The Cambridge Introduction to Applied Linguistics

There is so much to be learned, so much we don’t know about the intersections between language, aging, and dementia (the loss of cognitive functioning). The study of language and aging itself is relatively new. In the late 1980s, Kemper and Anagnopoulos called for the study of communicative competence across the lifespan, including how older persons disclose “autobiographical reminiscences,” interact intergenerationally, and how family members and caregivers talk with disabled older adults (1989, p. 42). If we were to compare two state-of-the-art articles by Heidi Hamilton a little over fifteen years apart (Hamilton, 1999; Hamilton & Hamaguchi, 2015) we would find that they identify key differences in the study of language and aging, such as the rise of interest in their social components. However, the commonalities, the huge areas where we know very little, remain uncharted. In 1999, Hamilton identified three key areas: “the use of language for reflecting and creating identities; and how discourse can reflect the norms, values and practices of society [… and] the decline, preservation or improvement of abilities in old age” (cf. Davis & Maclagan, 2016, p. 221). By 2014, studies were blossoming about cognitive aging, social identities, communicative relationships, and what old age might be (Hamilton & Hamaguchi, 2015, p. 706). These studies open the door to new research, new questions, and new applications.