Language and Aging in Multilingual Contexts

by Kees De Bot, Sinfree Makoni

In research on language and aging there are traditionally two streams, one that focuses on language spoken in interaction with elderly people ('elderspeak') and one that focuses on language skills in the elderly. In this book we present a dynamic systems perspective on language and aging looking at language in aging as a normal process of development based on internal changes in the individual and changes in the environment. This interaction between individual and environment defines how language changes and how these changes have impacts on other facets of life and cognitive functioning. There is not much research on language and aging in multilingual individuals and multilingual societies and in this book most of the recent research is discussed along with a number of projects involving different language groups in the US.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005