An Empirical Study On Language Attrition Of English Major Graduates

Language attrition is the inverse process of language learning. It means that for abilingual or multilingual, his or her ability to use one specific language regresses with timedue to the cease or reduction of use. As a field of academic research, the study of languageattrition was first formally acknowledged at the conference on the Attrition of LanguageSkills at the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. The attrition research published in Englishhas reported on a wide spectrum of languages, mainly in European, American as well asJapanese context. However, compared with its popularity abroad, in China, language attritionobtains little attention. Until now, except several literature review essays, few domesticscholars have reported any research into language attrition of Chinese students. Besides, noobservations have been reported abroad on the attrition of English as a second or foreignlanguage in Chinese context. This research into the attrition of English as a second or foreignlanguage in Chinese context helps test whether the present theories or hypotheses areuniversally applicable.Many foreign researchers focus on the verification of the“Inverse Hypothesis”, hopingto find out the main factors which are likely to affect the degree of second language attritionthrough their research results．The aim of this paper is to analyze the test results of Englishmajor graduates two years later after their graduation and verify the evidence of second language attrition among them. If attrition actually exists, what is the relationship between theinitial proficiency level and the degree of attrition? Is it subject to the Inverse Hypothesis? Inaddition, this paper analyzes another factor, the amount of exposure to language, which arelikely to affect the degree of second language attrition．Based on the literature review of previous theoretical and empirical researches, thepresent study chose English major graduates as subjects, who had taught for two years inmiddle schools, and administered SPSS19.0 to obtain the main data from their testing resultsin different periods to verify the“Inverse Hypothesis”. After analyzing the research data, thepresent study has come to the final conclusions: Second language attrition actually existsamong English majors after they have taught in middle schools for two years. The“InverseHypothesis”is supported by the present study. A strong negative correlation between theamount of exposure to language and the degree of second language attrition has beensupported in the present study．Finally, implications and suggestions for the foreign language teaching and learninghave been drawn from the research results．In order to reduce the attrition amount as far aspossible and keep the linguistic capacity for a long period，foreign language learners shouldtake some active anti-attrition measures and use English on all possible occasions．As forEnglish major graduates who work in middle schools, it is especially necessary to avoidattrition and retain their English skills as many as possible. English major graduates,especially those who work as English teachers after their graduation, may benefit more fromprevention of English attrition. So it is of great practical significance to study this subject forcultivating teachers’sustainable development and improving their teaching quality. Theresults also provide the theoretical basis for future relearning projects, namely, effectivelycarrying out relative trainings for teaches in middle schools.