Last in First Out?: An investigation of the regression hypothesis in Dutch emigrants in Anglophone Canada

This paper examines whether the order in which Dutch emigrants in the English-speaking part of Canada lose their first language is the reverse of that in which Dutch-speaking children first acquire their mother tongue. This idea, captured in the regression hypothesis, has not been extensively tested so far. Through an experimental research design, the study shows that regression does obtain in the case of morphology, but that syntax is more dominated by second language influence from English. The results furthermore indicate that regression is a much more subtle phenomenon than has previously been assumed with attriters showing more parallels with advanced L1 acquirers than with children in the initial stages of their linguistic development.