English Attrition Of Middle School English Teachers:an Empirical Study

The first international conference on the attrition of language skills, which was held at the University of Pennsylvania in1980, lays the first landmark of language attrition as an independent discipline. Language attrition, commonly regarded as the inverse process of language acquisition, refers to the loss of language skills by individuals due to disuse of language over time. In the past thirty years, many foreign scholars have carried out lots of researches on language attrition and have gained certain achievements. Some Chinese researchers have begun to conduct various studies on language attrition targeted at different language learners. These scholars have made great progress about the theory of language attrition. Relevant empirical studies are still in need.This thesis, whose aim is to explore English attrition exhibited on in-service middle school English teachers, tries to answer the following questions:(1) Does attrition occur in middle school English teachers after their graduation, and, if so, to what degree and in what kind of pattern?(2) Are different language skills affected by attrition to the same degree, and whether attrition of different language skills develops in the same pattern over time?(3) Is language attrition the mirror image of language acquisition, or whether the order of attrition is in opposition to the order of acquisition?(4) Does continuing English training during their service reduce language attrition on middle school English teachers, if so, to what degree?The quantitative research method is adopted in this thesis.One hundred and fifty-three in-service middle school English teachers from Jinan and Liaocheng are tested in the form of an English test. The test paper includes lexical knowledge subtest, grammar subtest and reading comprehension subtest. The scores of vocabulary, grammar and reading are analyzed respectively according to the participants’teaching period and whether they have taken on-the-job English training courses and a conclusion has been made:(1) Both the general language skills and the specific language skills, namely, lexical knowledge, grammar knowledge and reading comprehension skills, of in-service middle school English teachers show obvious signs of attrition. The participants have maintained good grammar knowledge because they focus on teaching and studying grammar points during their teaching practice. while their lexical and reading skills have been reduced. (2) Middle school English teachers have undergone an increasing degree of language attrition over their teaching period. The teachers who have six years of teaching experience lave shown more obvious language attrition than those who have three years of teaching experience.(3) With regard to the order of attrition, the most complex and difficult-to-command language skills are lost earlier than the least complex and easiest-to-command ones. In addition, the order of language attrition is opposite to that of language acquisition, namely, what is learned first will be maintained last while what is learned last will be lost first. It also confirms the viewpoint that language attrition is the mirror image of language acquisition.(4) In the same teaching period, the participants who have taken on-the-job language training course have better lexical, grammar and reading knowledge than those who haven’t been trained. In other words, these teachers have shown strong resistance on language attrition. Moreover, the more formal training the teachers have received, the stronger language attrition resistance they have.This thesis, aimed at exploring the language attrition on the middle school English teachers, provides middle school English teachers and foreign language administrators with some suggestions about the on-the-job training programs.