Attrition and Language Reversion in Dutch-English Migrants in Australia: Working Memory Capacity and Inhibitory Functioning across Languages and Age Groups

Abstract

Language changes across a lifetime, in particular among bilingual migrants, who can experience both language attrition and reversion. The question is if cognition skills affect or are affected by attrition and reversion as people age. For this reason, 64 Dutch-Australian migrants and 44 Dutch controls were tested. There were three different age groups: 40-45, 60-65, and 75+. They were given three cognitive tasks and three language tasks. The cognitive tasks tested their working memory (linguistic and non-linguistic) and executive control, while the language tasks examined their vocabulary, grammar, and overall language proficiency. The results showed that language development in migrants (in particular the L2) was determined in part on how well the cognitive skills were developed and how little cognitive decline there was due to aging. There was less chance of language reversion from the L2 to the L1 if people had good executive control.