A Study On Word Class Differences In English Vocabulary Attrition

Language attrition is the process of decay that a language experiences for lack of use.Attrition may happen at the level of an individual speaker who gradually forgets a language due to less use in their life,or at the level of the speech community that gradually replaces by another language or transforms aspects of their original language for social policies.And it has been found that the achievements of the existed research show the characteristic of multi-faceted and polygenetic.Also,the pattern of the cross-context and multi-channel has been formed in language attrition.Due to the importance of vocabulary in linguistic research,foreign scholars conduct a series of studies on vocabulary attrition.However,studies on language attrition at home are still at the stage of theory-introducing,few studies are conducted under the subject of vocabulary attrition,and the related empirical studies remain unobserved domestically.Therefore,reporting an empirical study on English vocabulary attrition,the thesis intends to verify whether the widely used language attrition theories,namely,regression hypothesis,can be supported by the data obtained in the study of attrition of English vocabulary learned in Chinese context.Thus three critical research questions will be addressed here in detail:(1)will the attrition of English vocabulary acquired in Chinese context correspond with the Regression Hypothesis?(2)Are the attrition degree of different word classes the same and what is the tendency of English vocabulary attrition in Chinese context?(3)Is certain group of English vocabulary more vulnerable to attrition through a certain period of time of disuse?The subjects investigated in the thesis are 114 non-English major Chinese graduates who have learned English as a foreign language.The instruments adopted are a vocabulary test consisting of 120 test terms and a questionnaire about subjects' personal information.After the collection of vocabulary test papers,the scores of the examination papers,students'background,and vocabulary characteristics have been analyzed by quantitative and qualitative analysis,besides,according to the results of the examination,a return investigation has been made.The results obtained in the thesis suggest:(1)Attrition of English vocabulary acquired during the period of English learning course in Chinese context also keeps in line with Jacobson's Regression Hypothesis,that is,English vocabulary learned in middle school is more resistant to be attrited than those in university.(2)The attrition degree of each word classes are different,especially adverbs and prepositions are the most likely to be prone to attrition whereas nouns and verbs are relatively stable.(3)In consideration of the factors of language attrition are various,through controlling other factors,that is,in linguistic feature,such as word length in terms of letter and syllable,word frequency,the differences in different word classes are not obvious,however,in individual factors,for example,initial proficiency and time of disuse,adverbs are the most vulnerable to attrition then preposition which is opposite to common sense.Based on the findings,implications and suggestions on vocabulary teaching and learning are dealt with in the thesis.The adverbs are suggested to be paid more attention during teaching and learning.For those words suffering attrition more easily,teachers are expected to help learners to consolidate their knowledge of those words by introducing some mnemonics or other strategies that can produce strong memory traces.In addition to teacher-supplied strategies,learners are also expected to develop their own methods that keep better retention.Moreover,they are required to timely review those old and new words which have potential to be prone to attrition.