Social factors in ESL change upon re-entry into the L1 environment

This longitudinal case study examines in depth the social factors influencing changes in the communicative competence in English as a Second Language (ESL) of two adults during the first year of their return to their first language (Spanish) environment, a period of disuse which Gardner (1982) refers to as the Incubation Period. The research is motivated by recent work in the fields of Second Language Attrition (SLAt) and Retention (SLR), which are discussed under the general term of Second Language Change (SLC).;The study is situated in naturalistic inquiry and integrates both qualitative and quantitative measures in multiple-case study methodology. A standardized test of listening comprehension and the application of a developmental framework of question formation in ESL to transcribed spoken data provide indications of how ESL changes over one year. Those results are compared with an interactional discourse analytic approach to interview data which examines requests for clarification and a topic-flow analysis of comprehension, topic raising, archival information about acquisition and self-reports, to explore changes in the ESL of each participant during the Incubation Period.;Substantive topics from the spoken data and language diaries are collapsed into schema, which serve along with measures of attitude and motivation and responses to a questionnaire about participation in language-related situations, to explore why ESL changes occur.;The results of in-depth analysis of two cases and the triangulation of data expand upon the concept that second language attrition and retention be viewed as part of a continuum. The results suggest that the changes in ESL may occur for reasons other than those of the attrition/retention dynamic, such as bilingualism, language contact, and ethnic identity, and advocate the use of the term Incorporation Period as representing the social and psychological aspects of the time following acquisition more adequately than the term Incubation Period. The study contributes questions for future research and makes recommendations for language teaching.