The study investigates the factors explaining success in learning English as a second language by adult and children Spanish-speaking immigrants in the United States. The goal of the project is to document longitudinally the development of new immigrants’ English proficiency and test their language learning aptitude and working memory in order to better understand the differences between adults and children when learning a language in immersion.

For migrant adults and children developing dual language competence is essential to connecting with other people, expressing and reconciling feelings and experiences, and ultimately participating in their host society.

Success in second language learning can be explained by cognitive factors (aptitudes, working memory, general intelligence), affective factors (motivation, desire to integrate the host society etc.), and language use/exposure.

Children and adults seem furthermore to rely on different mechanism when confronted to a new language. It is commonly believed that children make more use of implicit learning abilities, whereas adults tend to have a more analytical approach to language learning.