1. Introduction

Various linguists view multilingualism or bilingualism on a continuum, with broad and narrow definitions. In a broad sense, multilingualism involves being able to comprehend and speak more than two languages (Diamond, 2010; Myers-Scotton, 2008). In a narrow sense, multilingualism can occur from childhood into adulthood across a long span of time, and it can be also viewed in terms of individuals or as a society (Cenoz & Genesee, 1998).  

In consideration of various linguists’ perspectives, we would define multilingualism as having competence in more than two languages (Diamond, 2010; Myers-Scotton, 2008) with respect to various linguistic aspects such as speaking, reading, or writing.

In the past, researchers were critical of bilingualism and presented the view that learning more than one language impeded learning. However, the presence of other factors which affected bilingualism, such as socioeconomic status and education, led to the researchers’ misinterpretation of bilingualism (Diamond, 2010). Later studies, which accounted for the above factors, have demonstrated that both bilinguals and monolinguals share common traits in cognition and language processing. Increasingly, researchers have also been discovering more benefits of multilingualism (Diamond, 2010).

Multilingualism is also a common phenomenon in the world (Cenoz & Genesee, 1998). A huge proportion of the people in the world are becoming or are multilinguals (Linguistic Society of America, 2012), as people become increasingly aware of the benefits of multilingualism. Thus, knowledge on this topic is becoming highly relevant and significant in the globalised community. This review will examine several benefits of multilingualism as surveyed in the literature.

Leave a Reply