People are more likely to age faster if they only speak one language, a new study shows.
Researchers looked at data from over 86,000 older adults in 27 European countries, assessing the gaps between expected ‘biological’ age (based on health and lifestyle factors) and their actual chronological age. The authors say that learning more than one language could help countries dealing with ageing populations.
The Science Media Centre asked third-party NZ experts for local context on the findings.
Dr Etu Ma’u, Senior Lecturer in the Dept. of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau; Consultant psychiatrist, Mental Health Services for Older People, Te Whatu Ora Waikato, comments:
“How rapidly our brain ages is affected by the cumulative and incremental damage it sustains over a lifetime, and cognitive reserve – the brain’s ability to cope with, or compensate for, any damage that is incurred.
“While many brain health recommendations focus on reducing brain damage by improving lifestyle behaviours, this recently published study by Amoruso and colleagues demonstrates that the ability to speak more than one language improves cognitive reserve by slowing brain ageing, and the benefits increase with the number of languages spoken.
“In this context, proposed changes to the teaching of te reo Māori in schools will reduce opportunities for multilingualism. This could have unintended effects on brain health and ageing, increasing the risk of developing diseases such as dementia in older age.”
Conflict of interest statement: “No conflicts of interest.”
Professor Stephen May, Te Puna Wānanga | School of Māori and Indigenous Education, Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, comments:
“While we can’t determine exact figures, we know that 50-75% of the world’s population speak more than one language. In other words, bilingualism and multilingualism are the norm internationally. And yet, most of those who speak English as a first language – again, up to 75% – are monolingual, they only speak English. So, these results on the positive cognitive and health effects of bilingualism and multilingualism in any combination of languages as we age may come as a surprise to them.
“Indeed, what is most striking about the views of monolingual English speakers – both in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere – is their often-entrenched negative views of bi/multilingualism and other language speakers. We see this most clearly in the overtly anti te reo Māori attitudes still prevalent in our society (and in current government policies) today. What is also striking about these lingering attitudes, apart from the fact that they are often highly racialised, is how spectacularly misinformed they are.
“In addition to the important enduring cognitive benefits in relation to ageing highlighted here, educational research over the last 80 years has also consistently highlighted the overall cognitive, social, and educational benefits of being bi/multilingual.
“So, the obvious question must be asked: when will monolingual English speakers finally realise that it is their inability and/or unwillingness to value, learn, and use other languages that is the real problem here…”
Conflict of interest statement: “No conflicts of interest.”