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26 - Current Perspectives on Aging and Bilingualism across the Life Span

from Part IV - Cognitive, Social, and Biological Factors across the Lifespan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2020

By
Angela Grant ,
Kristina Coulter  and
Natalie Phillips
Edited by
Ayanna K. Thomas  and
Angela Gutchess
Ayanna K. Thomas
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Massachusetts
Angela Gutchess
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Massachusetts
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Summary

The majority of the world’s population is believed to speak more than one language. Moreover, given current demographic trends, older adults make up a significant portion of our population. In this chapter, we review what is known about the intersection between cognitive aging and language processing in one’s first and second language. We review current research findings concerning speech and language processing in older bilinguals at the level of words, sentences, and discourse. We review the implications of being bilingual for nonlinguistic cognitive functions and cognitive reserve. We close by highlighting the need for models of auditory and visual language processing to accommodate age-related changes in sensation, perception and cognition, and to account for important individual differences in language history and use.

Keywords

age of acquisitionAlzheimer’s diseasebilingual advantageBilingual Interactive Activation+Bilingual Language Interaction Network for Comprehension of Speech (BLINCS) modelbilingualismbottom-up processingcognitive reservecohort modelconnectionistdementiadiscourseexecutive functionflanker taskhearingindividual differencesinhibitory controllanguagelexicalpresbycusisprocessing speedproficiencysituation modelsspeech perceptionspeech perception in noisesyntaxtop-down processingtransmission deficit theorywhite matterworking memory
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Cognitive Aging
A Life Course Perspective
 , pp. 480 - 498
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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