An Empirical Study Of The Influence Of Gender On The English Language Attrition

Language attrition study, as the study of reverse process of language acquisition, has developed greatly in the west, especially in Europe since1980. Those western scholars have made systematic theories and hypotheses to illustrate it, while in China, only several scholars made a theoretical introduction to the definition and essential attributes of language attrition, which is limited to the theoretical research, such as Ni Chuanbin (2006,2007a,2007b,2008,2009,2010).Therefore, this paper tries to conduct an empirical study among Non-English majors six months after formal English instruction and find out the general condition of English language attrition and whether gender would influence on English language attrition. The research questions discussed in this study are:(1) What is the subjects’English language attrition like? Is there English language attrition of Non-English majors after six-month disuse of English or without exposure to English? Is there attrition in different language skills, listening, reading and writing? Is there any difference on the degree of English attrition between subjects who passed CET-6and those who did not pass CET-6?(2) Is there any gender influence on English language attrition? Are there any gender differences on English language skills, listening, reading and writing?English language performance test were made among126non-English majors in Chuzhou University who have finished systematical English study in their first two school years and had quitted English learning. In addition,20male subjects and20female subjects were chosen from126subjects randomly to participate in the interview to find out the general conditions and differences in English learning interest, motivation and learning methods between male and female subjects. Through the analysis by SPSS17.0, the results can be summarized as follows:(1) The subjects’English language proficiency suffered from language attrition at different levels after6months disuse of English or no exposure to English, as well as English language skills:listening, reading and writing. The subjects whose scores of CET-6are beyond425suffered less from language attrition than the subjects whose scores of CET-6are below425.(2) There are no significant differences in gender influence on English language attrition, as well as listening, reading and writing skills.In all, as the inverse process of language acquisition, language attrition should be paid more attention to from both language learners and language instructors. This study helps language learners acquire general knowledge about language attrition which may assist them to alleviate the influence from attrition, and develop the language acquisition efficiency eventually. Besides, as an empirical study, it provides some evidence about the gender influence on English language attrition which may shed light on English language teaching.