Aging mind, two languages

What can bilingualism in aging tell us about language and communication?

Abstract

Within the landscape of research that has predominantly examined the cognitive effects of bilingualism, it is equally important to investigate how bilingualism shapes language use itself during aging.
Ultimately, individuals become bilingual in response to specific communicative or social demands. The languages that bilinguals acquire serve as their primary tools for navigating these needs within their sociocultural contexts. Such motivations can vary: in some cases, bilingualism arises because the surrounding community employs multiple languages in a socially stratified manner; in others, individuals adopt an additional language when their first language does not align with the language used in daily life, for example, due to migration; and in yet other cases, bilingualism emerges through opportunities to acquire new languages, whether for personal enrichment or practical need.
Taken together, the contributions to this special issue delineate a coherent and promising line of research on language in aging, aimed at advancing our understanding of linguistic and communicative functioning across the lifespan.