A Diachronic Study of Second Language Mental Lexical Attrition Based on WordNet Computer Data Analysis

Vocabulary attrition is a very common phenomenon in foreign language study. This paper studies the vocabulary attrition of Chinese learners through an empirical research. It tries to analyze the Chinese non-English majors’ vocabulary attrition in different stages of their English study Based on WordNet Computer Data Analysis., which provides a reasonable explanation to maintain the students’ ability to learn English as well as the university foreign language reform. The results show that the proportion of semantic reaction words in the first three tests increased with the improvement of the subjects’ vocabulary level. Since the fourth test took place one year after the end of English learning, the number of respondents declined significantly, while the number of formal respondents did not show much change. Nonsense words of the four groups of subjects increased significantly in the final test. No matter the level of the subjects’ vocabulary, it would be attrited to some extent.