This study looks at two young bilingual Japanese children who return to their home country after a prolonged stay in another linguistic milieu. Firstly, both linguistic and neuro-linguistic data are examined to see if similar changes occur. Then, language retention and attrition are scrutinized in terms of their age upon return. These two Japanese-English bilingual returnees were both born in English-dominant countries, though their age of return to Japan differed - one at 11;07 and the other at 16;06. Yearly collection of both linguistic and neuro-linguistic data began at zero incubation and lasted for three years. The preliminary data analysis indicates the possibility that neuro-linguistic attrition precedes linguistic deterioration. The full results are presented at the conference.
Hideyuki Taura is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at Ritsumeikan University, and Amanda Taura is Associate Professor at Setsunan University, and their interests include bilingual acquisition and attrition.
