Advances in bilingualism as a dynamic process : 30 years of exploration in bilingual mind and brain

Abstract

Since Grosjean (1992) and other colleagues proposed bilingualism as a dynamic and interactive process, the field has advanced significantly, enabled by both theoretical developments in bilingual studies and technological innovations. This article is focused on bilingualism research as a highly interdisciplinary enterprise along with the impacts that other fields have had to advance it, in the past and for the future. Behavioral and neurocognitive evidence has shown the broad consequences of bilingualism on human behavior and brain architecture beyond cognition. In addition, recent neurocognitive work using cutting-edge data analytics has demonstrated shared and unique neural correlates of bilingual language representation and processing in humans and machines, spanning from lexical processing to discourse comprehension. Furthermore, emerging technologies have been found to enhance second language learning by providing virtual embodied environments that stimulate learning and motivation. We conclude that interdisciplinary approaches have empowered researchers to gain deeper insights into the dynamic and interactive nature of bilingualism, and we call for continued joint efforts in the study of the bilingual mind and brain in this new era of AI and digital technologies.