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

这一项目表明，在有异议的情况下，演讲者可能无法保持其母语。最近关于成人语言损耗或语言丢失的研究质疑这样一种假设，即第一语言一旦获得，就会保持稳定，尽管接触并习得了另一种语言(或其他语言)。它还提出了一些重要的问题，有助于描述和解释语言磨损的本质，以及阐明人类语言的心理表征。这个项目的目标是帮助调查第一语言可能在哪里丢失以及为什么会丢失。具体地说，将检验界面假说对语言磨耗的预测。这一假说预测，人类语言在与语言本身外部的认知域相连的点上最容易受到磨耗，例如那些需要对特定话语语境的实时知识的特性。位于语言系统内部的属性，例如那些严格处理意义或语法的属性，不太可能受到侵蚀。在这个框架内，磨损的罪魁祸首被假设要么是额外语言(S)的直接干扰，要么是双语固有的某些语言处理缺陷。研究小组将进行一项密集的案例研究，测试一名以西班牙语为母语的成年人在连续接触巴西葡萄牙语25年后的第一语言语法。脱机(书面)和在线(定时)方法都用于测试L1和L2汇聚和发散的点上外部和内部接口的许多属性的知识，以及狭义句法属性。单语本族语语料是比较的基础。这项研究的结果不仅将允许检查可能的磨损领域，而且还将更精确地查看磨损的原因(S)。

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.