When Juan moved to the United States from Mexico, he spoke only Spanish. After some time, he spoke Spanish and English. Now he only speaks English. This is an example of
A) the dual-language approach.
B) subtractive bilingualism.
C) the whole-language approach.
D) the bilingual approach.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Subtractive bilingualism occurs when a person loses proficiency in their first language as they learn a second language. In this example, Juan initially spoke only Spanish, but after learning English, he stopped speaking Spanish altogether, indicating a loss of proficiency in his first language. None of the other options address this phenomenon specifically.

When Juan Moved to the United States from Mexico, He