Investigation into Phonological Attrition among Beginner Chinese Mandarin Language Learners

Studying foreign language attrition is important in the context of Chinese language learning because, in light of a growing worldwide interest in learning Chinese languages, language professionals need to understand the complexities of Chinese language acquisition. However, little research exists to date on foreign language attrition among Chinese language learners. In this study, we examined the features of language attrition, especially phonological attrition, among Mandarin learners in a higher educational institution in Brunei Darussalam. Additionally, we sought to test, in a Bruneian context, prominent theories and hypotheses about language attrition, including markedness theory and functional load theory. Our sample consisted of 86 beginner Mandarin students who spoke Malay as their native language and English as the academic language. Participants were 18–20 years old and studied Mandarin formally 4 hours per week for 14 consecutive weeks, during which they were also required to study for 8 hours per week on their own. Subsequently, they took a 3-month break from studying. We tested participants before and after the break and computed descriptive statistics to compare the results of the two tests. Our results showed the greatest attrition rates in tones and special structures of Mandarin, with less attrition in final and initial sounds. We discuss specific phonological findings as they relate to native Malay speakers, and we describe how our findings confirm or contradict, within the Bruneian context, existing theories. We conclude that markedness theory is applicable in our research context, but our findings failed to support functional load theory