LANGUAGE ATTITUDES, EMOTION WORDS AND

IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION:
A CASE STUDY AMONG TWO L1 ATTRITORS

MAGGIE ANNE PETERS

PHD THESIS PROPOSAL JUNE 2015
UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
 Introduction
The Multilingual Speaker
▪Native language (L1) is presumed to remain the dominant language
throughout the course of speakers life
▪In an increasingly transnational world changes in language use & dominance
are observed

implications to native language AND first language loss (L1 attrition)

 Introduction
The Multilingual Speaker
▪Native language (L1) is presumed to remain the dominant language
throughout the course of speakers life
▪In an increasingly transnational world changes in language use & dominance
are observed

implications to native language AND first language loss (L1 attrition)

▪The study of multilingual speakers considers ethnomethodological approaches

in order to understand how factors of:
Attrition, Immigration, Education, & Language Use affect perceptions &
language attitudes across speakers while impacting the construction of their
social identities (Schmid, 2007; 2009)
 Literature Review
▪L1 Attrition – performance shift across two languages (Schmid & Kopke, 2004)

• Age
-Education – L1 retention (Kopke & Schmid, 2004)
Immigration • L1 use -Adolescence – L1 more deeply encoded (Schmid, 2011)
-Psychological & Emotional Experiences
(Pavlenko and Blackledge, 2002) (Jimenez, 2004)
 Literature Review
▪L1 Attrition – performance shift across two languages (Schmid & Kopke, 2004)

• Age
-Education – L1 retention (Kopke & Schmid, 2004)
Immigration • L1 use -Adolescence – L1 more deeply encoded (Schmid, 2011)
-Psychological & Emotional Experiences
(Pavlenko and Blackledge, 2002) (Jimenez, 2004)

Dynamic Model of Multilingualism (DMM), (Herdina & Jessner, 2002)

❖ L1 attrition can be seen as a process of continuous adjustment to changes in
the multilingual speaker´s environment.
❖ language acquisition and language attrition are intrinsically related, dynamic
systems where one language system directly mirrors the other
❖ Language loss or maintenance is related to domain specificity
❖ Multilingual competence is distinct from monolingual competence
 Literature Review
Language use & lexical choices:
-Sociolinguistic & sociopsychological factors towards the
language and its speakers
-Emotion words – specific to sociocultural & emotional
• Affective experience (Pavlenko and Blackledge, 2002)
Identity • Epistemic -Not all languages are equal across communities (Schmid, 2008)
stances -Multiple member group status’ or hybrid identities (Pavlenko,
2002), (Block, 2007)
-through the expression of language affiliation, expertise, &
inheritance, that the multilingual constructs their identity
 Literature Review
Language use & lexical choices:
-Sociolinguistic & sociopsychological factors towards the
language and its speakers
-Emotion words – specific to sociocultural & emotional
• Affective experience (Pavlenko and Blackledge, 2002)
Identity • Epistemic -Not all languages are equal across communities (Schmid, 2008)
stances -Multiple member group status’ or hybrid identities (Pavlenko,
2002), (Block, 2007)
-through the expression of language affiliation, expertise, &
inheritance, that the multilingual constructs their identity
Membership Categorization (MC), (Block, 2007)
❖ Social identities constructed with social acts – a social and goal-directed behavior (i.e.
requests, contradicting, interrupting)

❖ stances –a socially recognized point of view (i.e. mothers care for their babies, students should study).
❖ Categories include lexicalized formulations for subjects, activities and behaviors to a
particular community
 Research Aims:
1. How are multilingual and multicultural L1 attritors’ perceptions
and beliefs expressed about their language use in terms of
language attitudes, awareness of emotion words, and their
perceived attrition?
(2.) How do these perceptions relate to measured attrition tests?
3. How do these perceptions evolve over time and are there
certain factors contributing to this evolution?
4. Does the DMM provide a theoretical and testable framework
into explaining these changes?
5. And how does the multilingual/multicultural individual
construct their identity in consideration of all these factors?
 
