2nd language attrition - Shades of gray and other matters

[hsmr at gol.com]

Hi everyone!

It appears that we have found another subject of some interest to other
members of the mailing. So please allow me to pursue it further, but
under a more appropriate heading  -- 2nd language attrition.

As Kevin Rocap recently pointed out (04/10/14), bilingualism does make
a difference with regard to how our brains are structured, and the
earlier we learn a second language the greater is the impact of
bilingualism on this structure. Exactly what the advantages of having
denser gray matter are, I am not altogether sure. Under the assumption
that those who have dedicated their lives to the study of our cranial
neurology know what they are talking about; however, might we not
conclude that bilingualism is a good thing? I am not so easily
convinced, as what might be good for our brains, may not be good for
society.

I was happy to learn from Aurolyn that stable diglossic situations can
and do exist for many generations, as it provides hope for a healthy
balance between globalization and the preservation of local language
and culture. I was also pleased to learn from Aurolyn that the edging
out of L1 by L2 is primarily political in nature. This means that a
political solution can be found, where indeed those who care enough
about their language and culture wish to preserve it.

David Balosa's personal experience with Portuguese, French, Lingala,
Kikongo, and English also coincides very well with my own. I, too, have
drawn lines between my several languages and have given each a
"specific role in my cognitive universe". Then too, none of us has more
than 24 hours in a day, and each of us must allot his time accordingly.
As the the world becomes increasingly modern and ever more complex, the
ramifications are twofold: one, how much time, energy, and money we can
afford to devote to the learning of a second language on the one hand;
and two how much of the same we can devote to nurturing the second
languages that we have learned on the other. As language is something
that must be nurtured, else it fall into disrepair, how we spend our
time with each language is important. This is where 2nd language
attrition becomes important.

In her closing remarks to her last email Aurolyn wrote "Good luck
trying to convince all those politically  &
economically marginalized, aspiring L2 learners that they don't really
need the L2 as much as they think
they do!" Quite frankly, I do not believe this would be much of a
problem, if only it can be shown that those, who create the artificial
demand that drives these people to learn L2s, are making a very poor
investment.

Now, I have several questions:

1) David: When providing a reason as to why you chose to cultivate the
French language, you wrote, "French is more beautiful than Portuguese
and French people are more developed than Portuguese people".

When I first began learning German and French as a second language, I
believed that French was a more beautiful language than German. I know
longer believe this. What I have discovered is that each language has
its own intrinsic beauty and that this beauty grows with one's
familiarity with the people and culture that serve as the basis for the
literature and discourse that form the basis for a language's beauty.
Furthermore, that you talk at all about the beauty of language suggests
to me a certain fascination with language that not everyone has. Do you
feel that your experience with language is representative of most DR
Congolese?

2) Aurolyn: Certainly very good mastery of the English language can
reap important benefits in East Asia, but knowing a little English in a
society, where everyone is forced to learn English, greatly dilutes any
benefit from knowing just a little. I would be very curious to learn
what you meant when you wrote "my experience in Bolivia indicates that
even a very limited mastery of the L2 ... can bring big benefits".

Also, most of the literature that I have found dealing with L2
attrition, is devoted to attrition within the L2 learning environment
or migration. I am only aware of one individual who has done research
of L2 attrition in a post-educational environment that does not include
migration. His name is C. L. J. de Bot, and he studied post-secondary
French-L2 attrition in either the Netherlands or Belgium.

3) Kevin: For what is worth Wellcome Supermarket and Park & Shop, Hong
Kong's two principal grocery chains, control close to 80% of the Hong
Kong retail food industry. Of all the places in the world, there are
likely few that can top Hong Kong for the level of prestige that the
English language plays in society. This, by the way, is not to say that
the quality of what is written and spoken among the general public is
very good. In any case, not having read beyond what you wrote I
question the motivation behind the study. I wonder for example, what
happens to the gray matter of bilingually trained people, who know
longer use and develop their bilingual skills after they have acquired
them. Also, I would like to know what happens to the gray matter of
those who are compelled to learn languages against their will --
probably most of the world's population....

Hamo

R. A. Stegemann
EARTH's Manager and HKLNA-Project Director
EARTH - East Asian Research and Translation in Hong Kong
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/earth/
Tel/Fax: 852 2630 0349