Cover not available

Article published In: Epistemological issue: What returnee bilinguals may teach us about language attrition, language stabilization, and individual variation
Edited by Matthew T. Carlson and Jorge González Alonso
[Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 16:1] 2026
► pp. 1–25

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

What returnee bilinguals may teach us about language attrition, language stabilization, and individual variation

ORCiD logo with link | Universidade do Minho
ORCiD logo with link | Gunma Prefectural Women’s University


This article is available free of charge.

Published online: 9 September 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.25021.flo
Abstract
This epistemological article explores the phenomena of language attrition and stabilization in returnees — bilinguals who spent formative years abroad and later returned to their parents’ homeland. Drawing on empirical and longitudinal research, the paper distinguishes between two returnee profiles: heritage speakers returning to their parents’ country of origin and children who temporarily lived abroad due to parental relocation. Both groups experience a drastic shift in linguistic input, offering a unique window into mechanisms of language development, decline, and re-stabilization. The focus lies on the attrition of early-acquired L2s following return, under conditions of input loss. Studies reviewed here demonstrate how age of return, L2 proficiency, literacy, and continued exposure modulate the rate and depth of attrition. Evidence from case studies — such as German-speaking children returning to Turkey or Portugal — shows that children who return before puberty are especially vulnerable to rapid attrition. In contrast, Japanese–English returnees often retain aspects of their L2, attributed to more consistent post-return input. We support a multidimensional approach to language attrition that integrates linguistic, cognitive, and environmental variables. Returnees serve as a crucial population for refining theories of bilingual development, revealing how input shifts, maturation, and individual differences interact to shape language trajectories.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language attrition in bilingual returnees
  • 3.Age and maturation in language development and decline in returnee bilinguals
  • 4.Individual variation in language attrition
  • 5.Attrition in different linguistic domains
    • 5.1Morphosyntax
    • 5.2Phonetics
    • 5.3Phonology
    • 5.4Vocabulary
  • 6.Language re-stabilization in returnees
  • 7.Conclusion and outlook
  • Notes
  • References
References (81)
References
Alraddadi, H., Aveledo, F., Hangelbroek, R., & Treffers-Daller, J. (2025). Paying attention to verb-noun collocations among returnees and heritage speakers: How vulnerable are L2 English collocations to attrition? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 281, 563–576. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Antonova-Unlu, E., & Bayram, F. (2023). The role of external factors on the reactivation of the heritage language of Turkish–German returnees. Frontiers in Psychology, 141, 1156779. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Au, T. K., Oh, J. S., Knightly, L. M., Jun, S. A., & Romo, L. F. (2008). Salvaging a childhood language. Journal of Memory and Language, 58(4), 998–1011. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R., & Olshtain, E. (1983). Features of first language transfer in second language attrition. Applied Linguistics, 4(3), 222–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E. (1997). The structure of age: In search of barriers to second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 13(2), 116–137. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Birdsong, D. (2006). Age and second language acquisition and processing: A selective overview. Language Learning, 56(S1), 9–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brennan, J. (2024). Dual Returnees: Discordant Harmonious Bilingualism. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign].
Bridges, K., & Hoff, E. (2014). Older sibling influences on the language environment and language development of toddlers in bilingual homes. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35(2), 225–241. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burling, R. (1959). Language development of a Garo and English-speaking child. Word, 151, 45–68. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bylund, E. (2019). Age effects in language attrition. In M.–S. Schmid & B. Köpke (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of language attrition (pp. 277–287). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, A. (1989). Attrition in the productive lexicon of two Portuguese third language speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11(2), 135–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corder, P. (1967). The significance of learners’ errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 51, 161–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daller, H. (1999). The language proficiency of Turkish returnees from Germany: An empirical investigation of academic and everyday language proficiency. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 12(2), 156–172. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daller, M. H., & Treffers-Daller, J. (2014). Moving between languages: Turkish returnees from Germany. In B. Menzel & C. Engel (Eds.), Rückkehr in die Fremde? Ethnische Remigration Russlanddeutscher Spätaussiedler: Ost-West-Express. Kultur und Übersetzung (21) (pp. 185–212). Frank & Timme.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Bot, K. (2006). Applied linguistics in Europe. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (2nd ed.) (pp. 356–362). Elsevier. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Houwer, A. (1999). Environmental factors in early bilingual development: The role of parental beliefs and attitudes. In G. Extra, & L. Verhoeven (Eds.), Bilingualism and migration (pp. 75–96). Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores, C. (2010). The effect of age on language attrition: Evidence from bilingual returnees. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(4), 533–546. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Differential effects of language attrition in the domains of verb placement and object expression. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15(3), 550–567. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015a). Losing a language in childhood: a longitudinal case study on language attrition. Journal of Child Language, 42(3), 562–590. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015b). Understanding heritage language acquisition. Some contributions from the research on heritage speakers of European Portuguese. Lingua, 1641, 251–265. