Vulnerable native grammars: the effects of limited input in native language attrition

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This project investigates the potential impact of learning a second language (L2) on a speaker's native language (L1). Native language attrition describes a change in speakers' L1 skills or knowledge when they are no longer exposed to it as frequently, for instance after migrating. This may manifest in word retrieval difficulties, comprehension delays, lack of confidence, etc. The least understood aspect of attrition concerns the vulnerability of a speaker's L1 grammar: their subconscious knowledge of the language's structure which is set during childhood. While relatively rare and restricted, attrition in adult L1 grammar is attested. Yet strikingly, it is incompatible with current models of language acquisition which assume that speakers' grammars remain unaltered beyond childhood. Our view is that such acquisition models, assuming stable L1 input in adulthood, have overlooked a potentially significant influence of substantive changes in L1 input. To elucidate the nature of grammatical attrition, we wish to investigate and provide answers to these questions: 1. Which aspects of the grammar are susceptible to attrition?2. What language input conditions favour attrition?3. How can a model of L1 acquisition be articulated to accommodate attrition?4. What are the implications for the concept of the 'native speaker' for both academics and the general public? Two of the investigators have recently begun to work towards an acquisition model entailing a prediction that attrition is more likely where the L2 is typologically close to the L1. The present project explores this experimentally, comparing the potential for grammatical attrition across three groups of speakers extensively exposed to another language variety during adulthood. The first group comprises speakers exposed to a syntactically distinct dialect of their L1 (Southern English speakers who have moved to Belfast); the second comprises speakers exposed to a typologically and diachronically related language (German speakers who have moved to the Netherlands); the third comprises speakers exposed to a typologically distinct language (Spanish speakers who have moved to Britain). Seeking robust evidence for the nature of the grammatical properties susceptible or resilient to attrition, we will undertake detailed comparative theoretical analyses of the syntactic phenomena in question. The composition of the project team bears out this integration of experimental L2 acquisition methods with theoretical approaches to comparative syntax. The three experimental groups will undertake a set of tasks to reveal their knowledge, use, and perceptions of their L1 by comparison with monolingual controls, including oral interviews (which will form a major new corpus of transcribed and tagged attrition data), off-line acceptability judgement tasks, an online processing task and a linguistic background and language use questionnaire. Our analysis will compare attrition patterns within and across the groups, identifying correlations with contextual characteristics, self-evaluation, quantity and quality of exposure to L1/L2 input. Combining these data with a nativeness perception task of attriters by monolingual L1 speakers allows us to problematise the concept of the 'native speaker', examining nuances and new understandings raised by L1 attrition both for the wider public and for its status within linguistic theory. This project will create the first open-access repository of attrited native speech will allow bilingual speakers to share experiences of attrition and website visitors to engage in debate.In summary, this project furthers our understanding of grammatical attrition in adult bilingual speakers on various levels. It establishes the nature and scope of attrition, advances new visions for major theories of the language faculty and its maturation within individuals, and explores implications for public and academic understandings of the 'native speaker'.