Maturational Constraints and First Language Attrition

The aim of the article is to examine how first language attrition research on maturational constraints interprets and links its findings to current views on maturation in the field of second language acquisition. It is argued that attrition research exhibits certain inconsistencies in the interpreta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLanguage learning Vol. 59; no. 3; pp. 687 - 715
Main Author Bylund, Emanuel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2009
Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects
Adults. Performance, acquisition
Age
age differences
Bilingualism
Bilingualism Research
Children & youth
Critical Period Hypothesis
Developmental Stages
first language attrition
first language attrition • second language acquisition • age differences • critical period hypothesis • maturational constraints
HUMANIORA och RELIGIONSVETENSKAP
HUMANITIES and RELIGION
Language Acquisition
Language Attrition
Language proficiency
Language Research
Language Skill Attrition
Languages and linguistics
Linguistic subjects
Linguistics
Lingvistikämnen
maturational constraints
Maturity (Individuals)
Native Language
Production and comprehension processes
Psycholinguistics
Psychology of language
Research Methodology
second language acquisition
Second Language Learning
Second Languages
Språkvetenskap
Tvåspråkighet
tvåspråkighetsforskning
Language attrition
Psycholinguistics
Second language acquisition
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Summary:The aim of the article is to examine how first language attrition research on maturational constraints interprets and links its findings to current views on maturation in the field of second language acquisition. It is argued that attrition research exhibits certain inconsistencies in the interpretation of the structural characteristics of the critical period and the interplay between maturation and nonmaturational factors in attrition. In view of findings from first language relearning/reactivation and theoretical‐methodological advances in second language research on maturation, the article proposes a reinterpretation of maturational constraints in language attrition that, first, emphasizes the gradual decline of susceptibility to attrition and, second, puts forth the conditioning function that the maturational constraints have on nonmaturational factors.
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This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (Grant No. 421‐2004‐1975, N. Abrahamsson, K. Hyltenstam, E. Bylund, and K. Stölten). The main part of the ideas presented in this article was originally presented at the 14th Conference of the European Association for Second Language Acquisition (EuroSLA), Donosti‐San Sebastián, Spain, September 2004. I wish to thank Kenneth Hyltenstam, Niclas Abrahamsson, Robert DeKeyser, Ray Vesterinen, and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions on previous drafts of this work. I would also like to thank Thomas Lavelle for checking my English writing. None of these persons, however, is responsible for any remaining errors of fact or interpretation.
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ISSN:0023-8333
1467-9922
1467-9922
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00521.x