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Attrition and reactivation of a childhood language. The case of returnee heritage speakers. Language Learning, 701, 85–121. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores, C., & Rato, A. (2016). Global accent in the Portuguese speech of heritage returnees. Heritage Language Journal, 13(2), 161–183. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores, C., & Rauber, A. (2011). Perception of German vowels by bilingual Portuguese–German returnees: A case of phonological attrition? In E. Rinke, & T. Kupisch (Eds.), The Development of Grammar: Language Acquisition and Diachronic Change — Volume in Honor of Jürgen M. Meisel (pp.287–305). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores, C., & Snape, N. (2021). Language attrition and heritage language reversal in returnees. In S. Montrul & M. Polinsky (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics (pp. 351–372). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores, C., Sopata, A., & Rinke, E. (2025). The impact of change of environment on Polish–German returnees’ childhood languages. Effects of attrition and reinforcement on lexical knowledge. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Advanced online publication. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores, C., Zhou, C. & Eira, C. (2022). “I no longer count in German”: On dominance shift in returnee heritage speakers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 43(5), 1019–1043. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glennen, S. (2002). Language development and delay in internationally adopted infants and toddlers. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(4), 333–339. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (1990). Japan’s International Youth: The Emergence of a New Class of Schoolchildren. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hansen, L., & Chantrill, C.-F. (1999). Literacy as a second language anchor: Evidence from L2 Japanese and L2 Chinese. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Representation and Process: Proceedings of the 3rd Pacific Second Language Research Forum (Vol. 11, pp. 279–286). Aoyama Gakuin University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hansen, L., & Newbold, J. (2001). Literacy as an anchor for the spoken language: Evidence from adult attriters of L2 Japanese. In P. Robinson, M. Sawyer, & S. Ross (Eds.), Second Language Acquisition Research in Japan (JALT Applied Materials Vol. 4, pp. 101–109). Japan Association for Language Teaching.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyltenstam, K., Bylund, E., Abrahamsson, N., & Park, H.-S. (2009). Dominant-language replacement: The case of international adoptees. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(2), 121–140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1968). Child language aphasia and phonological universals. Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaya-Soykan, D., Antonova-Unlu, E., & Sagin-Simsek, C. (2023). The production and perception of Turkish evidentiality markers by Turkish-German returnees. Applied Linguistics Review, 14(2), 251–270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Köpke, B., & Schmid, M. (2004). First language attrition: The next phase. In M. Schmid, B. Köpke, M. Keijzer & L. Weilemar, L. (Eds), First language attrition: Interdisciplinary perspectives on methodological issues (pp. 1–43). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kubota, M., Chevalier, N., & Sorace, A. (2020). Losing access to the second language and its effect on executive function development in childhood: The case of ‘returnees’. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 551, 100906. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kubota, M., Chondrogianni, V., Clark, A. S., & Rothman, J. (2021). Linguistic consequences of toing and froing: Factors that modulate narrative development in bilingual returnee children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(7), 2363–2381. Advanced online publication. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kubota, M., Goto, Y., Kurokawa, S., Matsuoka, Y., Otani, M., & Rothman, J. (2025a). Different variables hold varying significance from childhood to adolescence: Exploring individual differences in grammar development of Japanese heritage speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 47(1), 104–135. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kubota, M., Chondrogianni, V., Kurokawa, S., Wulff, S. & Rothman, J. (2025b). Changes in referential production among Japanese–English bilingual returnee children: A five-year longitudinal study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–12. Advanced online publication. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuhberg, H. (1992). Longitudinal L2-attrition versus L2-acquisition in three Turkish children: Empirical findings. Interlanguage Studies Bulletin, 8(2), 138–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kunduz, A. C. (2024). How Flexible are Grammars Past Puberty? Evidence from Turkish-American Returnees. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign].
Kupisch, T., & Rothman, J. (2016). Terminology matters!: Why difference is not incompleteness and how early child bilinguals are heritage speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism, 22(5), 564–582. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laméris, T., Kubota, M., Kupisch, T., Cabrelli, J., Snape, N., & Rothman, J. (2025). Language change in Japanese-English bilingual returnee children over the course of five years: evidence from accent-rating. Second Language Research, 41(1), 191–216. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological Foundations of Language. Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matos, J., & Flores, C. (2022). More insights into the interaction between age, exposure, and attitudes in language attrition and retention from the perspective of bilingual returnees. International Journal of Bilingualism, 28(1), 24–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mehotcheva, T. H., & Köpke, B. (2019). Introduction to second language attrition. In M. S. Schmid, & B. Köpke (Eds.), The OUP Handbook on Language Attrition (pp. 331–348). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meisel, J. M. (2011). First and Second Language Acquisition: Parallels and Differences. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Language attrition and heritage language reversal. Studies in Language Sciences: Journal of the Japanese Society for Language Sciences, 14(1), 1–28.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). The Acquisition of Heritage Languages. