Definition
Bilingualism refers to the ability to use two languages in everyday life. This phenomenon occurs across the globe, especially is areas where multiple language come into regular contact with each other, and is not limited to specific geographic areas. While Europe, Asia, and Central and South America show a more robust diversity of spoken and written languages in society, bilingualism is also on the rise in North America and in the USA and Canada, which, legally speaking (e.g., in regard to French and English), has a clearer propensity toward bilinguals (Byers-Heinlein & Lew-Williams, 2013). In this regard, research on bilingualism has often been concentrated on Western populations, where bilinguals have been traditionally immigrants juxtaposed with local monolinguals (Paplikar et al., 2019).
Many issues have been identified with bilingualism in aging populations, including dementia and aphasia. Recent research shows, however, that bilingualism can afford advantages to...
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Further Reading
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. (2007). Bilingual language production: The neurocognition of language representation and control. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 20(3), 242–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2006.10.003.
Abutalebi, J., & Clahsen, H. (2015). Bilingualism, cognition, and aging. Bilingualism (Cambridge, England), 18(1), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000741.
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Drake, D. (2022). Bilingualism, Aging, and Dementia. In: Lester, J.N., O'Reilly, M. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Critical Perspectives on Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12852-4_10-1
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