Bilinguism and other manifestations of the functioning of the Language System in light of Brain Plasticity

Abstract

The work is devoted to the biological basis of bilingualism. The manifestations of the functioning of the language system — mastering the native language in a monolingual environment, natural bilingualism, artificial bilingualism, written speech and the functioning of the language system in pathology — are analyzed in the light of ideas about the plasticity of the brain, the differences in the processes of forgetting the language material are discussed. Issues of practical importance are discussed: who can be called bilingual and when a child can become bilingual. The concept of natural bilingualism as a biological adaptation, which occurs when it is necessary to understand two languages, is substantiated. This adaptation is impossible until the moment the child's understanding of the language is formed, i.e. bilingualism is impossible in infancy.