from that of the German control group on most individual measures, the
exceptions being one fluency measure (percentage of repetitions) and certain error types.
However, when all measures are combined in z-scores, differences do become significant.
There are three individuals who consistently show low performance, who can be considered L1
attriters, while others perform on a par with the native-speaker controls. There is, however,
considerable variability within each group, in line with the assumptions of dynamic approaches
to language attrition.
The L2 attainment study, on the other hand, shows that on measures emphasising breadth of
linguistic knowledge and accuracy the bilingual group performs differently compared to the
Irish control group, while on measures focusing on fluency, lexical diversity and idiomatic
language use it was comparable. Over half of the bilingual participants have z-scores within the
control group's range, indicating native-like performance across the three tasks. The significant
group difference on the total scores is due to some bilingual participants who have not overall
achieved a similar level of proficiency. However, even those participants perform in a native-
like manner on some of the measures, and the bilingual group overall performs significantly
better than the other group of L2 learners, pointing to successful L2 acquisition on the part of
the bilingual group.
A brief consideration of some of the results of the within-group study serves to point out future
directions of research in relation to this study, and the chosen line of enquiry.
vi
Acknowledgements
On the long road to completing this thesis, I was fortunate to be able to rely on the specialist
advice, practical assistance and moral support of a great number of people. First and foremost,
thanks are due to my supervisor, Prof David Singleton, who guided the process with great
expertise, commitment and empathy, who never ceased to believe in the project's success and
encouraged and put his trust in me all the way.
Second, to Monika Schmid, for her very hands-on approach to attrition- and data-related
problems on more than one occasion, and more generally for setting up the Graduate Network
of First Language Attrition, thus creating a platform for learning, sharing ideas and materials,
for finding collegial support and forming friendships, all of which has been invaluable over the
years. To Barbara Köpke and Kees de Bot, for willingly sharing their vast expertise with
kindness, and for providing much-needed encouragement.
To my family, friends and colleagues, not all of whom I have space to mention by name, for
your never-failing support and belief in me, particularly during those times of upheaval, for
feeding me emotionally or with Green and Black's chocolate and very self-assured blueberry
jam, and for occasionally bending over backwards or taking a back seat to allow me to get on
with the work. Many of you have become involved in different stages of the process in various
practical ways – putting me up, enrolling participants, participating yourselves, transcribing and
rating material, being expert consultants on the German or English language and on questions
of statistics, reminding me of "my central question" and the progress implicit in putting
commas in the right place, being sound-boards for ideas, taking an interest, producing film clips
and much, much more.
I am eternally indebted to Brigitte Opitz, Susan Dostert, Gaby Schön and George Courtney for
caringly and actively supporting me in ways too numerous to list. Denise O'Leary, Charlotte
Lary and Jeannette Hemmecke; Sarah Smyth, John Harris, Seán Devitt, Breffni O'Rourke and
Lorna Carson; Jenny Bruen, Deirdre Murphy and Feargus Denman; Alexander Koch, Klaus
Schwienhorst, Ninel Dadon, Jana Löwe, Christiane Maaß, Hanneke Loerts and Gulsen Yilmaz;
Solvejg Opitz and Steffi Gieseler; Angela Leahy, Siobhán McNamara and Annette Simon;
Dorota Lubińska and Esther de Leeuw; Gay Conroy, Katrin Eberbach, Tamara O'Connor and
Damian McManus; Annette Schiller, Linda Ledwidge, Berni Gunning, Ann Hennessy, Eva
O'Cathaoir and Margaret Brady; Gottfried-Wilhelm Opitz, Mira Sonntag, Andrea Hacker,
Paula Kelly, Robin Hilliard, Tom Weymes, John Kearns, Ralf Hemmecke, Kai Karnowka,
Daniela Kobe and Christof Bußejahn – you have all made a big difference to the project!
I owe a very special debt of gratitude to my participants, who put themselves through a
gruelling number of tasks, with great patience and unfailing good humour. The work would not
have been possible without you, and I hope sincerely that this thesis – only a first step on the
way – does justice to you. You have provided me with special insights, generously opening up
your worlds to me, and providing me with enough material to last a lifetime!
viii
I dedicate this thesis to my mum, with love.
x