English Language Attrition in Teachers: Questions of Language Proficiency, Language Maintenance and Language Attitudes
Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the attrition of English in English language teachers whose native language is Polish. It focuses on the attrition of more advanced vocabulary and structures which are taught in English Philology departments at universities, but which may not be necessary for teachers who teach at the lower levels of education and, as a consequence, they may be especially prone to attrition. At the same time, the study includes a questionnaire aiming to reveal the participants’ attitudes towards linguistic correctness and their strategies of language maintenance. As the results show, some attrition can indeed be observed, yet it must also be remarked that the teachers do try to maintain their proficiency levels in English by using the language in various ways, such as reading books and articles in English, watching films in English, talking to native speakers, etc.
Keywords
language attrition; advanced users of English as L2; English language teachers; language maintenance
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University of Social Sciences, Cracow Poland
Ph.D. in linguistics, academic teacher at the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Ostrava
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