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Applied Linguistics 2004 25(2):137-155; doi:10.1093/applin/25.2.137
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
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Modelling Vocabulary Loss

Paul Meara

University of Wales Swansea

This paper describes some simple simulation models of vocabulary attrition. The attrition process is modelled using a random autonomous Boolean network model, and some parallels with real attrition data are drawn. The paper argues that applying a complex systems approach to attrition can provide some important insights, which suggest that real attrition data may need to be treated with caution. It concludes that simulation methods—a technique that is not widely used in applied linguistic research—may be able to throw interesting new light on attrition, and provide a way of examining some of the assumptions that we take for granted in attrition experiments with human subjects.

Accepted January 2004.


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P. Meara
Emergent Properties of Multilingual Lexicons
Applied Linguistics, December 1, 2006; 27(4): 620 - 644.
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