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Age effects have played a particularly prominent role in some theoretical perspectives on second language acquisition. This book takes an entirely new perspective on this issue by re-examining these theories in light of the existence of apparently similar non-native outcomes in adult heritage speakers who, unlike adult second language learners, acquired two or more languages in childhood. Despite having been exposed to their family language early in life, many of these speakers never fully acquire, or later lose, aspects of their first language sometime in childhood. The book examines the structural characteristics of "incomplete" grammatical states and highlights how age of acquisition is related to the type of linguistic knowledge and behavior that emerges in L1 and L2 acquisition under different environmental circumstances. By underscoring age of acquisition as a unifying factor in the study of L2 acquisition and L1 attrition, it is claimed that just as there are age effects in L2 acquisition, there are also age effects, or even perhaps a critical period, in L1 attrition. The book covers adult L2 acquisition, attrition in adults and in children, and includes a comparison of adult heritage language speakers and second language learners.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments xi–x Chapter 1. Foundations 1–25 Chapter 2. Second language acquisition 27–61 Chapter 3. First language attrition in adults 63–91 Chapter 4. Bilingualism in early childhood 93–129 Chapter 5. Bilingualism in middle and late childhood 131–159 Chapter 6. Incomplete L1 acquisition in adults 161–206 Chapter 7. Incomplete L1 and L2 acquisition in adults 207–248 Chapter 8. Implications 249–275 References 277–301 Index of authors 303–307 Index of terms 309–312

"This important and well-written book offers a timely and well-balanced review of recent research on non-native attainment. Montrul examines in great detail how age of acquisition is related to non-native outcomes, not only in L2 acquisition, but also in L1 attrition and in incomplete L1 acquisition as a result of early L2 acquisition, and how experiential factors interact with the age factor in effecting these outcomes. This book is a mine of information and is highly recommended to students of language acquisition, language attrition and bilingualism alike." -Theo Bongaerts, University of Nijmegen