VARIABILITY IN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND ATTRITION: THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE IN A STUDY ON VOT PATTERNS IN MULTILINGUAL SYSTEMS

Abstract

In this study, we investigate possible individual variables in the linguage development of Brazilian bilingual (Portuguese-L1 and English-L2) and trilingual (Portuguese-L1, English-L2 and German-L3) participants, as well as their likely relation with the occurrence of language attrition in Portuguese (L1) in terms of structural changes in the system, with the development of Voice Onset Time (VOT) patterns in the additional languages. Group statistical analyses were conducted along with an individual analysis in order to investigate the variability in VOT and language history data. The results suggest a strong relation between the development and use of additional languages and the structural changes in the L1, as well as a relation between the use and the development of the two additional languages.