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Effects of second language learning on the first language: a longitudinal case study of Japanese learners Hayashi, Choji

Abstract

The intent of this study was to examine L2 (English) influence on L1 (Japanese). The lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic influences of L2 on L1 were investigated both in learners' speaking styles and writing styles. Changes in their Japanese writing quality was also examined over an extended period of time and compared with changes of their English writing quality. Additionally, the relationship between learners' attitudes toward cultural awareness and fluctuation of learners' L1 quality was examined in both their Japanese speech and writing. Two male and two female Japanese learners studying at a university level in Canada were the subjects of the study. The results of a descriptive analysis revealed that the learners' L1 was influenced by longitudinal exposure to L2 in lexical, syntactic and pragmatic dimensions of both speaking and writing lexically, syntactically and pragmatically. However, pragmatic transfer from L2 to L1 was not as conspicuous as lexical and syntactic transfer. The results also showed the relationship between changes of subjects' L1 and their attitudes toward the target culture.

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