Antonella Sorace - MIC Symposium 2024

Biography

Antonella Sorace (University of Edinburgh)

Antonella Sorace is Professor of Developmental Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Professor at University College London. She is internationally known and has published widely on gradience in natural language and bilingualism across the lifespan, where she brings together methods from linguistics, experimental psychology, and cognitive science. She is also committed to bringing research on bilingualism to people in different sectors of society: she is the founding director of Bilingualism Matters, a non-profit public engagement organisation which currently has a large international network in four different continents.

Lecture Abstract

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Title: The ecology of L2 learning and L1 change in bilingualism:

Abstract: Recent research on the phenomenon of first-generation ‘attrition’ has shown that a speaker’s first language (L1) changes in selective ways as a result of learning a second language (L2). The question is whether there is a relationship between openness of the L1 to change and level of L2 attainment, as research shows that the aspects of L1 grammar affected by change are the ones that remain variable even in highly proficient L2 speakers of the same language. Four provisional generalisations are possible at this stage: first, we should treat L1 grammatical changes as a natural and predictable consequence of language contact, in the bilingual brain and then in multilingual communities; second, understanding the big picture requires serious consideration of individual differences and of variation in the bilingual experience; third, we need to discontinue the use of ‘native monolingual speakers’ as a point of reference, both in research and in society; fourth, we need more interdisciplinary research on different aspects of child and adult bilingualism that combines the insights of linguistic, cognitive and social models.