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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Doctoral Dissertations

2008

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Full-Text Articles in German Language and Literature

Aspects Of First Language Attrition: A Case Study Of German Immigrants In East Tennessee, Raluca Mihaela Negrisanu May 2008

Aspects Of First Language Attrition: A Case Study Of German Immigrants In East Tennessee, Raluca Mihaela Negrisanu

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines aspects of first language attrition (L1= German) in a second language (L2= English) environment. It sheds light on language contact and attrition research and focuses on first generation German immigrants to East Tennessee who were administered a series of tests to ascertain their language attrition to establish extralinguistic factors promoting or inhibiting it.

The Study Group consisted of 22 German immigrants to the U.S., both men and women, aged between 27 and 68, who emigrated as late teens or adults and have been here for more than three years. The Control Group consisted of 12 German native …