Relationship between Second Language Instruction and Lexical Attrition and Deficiency in the Native Languages of Mauritanians

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship between prolonged French-medium education and discontinued development, attrition, and deficiency in the native languages of Mauritanian speakers of Hassaniya, Pulaar, Soninké, and Wolof. Using questionnaires, picture-based oral tasks, and interviews, it examines code-switching, fluency, diglossia, age, language dominance, and attitudes toward bilingualism. Findings link lower native-language fluency to more frequent code-switching, show age and French/Arabic dominance effects, and indicate broad support for bilingualism and formal native-language instruction (*).