Cognitive benefits of regional language use
It has been demonstrated that bilingualism might hold positive advantages for the brain, especially at an older age (Bialystok et al., 2004). Further research, however, is necessary as no two bilinguals are the same in how they acquired and use their languages. This makes that cognitive advantages of bilingualism are not in all contexts unanimously replicated (Baum & Titone, 2014). In addition, most research on bilingual advantages has been conducted with frequently occurring global language pairs (e.g. Spanish and English or Dutch and English). To better understand the relation between bilingualism and cognition, and whether dialects or regional languages may (equally) promote healthy brain ageing, we investigate language combinations of lesser-spoken languages, especially focusing at those present in the Low Saxon and Frisian language areas.
In a bilingual brain, both languages are always active. This means that, when speaking in one language, a bilingual has to suppress the other language. One of the cognitive mechanisms involved in language control is the switching aspect of the brain’s executive functions (Meuter & Allport, 1999). Alternating between two distinct languages may make bilinguals more efficient in switching between brain tasks, and this can lead to enhanced performance for bilinguals (i.e. lower switch costs) on cognitive tasks. This is often researched for languages pairs that originate from different language families (Mosca & de Bot, 2017). It is, however, still unknown whether for speakers of language varieties of the same language family (closer related) this switching benefit is equally strong, and whether or not this is connected to environmental or social factors such as living situation, social network, or personality type that are known to interact with cognitive functioning (Pot, Keizer & de Bot, 2018).
The main goal of this project regarding healthy ageing is therefore to investigate whether there is an effect of speaking a dialect or regional language on the cognitive functions of the human brain. We also investigate the role of social and environmental factors closely connected with the use of dialect and regional languages, as a previous study indicated that those bilingual individuals who actively use multiple languages across different social domains show enhanced cognitive performance (Pot, Keizer & de Bot, 2018).
Studies conducted in the Low Saxon language area, showed that social and environmental factors are also related to the vitality of dialect languages. For example, the usage of Low Saxon dialects has been declining for centuries, because the language is often no longer passed on to the younger generations (Strunk, 2004). In addition, the dialects change under the influence of a standard language (Gerritsen, 1999). A study conducted by Bloemhoff (2005) showed that 53% of the inhabitants in the province of Groningen that are aged 60 years and older mastered their corresponding regional language, but when they examined inhabitants aged 18-39 the percentage decreased to 25%. This reduced usage and associated change led to a gap between the generations, as the dialect spoken by the older generation is not longer completely understood by the younger generations. This divergence can especially observed in the smaller villages, where dialect is spoken more frequently as compared to the cities. The current study will therefore not only provide insight into the cognitive benefits of speaking a dialect or regional language (in addition to a standard language), but also investigates the vitality of the dialects spoken in the Low Saxon and Frisian language area. Practically, the implications of this study could lead to a revitalization of the regional language varieties by connecting healthy aging to actively speaking a dialect (if this indeed is shown to be the case).