ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces related terminology used in the fields of linguistic, education, and psychology: bilingualism, circumstantial language learning, sequential monolingualism, first-language attrition, social/communicative language vs. cognitive/academic language acquisition, and language as a behavior regulator. Learning a new language is an inevitable part of being adopted internationally. In many internationally adopted, post-institutionalized (IAPI) children, this is a rather distressing experience related to an abrupt loss of the native language and a relatively slow acquisition of another language in a situation of ongoing stress of adjustment to a new physical and social/cultural environment. Language as a psychological utility is known for its distinctive “schedule of development” within the overall process of human physical growth, physiological maturity, and social adaptiveness. A common understanding of bilingualism includes functional use of more than one language within a developmentally appropriate and socially expected range of language skills. Language attrition in IAPI children is the process of losing their first language.
