Kees de Bot got his PhD from the University of Nijmegen. He was chair of Applied Linguistics and is now an emeritus professor from the University of Groningen and full professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Pannonia in Vészprem in Hungary. His research interests include the application of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory in second language development and multilingualism, multilingual processing, language attrition and the history of Applied Linguistics. More recently he got interested in ethical issues and truth in science. He is one of the organisers of the 2020 World Congress of the International Association of Applied Linguistics in Groningen.

Preface

1 Introduction: Language, Aging and Multilingualism

2 Language and Aging: A Dynamic Perspective

3 Language and Communication with the Elderly

4 Language Use and Language Skills in Healthy and Pathological Aging

5 Resources in Language and Aging

6 Multilingualism, Aging and Dementia

7 Bilingual Aging in Older African-Americans

8 The Effects of Age and Education on Narrative Complexity in Older Chinese in the USA

(Sinfree Makoni with Hwei-Bin Lin and Robert Schrauf)

9 Language in an Epidemiological Study: The North Manhattan Aging Study in New York City

10 Old and New Perspectives on Language and Aging

Bibliography

In this book different aspects of language and aging are discussed. While language spoken by and language spoken with elderly people have been treated as different areas of research, it is argued here that from a dynamical system perspective the two are closely interrelated. In addition to overviews of research on language and aging, a number of projects on this topic in multilingual settings are presented.