Doctoral Dissertation Research: On L1 Attrition and the Interface Hypothesis--A Case study of Spanish Attrition in contact with Brazilian Portuguese

这个项目表明，在出现问题的情况下，说话者可能无法维持他/她的第一语言。最近对成人语言消耗或语言丧失的研究质疑了一种假设，即第一语言一旦习得，无论接触或习得其他语言（或其他语言），都能保持稳定。它还提出了一些重要的问题，这些问题有助于描述和解释语言损耗的本质，并阐明人类语言的心理表征。这个项目的目标是帮助调查在哪里以及为什么第一语言可能会消失。具体来说，界面假设的预测应用于语言损耗将被测试。这一假设预测，人类语言最容易在与语言本身之外的认知领域相连接的点上受到损耗，比如那些需要实时了解特定话语上下文的属性。语言系统内部的属性，比如那些严格处理意义或语法的属性，不太可能被侵蚀。在这个框架内，损耗的罪魁祸首被假设为来自额外语言的直接干扰或双语者固有的某些语言处理缺陷。研究小组将进行一项深入的案例研究，测试母语为西班牙语的成年人在不间断地接触巴西葡萄牙语25年后的L1语法。离线（书面）和在线（定时）方法都用于测试外部和内部接口上的许多属性的知识，以及L1和L2收敛和发散点上的狭窄语法属性。单语母语者的数据可以作为比较的基础。这项研究的结果不仅允许对可能的损耗领域进行检查，而且还允许更精确地查看损耗的原因。

This project speaks to the prospect that, under conditions of disues, a speaker may not maintain his/her first language. Recent research into adult language attrition, or language loss, questions the assumption that a first language, once acquired, remains stable in spite of exposure to, and the acquisition of, an additional language (or additional langueges). It also raises important questions that help describe and explain the nature of linguistic attrition, as well as shed light on the mental representation of human language. The goal of this project is to contribute to the investigation of both where and why a first language may be lost. Specifically, the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis as applied to language attrition will be tested. This hypothesis predicts that human language is most susceptible to attrition at points that interface with domains of cognition that are external to language proper, such as those properties which require a real-time knowledge of the particular discourse context. Properties that lie internally to the linguistic system, such as those that deal strictly with meaning or syntax, are less likely to erode. Within this framework, the culprit of attrition is hypothesized to be either direct interference from additional language(s) or certain language processing deficits inherent to bilingualism. The research team will carry out an intensive case study which tests the L1 grammar of an adult native speaker of Spanish after 25 years of uninterrupted exposure to Brazilian Portuguese. Both offline (written) and online (timed) methodologies are used to test knowledge of a number of properties at external and internal interfaces, as well as narrow syntactic properties, at points where the L1 and L2 converge and diverge. Monolingual native-speaker data serves as a basis of comparison. The results of this study will not only allow for an examination of possible domains of attrition but also for more precise look at the cause(s) of attrition.