Table 1.
Demographic information of participants, split per age category.
| Group | Mean age | Female/Male ratio | Years of
formal education |
Length of residence (in years) | Age of L2 acquisition * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40–50 (n = 17) | 43.12 ± 2.395 | 11 female
6 male |
19 ± 1.936
Range: 15–24 |
9.12 ± 8.753
Range: 1–30 |
34.06 ± 8.67 |
| 60–70
(n = 17) |
64.00 ± 3.873 | 12 female
5 male |
16.29 ± 3.443
Range: 9–20 |
36.94 ± 8.555
Range: 25–50 |
27.12 ± 7.63 |
| 71+
(n = 29) |
77.93 ± 4.734 | 13 female
16 male |
12.89 ± 3.304
Range: 7–20 |
54.81 ± 7.321
Range: 25–61 |
22.85 ± 9.30 |
* It needs to be pointed out that age of L2 acquisition here is equated with age at emigration; in other words, it is the start of naturalistic L2 acquisition. This picture is in a way distorted because the youngest subjects typically had had much more formal English instruction at school while still residing in The Netherlands than their older peers.