ABSTRACT
This contribution presents an overview of work on language and ageing, with an emphasis on ageing and cognitive processing. First we sketch a short history of the field. Then some of the major issues with regard to theoretical and methodological approaches are discussed. The focus is on psycholinguistic approaches because most of the work has been done in this area. However, we also point out the need for a more social/sociolinguistic perspective, because ageing as a topic of research typically relates to the interaction between individuals and their environment. The study of ageing has recently become heavily influenced by developments in the field of neuroscience, in particular the use of new neuroimaging techniques that have allowed the extraction of fine-grained data on neural substrates of language and cognition. A part of this contribution is devoted to specific aspects of multilingualism and their impact
on the ageing process.
