Effects of Age, Gender & Bilingualism on Cognitive-Linguistic Performance

Abstract

The aging process involves a series of changes in the mental and physical functioning of humans. These changes alter the way in which elderly people communicate. In order to assess, rehabilitate and communicate effectively with elderly people we need to examine our concepts of 'age'. Literature reports that the language development is influenced by many other factors like socioeconomic status, parents' educational level, etc. Similarly, many factors influence one's cognitive abilities. One among them knows many [two or more] languages. It is reported in the literature that knowing second language enriches the cognitive skills in children. It is unknown that the same enhancement might be present in adults. If it is true in young adults, whether the same effect is also observed in elderly individuals is questioned. The aim of the study was to evaluate changes, if any, on the performance of the Cognitive-linguistic Assessment Protocol (CLAP). Two group of subjects Participated in the study. Group I & II consisted of forty young and old individuals respectively. Each group had twenty Monolinguals & twenty Bilinguals. Equal number of males & females participated in each group. The results revealed that younger individuals were better on cognitive linguistic tasks than elderly individuals. Similarly, Bilinguals were better on all the domains of CLAP. Gender difference was not observed in any of the tasks.The study highlights the age and language-related performance differences on cognitive linguistic skills.