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Growing Old with Two Languages: Effects of Bilingualism on Cognitive Aging
Edited by Ellen Bialystok and Margot D. Sullivan
[Studies in Bilingualism 53] 2017
► pp. 77–98

Chapter 5
Individual differences in cognitive control advantages of elderly late Dutch-English bilinguals

 | University of Groningen
 | University of Essex
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: language and aging, executive function, language attrition, late bilinguals, bilingual advantage
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The bilingual advantage
  • 3.The study
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Materials
      • Cognitive tasks
      • Language tasks
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • Step 1: quantitative group comparison
    • Step 2: qualitative individual differences examined
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 August 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.53.05kei
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