First Language Attrition Induces Changes in Online Morphosyntactic Processing and Re-Analysis: An ERP Study of Number Agreement in Complex Italian Sentences.

ABSTRACT: First language (L1) attrition in adulthood offers new insight on neuroplasticity and the role of language experience in shaping neurocognitive responses to language. Attriters are multilinguals for whom advancing L2 proficiency comes at the cost of the L1, as they experience a shift in exposure and dominance (e.g., due to immigration). To date, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying L1 attrition are largely unexplored. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we examined L1-Italian grammatical processing in 24 attriters and 30 Italian native-controls. We assessed whether (a) attriters differed from non-attriting native speakers in their online detection and re-analysis/repair of number agreement violations, and whether (b) differences in processing were modulated by L1-proficiency. To test

SUBMITTER: Kasparian K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5638100 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature