Open AccessA Sociolinguistic Perspective on L1 Attrition in First-Generation Immigrant Children
Author(s) -
Lydia Palaiologou
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of english language teaching and applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2707-756X
DOI - 10.32996/jeltal.2021.3.10.5
Subject(s) - attrition , multitude , multilingualism , psychology , sociolinguistics , meaning (existential) , sociology , immigration , linguistics , prestige , developmental psychology , pedagogy , political science , medicine , philosophy , dentistry , law , psychotherapist
This present review paper will be investigating the topic of first language (L1) attrition, primarily concentrating on how this process is realized in first-generation immigrant children, meaning children who either were born in a country different than the one their parents were born in or foreign-born children whose parents immigrated when that person was very young. This angle is particularly interesting as this L1 attrition is simultaneously co-occurring with second language (L2) acquisition and is connected to a multitude of sociolinguistic factors, the most important of which is the concept of sociolinguistic prestige as well as the concept of age-based speech communities and how the members of these communities influence one another's speech. The main goal is to gain more insight into how first language attrition research has taken into account such complex social matters as well as understanding the effects social/cognitive factors like these have on children who are being exposed to more than one language in their everyday life. To further the understanding of the social component of L1 attrition, this paper presents a comparison between two examples of language policy, in Romania and in the Netherlands, concerning multilingualism in society as well as in education.