This research strand focuses on the neurocognitive and neurolinguistic study of individual multilingualism and (professional) multilingual communication across the lifespan and the effect that societal multilingualism, including multilingual policies or education, have on the development of the multilingual individual. This research strand combines four methodological approaches to study multilingualism: (1) behavioural studies to measure multilingual behaviour (e.g. language switching) in terms of speed and accuracy; (2) neuroimaging studies (e.g. fMRI) to visualize the mental processes underlying multilingual behaviour; (3) clinical studies to assess the impact of language impairment (e.g. primary progressive aphasia) and aging in multilingual populations; (4) large-scale survey and observation studies to investigate multilingual policies and education and their effect on the multilingual child.
Below are the ongoing projects related to this research strand:
1) Bilingualism and aging: the case of primary progressive aphasia, funded by FWO-Vlaanderen, researcher: Ms. Silke Coemans
2) Family language policy in mixed-language families, funded by FWO-Vlaanderen, researcher: Ms. Ily Hollebeke
3) The foreign language effect in decision making: the effect of cognitive load, under review by FWO-Vlaanderen, researcher: Ms. Paola Mureddu
4) Cognitive control in interpreting, funded by VUB, researcher: Ms. Soudabeh Nour
5) State, region and school language policies and multilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa - the case of Cameroon, researcher: Mr. Theodore Nzounkio Bakop
6) Trilingual education in the Uygur Region of China and its effect on linguistic and cognitive development, funded by China Scholarship Council, researcher: Ruilin Wu.
PI
Mathieu Declerck
C4N Researchers
Silke Coemans
Ily Hollebeke
Soudabeh Nour
Nzounkio Bakop
Ruilin Wu