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nowak, E. (2020). Language loss and illocutionary silencing. Mind, 129(515), 831–865, Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olshtain, E. (1986). The attrition of English as a second language with speakers of Hebrew. In B. Weltens, K. De Bot, & T. Van Els (Eds.), Language Attrition in Progress (pp. 187–204). Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1989). Is second language attrition the reverse of second language acquisition? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11(2), 151–165. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olshtain, E., & Barzilay, M. (1991). Lexical retrieval difficulties in adult language attrition. In H. Seliger, & R. Vago (Eds.), First Language Attrition (pp. 139–150). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pallier, C., Dehaene, S., Poline, J.-B., LeBihan, D., A.-M. Argenti, E. Dupoux, & Mehler, J. (2003). Brain imaging of language plasticity in adopted adults: Can a second language replace the first?, Cerebral Cortex, 13(2), 155–161. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paradis, J. (2023). Sources of individual differences in the dual language development of heritage bilinguals. Journal of Child Language, 50(4), 793–817. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Penfield, W., & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and Brain Mechanisms. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polinsky, M. (2011). Reanalysis in adult heritage language: New evidence in support of attrition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(2), 305–328. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reetz-Kurashige, A. (1999). Japanese returnees’ retention of English-speaking skills: Changes in verb usage over time. In L. Hansen (Ed.), Second Language Attrition in Japanese Contexts (pp. 21–58). Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rodina, Y., Kupisch, T., Meir, N., Mitrofanova, N., Urek, O., & Westergaard, M. (2020). Internal and external factors in heritage language acquisition: Evidence from heritage Russian in Israel, Germany, Norway, Latvia, and the United Kingdom. Frontiers in Education, 51, 20. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmid, M. S., & Mehotcheva, T. H. (2012). Foreign language attrition. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 102–124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmid, M. S., & Köpke, B. (2017). The relevance of first language attrition to theories of bilingual development. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 7(6), 637–667. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(Eds.). (2019). The Oxford handbook of language attrition. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitt, E. (2010). When boundaries are crossed: Evaluating language attrition data from two perspectives. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(1), 63–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seliger, H. W. (1991). Language attrition, reduced redundancy and creativity. In H. W. Seliger, & R. M. Vago (Eds.), First Language Attrition (pp. 227–240). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seliger, H. W., & Vago, R. M. (1991). The study of first language attrition: An overview. In H. W. Seliger, & R. M. Vago (Eds.), First Language Attrition (pp. 3–15). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seton, B., & Schmid, M. (2016). Multi-competence and first language attrition. In V. Cook & L. Wei (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multi-Competence (pp. 338–354). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snape, N., Matthews, J., Hirakawa, M., Hirakawa, Y., & Hosoi, H. (2014a). Aspect in L2 English: A longitudinal study of four Japanese child returnees. In L. Roberts, I. Vedder, & J. H. Hulstijn (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook, 141 (pp. 79–110). John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snape, N., Hirakawa, M., Hirakawa, Y., Hosoi, H. & Matthews, J. (2014b). L2 English generics: Japanese child returnees’ incomplete acquisition or attrition? In R. T. Miller, K. I. Martin, C. M. Eddington, A. Henery, N. M. Miguel, A. Tseng, A. Tuninetti, & D. Walter (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 2012 Second Language Research Forum: SLA in Many Contexts (pp. 155–169). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016, September 19–20). Heritage language reversal: Phonological processing in L2 English by child returnees. [Conference presentation]. Heritage Language Acquisition Workshop, Tromsø, Norway.
Snape, N., & Cabrelli, J. (2025, June 9–13). Voice onset time (VOT) in Japanese–English returnee children: A case of variable L2 attrition. [Poster presentation]. ISB 15: International Symposium on Bilingualism, San Sebastian, Spain.
Steinkrauss, R., & Schmid, M. (2016). Entrenchment and language attrition. Schmid, H.-J. (Ed.), Entrenchment and the Psychology of Language Learning: How we reorganize and adapt linguistic knowledge (pp. 367–383). de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taura, H. (2019). Attrition studies on Japanese returnees. In M. S. Schmid & B. Köpke (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of language attrition (pp. 391–402). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomiyama, M. (1999). The first stage of second language attrition: A case study of a Japanese returnee. In L. Hansen (Ed.), Second Language Attrition in Japanese Contexts (pp. 59–79). Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). Child second language attrition: A longitudinal case study. Applied Linguistics, 21(3), 304–332. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Age and proficiency in L2 attrition: Data from two siblings. Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 253–275. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomoda, M. (2010). 日本人帰国子女に見られる第二言語喪失過程：冠詞・所有格形の縦断的調査から [Second language attrition processes observed in Japanese returnee children: A longitudinal study of articles and possessive forms]. Linguistic Information Science, 81, 149–165. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Treffers-Daller, J., Daller, M., Furman, R., & Rothman, J. (2016). Ultimate attainment in the use of collocations among heritage speakers of Turkish in Germany and Turkish–German returnees. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(3), 504–519. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yoshitomi, A. (1992). Towards a model of language attrition: Neurobiological and psychological contributions. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 3(2), 293–318. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zúñiga, V., & E. T. Hamann. (2006). Going home? Schooling in Mexico of transnational children. CON!nes, 21, 41–57.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue