Article published in:
Aging and BilingualismEdited by Ellen Bialystok and Margot D. Sullivan
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6:1/2] 2016
► pp. 64–85
Individual differences in cognitive control advantages of elderly late Dutch-English bilinguals
Merel Keijzer | University of Groningen
This study addresses a gap in the literature on executive function advantages among bilingual speakers by investigating a group of elderly, long-term, immersed bilinguals. Our participants are native Dutch speakers who emigrated to Australia as adults and have spent many years in that country. They are compared on a range of cognitive and linguistic measures to native Dutch and native English control groups. We argue that, due to the massive differences in the bilingual experience, group analyses may fall short of capturing the full picture. We argue instead for a more qualitative approach, which takes into account as detailed a picture of bilingual development, daily language habits and, in particular, code-switching habits as possible.
Keywords: bilingual advantage, language attrition, late bilinguals, executive function, language and aging
Published online: 10 March 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.14032.kei
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.14032.kei
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