Monika S. Schmid | |
|---|---|
 Schmid in 2005 | |
| Occupation | Linguist |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociolinguistics |
| Sub-discipline | Language attrition |
| Institutions | |
Monika S. Schmid FAcSS FBA (born 1967) is a German linguist who specialises in language attrition. She is a professor and Head of the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York.
Monika Schmid began studying at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) in 1990, where she was president of their student parliament. [1] While interviewing survivors of the Holocaust in Germany, she learned about the importance of the transmission of native language from parent to child. [2] In 2000, she obtained her Doctor of Philosophy in English Linguistics from HHU, with her thesis based on these interviews.
She began working as a Lecturer in English Language at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. [2] [3] She worked as a lecturer at HHU from 1996 to 2001. [1] In 2007, she moved to the University of Groningen English Department, where she was Senior Lecturer in English Language until her promotion to Professor in 2010. [4] At the University of Essex, she became Professor of Linguistics in 2013 and Head of the Department in 2018, both positions she held until 2021. [3] She later moved to the University of York, where she became a professor, [4] and in January 2022, she became the Head of the Department of Language and Linguistic Science. [3]
Schmid specialises in "bilingual development and, in particular, on change, deterioration and stability in the native language of migrants who become dominant in the language of the environment", that it is to say (first) language attrition. [3]
In 2002, she published First Language Attrition, Use and Maintenance, a book based on her thesis. [3] In the book, she concludes that the main cause of German-language attrition within German Jewish Holocaust survivors is Holocaust trauma. [5]
She has created and maintained a webpage about Language Attrition. The webpage contains not just theoretical and practical information about the topic, but also information about calls, grants. It is the starting point of the Language Attrition Network (LAN), a Network that promotes collaboration among attrition researchers. One of the main activities is the LAN Reading Group.
In 2012, she published Language Attrition, [6] and after it she has published dozens of papers, [7] participated, and edited several volumes about linguistics research in general (i.e. Designing Research on Bilingual Development [8] ), and Language Attrition in particular. Worthy of mention is The Oxford Handbook of Language Attrition [9] reviewed [10] by The Linguist List.
She has organized, chaired and facilitated several conferences, meetings, and seminars bringing together researchers in the field of Language Attrition. She regularly advises early career researchers, as part of the Language Attrition Seminar Series between 2014 and 2018, and the IV International Conference on Language Attrition and Bilingualism in 2022.
Schmid has contributed to BBC News , the Berliner Zeitung , The Conversation , The Guardian , Svenska Dagbladet , and de Volkskrant , either as an author or as a quoted expert. [4] She has collaborated in different podcasts, radio programs, and many more formats.
Schmid was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2021. [11] She was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 2022. [12]
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Bernard Sterling Comrie, is a British-born linguist. Comrie is a specialist in linguistic typology, linguistic universals and on Caucasian languages.
Language attrition is the process of decreasing proficiency in or losing a language. For first or native language attrition, this process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use of a second language ("L2"), which interferes with the correct production and comprehension of the first. Such interference from a second language is likely experienced to some extent by all bilinguals, but is most evident among speakers for whom a language other than their first has started to play an important, if not dominant, role in everyday life; these speakers are more likely to experience language attrition. It is common among immigrants that travel to countries where languages foreign to them are used. Second language attrition can occur from poor learning, practice, and retention of the language after time has passed from learning. This often occurs with bilingual speakers who do not frequently engage with their L2.
Michael Sharwood Smith, Emeritus Professor of Languages at Heriot-Watt University & Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, is a researcher into multilingualism and the acquisition of non-native languages, a branch of developmental linguistics and cognitive science. He is a founding editor of Second Language Research, successor to the Interlanguage Studies Bulletin.
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Second-language attrition is the decline of second-language skills, which occurs whenever the learner uses the second language to an insufficient degree or due to environmental changes the language use is limited and another language is becoming the dominant one.
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Antonella Sorace,FBA, FRSE, FRSA, Professor of Developmental Linguistics, University of Edinburgh, since 2002; Founding Director, Bilingualism Matters, since 2008) is an experimental linguist and academic, specializing in bilingualism across the lifespan. Since 2002, she has been Professor of Developmental Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. She a Fellow of British Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
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Eugénie Jane Andrina Henderson was a British linguist and academic, specialising in phonetics. From 1964 to 1982, she was Professor of Phonetics at the University of London. She served as Chair of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain from 1977 to 1980, and President of the Philological Society from 1984 to 1988.
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Marjolijn Verspoor is a Dutch linguist. She is a professor of English language and English as a second language at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. She is known for her work on Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and the application of dynamical systems theory to study second language development. Her interest is also in second language writing.
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Charles B. Chang is an associate professor in the linguistics department at Boston University, where he is also affiliated with the Center for the Study of Asia, the Center for Innovation in Social Science, and the Hearing Research Center. Chang is an Associate Editor of the journal Second Language Research and a Life Member of the Linguistic Society of America.
Asifa Majid is a psychologist, linguist and cognitive scientist who is professor of language, communication and cultural cognition at the University of Oxford, UK. She is the 2024 recipient of the Jeffrey L. Elman Prize for Scientific Achievement and Community Building, awarded by the Cognitive Science Society. In 2015 she won the Ammodo KNAW Award for fundamental research. In 2024 she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.
Angus Mcintosh, was a British linguist and academic, specialising in historical linguistics.
