forgotten Russian - how to restore it?

[Alina Israeli]

What is interesting is that the language is lost in post-Piaget stage,  
at the age 10-12.

Although anecdotally I know a case of a family who immigrated  
(repatriated) when children were 3, 15 and 18. The one who was 15  
spoke neither Russian nor French (they came from Belgium). I've seen  
similar instances among Russian immigrants at the US: there is a  
critical post-puberty age when the original language is lost and the  
new one is not acquired.


Mar 14, 2011, в 11:34 AM, anne marie devlin написал(а):

>
> Language attrition (or loss) is very common especialy in small  
> children.  There is a hypothesis (critical period hypothesis) which  
> posits that the critical period for language acquisition is between  
> 2yrs old and the onset of puberty, roughly.  Therefore, if children  
> do not have the necessary access to language during that period, the  
> process may not be complete and it could be easier to lose.  As for  
> the restoration, studies indicate that it may not be possible and  
> that exposure to language before the end of the critical period may  
> simply be lost.  However, recent studies into children adopted from  
> Korea point to a greater sensitivity to phonological features when  
> they try to relearn the language later.  But that really is the  
> height of it.  Unfortunately, language does seem to disappear.
> From a more personal point of view, my daughter was completely  
> bilingual in English and Russian until the age of 7 when we returned  
> to Ireland.  Within about 6 months she had forgotten everything.   
> So, it seems that cognitively that acquisition hadn't become 'set'  
> and at the age of 7, it was still unstable and as easy to lose as it  
> had been to acquire.
>

Alina Israeli
Associate Professor of Russian
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington DC 20016
(202) 885-2387 	fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu

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