 Participants in Case Study
LUIZ
▪ 26 male, born in Brazil, living in Los Angeles
▪ L1 Portuguese L2 English L3 Spanish
▪ Child & adolescent immigrant
▪ Additive Bilingual
▪ Socioeconomic status: upper
▪ L1 education:
▪ 5 years immersion/4 years bilingual in
Brazil
▪ L1 attritor:
▪ Onset: 3 years after immigration at 15-16
▪ Increased loss in last 2 years at Uni
 Participants in Case Study
LUIZ
▪ 26 male, born in Brazil, living in Los Angeles
▪ L1 Portuguese L2 English L3 Spanish
▪ Child & adolescent immigrant
▪ Additive Bilingual
▪ Socioeconomic status: upper
▪ L1 education:
▪ 5 years immersion/4 years bilingual in
Brazil
▪ L1 attritor:
▪ Onset: 3 years after immigration at 15-16
▪ Increased loss in last 2 years at Uni
MARIJETA
▪ 27 female, born in Germany, living in Berlin
▪ L1 Croatian L2 German L3 English L4 French
▪ Immigrant family
▪ Heritage Speaker/Additive Bilingual
▪ Socioeconomic status: lower
▪ L1 education:
▪ 6-7 years weekly class in Germany
▪ L1 attritor:
▪ Onset: after leaving home at 19
▪ Gradual loss
Procedure
Longitudinal mixed-method approach:
▪In order to promote reflection and display of sociolinguistic
identity in discourse, and to obtain background and linguistic
information, questionnaires, journal entries and interviews
will be used and/or video recorded.
▪Interviews will be transcribed, analyzed and coded using
Discourse Analysis and MCA (Day, 1992) (Baker, 2002) (Mann, 2010)
(Ochs, 1993)

▪L1 Attrition will be measured and evaluated using cloze tests

and language placement tests
 Instruments
▪Attrition Tests - Cloze and Language Placement Tests
▪Questionnaire - Emotion words & domain specificity
▪Journals - Domain specificity & language attitudes
▪Interviews - Accounts of Emotion words & domain specificity

Attrition: 1st Questionnaire Interview Attrition

Self-reports Interview Tests
________________________________________________________________
Questionnaire Attrition Journal Journal
Tests
 Instruments
▪L1 Attrition Test - cloze test and language placement test (Schmid, 2011)
◦ In order to provide a measure of participants general proficiency in their L1
◦ obtain a current level of their attrition
◦ 2 data collections - in order to see if their level of attrition is worsening

▪Questionnaires - Investigating domain specificity in relation to use and preference of emotion word
◦ Stemming off the BEQ, (Dewaele, Pavlenko, 2002) eliciting likert-type ratings of language attitudes
concerning use and preference of emotion words and domain specificity
◦ FURTHER LITERATURE RESEARCH REQUIRED

▪Journal Entries - Short/general inquiries regarding use and choice of emotion words and domain specificity
◦ Relflection without pressure of a face to face interview, to be further investigated in Interviews
◦ FURTHER LITERATURE RESEARCH REQUIRED

▪Interviews - open-ended Interview(s) with participants for further analysis of participants L1 attrition in terms of
changes across time, domain specificity, life events, and use/preference of emotion words
◦ In order to promote reflection and display of sociolinguistic identity in discourse as well as provide accounts
of domain specificity (Mann, 2011; Baker, 2002)
◦ FURTHER LITERATURE RESEARCH REQUIRED
Completed Work
INSTRUMENTS:

▪Self-reports of L1 Attrition: (completed) – Schmid’s Can-do Scales

▪Oral Questionnaire: (completed) - Based off BEQ (Pavlenko &

Dewaele, 2002) sociobiographical info & likert-type ratings of
language attitudes, use and anxiety

▪1st Interview: (completed) - open-ended questions (based off

answers from questionnaire): early L2 learning, immigration, and
multilingualism covering language attitudes, use of emotion words,
identity and attrition.
 2015

January February March April May June July August September October November December

  Project Design , Literature Review - project proposal   Data collection Data code and Project Design , Literature Review -
analysis Design Questionnaire/Interviews
Test for L1
Attrition of L1 Attrition

2016

February March April May June July August September October November December
January

Data collection Data codification and Data Data codification and analysis   Data collection Data codification and analysis
analysis collection
Questionnaire Journals Interview Interview
Questionnaire Journals

  Project Design , Literature Review - Design Interviews Present report     Write Thesis

2017

February March April May June July August September October November December
January

Data collection Data codification and   Data collection Analysis  

analysis Journals
Journal Test for L1 of L1 Attrition
Attrition 2 2

Write Thesis Present thesis  

Work Plan
Thank You