A Survey On The Attrition Sequence Of English Relative Clauses Of Non-English Majors In Chinese Context And Some Relevant Factors

Grammar, as one of the essential parts in the field of language study, has drawn more and more attention. And English relative clause, as one of the most complex English grammar, is a kind of clause with a relative pronoun or a relative adverb which is used to modify a noun or a pronoun. Due to its function which is similar to the adjective and its higher frequency in our daily communication, it has been an important concern in linguistics. As one of the essential parts in the acquisition of syntactic structures, many studies have been carried out from different perspectives such as the formal differences, semantic functions, the acquisition order of relative clauses and the effect of teaching and so on. The present study is aimed to explore the attrition sequence of some basic English relative clauses in Chinese context.With more and more emphasis on English proficiency level in Chinese education, both teachers and students have paid much attention and energy in foreign language teaching and learning. However, the result is still unsatisfying. After learners finish the formal English learning for some months or years, students’English proficiency will decline or even disappear. Foreign scholars first made some studies on this phenomenon and defined it as language attrition. Language attrition is the inverse process of language learning, which means that for a bilingual or multilingual his or her ability to use one specific language regresses with time due to the cease or reduction of use. It can not only refer to the decline or loss of the ability of using second or foreign language but also can refer to the decline or even loss of the use of mother tongue by those living in second language context. And language attrition has been defined as a new academic field in linguistics after the conference titled Loss of Language Skills held in the University of Pennsylvania in1980. Over the following two and three decades, language attrition has been a heated topic and has got much focus in foreign linguistics.Compared to the studies of language attrition at abroad, the study in this field in China still remains in the introduction phase and there are few empirical studies in the situation of language attrition in Chinese context. The phenomenon of high consumption and low efficiency of foreign language teaching and learning has been an indisputable fact in China. Therefore, a study on how to learn English effectively and how to remain the ability for a long time will do benefit to the English language teaching in China.The focus of this study is on the research of the attrition sequence of some basic English relative clauses in Chinese context and promotes the following questions:(1) Does any attrition exist in English relative clauses among non-English major graduates?(2) If so, what is the attrition sequence of some English relative clauses? And can Regression Hypothesis really testify the attrition sequence?(3) Does proficiency level prior to attrition affect the attrition of English relative clauses?(4) What are the differences of attrition on people with different TO As?(5) Does gender have influence on the attrition difference?Based on the careful reading of a great many related theoretical and empirical studies on language attrition, the data in the present study are mainly obtained from two instruments:questionnaire and test. The empirical study indicates that there exists attrition in English relative clauses after learners end the formal English learning for at least two years and the Regression Hypothesis can be supported in the study. The results also indicate that the proficiency level prior to attrition, the TOAs as well as gender have obvious effect on the attrition of English relative clause. Based on the research results, some implications for English relative clauses teaching and learning in Chinese context are suggested:due to different attrition degree in different English relative clauses, the focus should be on the syntactic structure which can easily be attrited after the command of some basic structures. And for learners, the wide use of English has made the command of certain English skills necessary, so learners should gain some proper English training after they end the formal English learning to remain and improve the proficiency level.