Exploring the cross-cultural dimensions of polyglotism

Polyglotism, otherwise known in its more commonly appearing form as bilingualism, is a phenomenon when an individual is capable of speaking, reading and/or writing in two (or more) languages. In recent years, there have been researches that highlight the fact that, despite the fact that polyglotism serves the executive system with a positive long-term effect, there is also a potential that the active simultaneous language could develop a cognitive burden on executive functions [2]. While the polyglot brain can have strengthened executive functions, memory retention, as well as enhanced learning abilities at the same time we can pose a question of whether the constant switching between languages causes strain on the brain. In extreme cases, polyglotism can even result in a more distorted speech pattern due to the increased cognitive load [1]. In this situation, one’s speech starts to contain linguistic intrusion from all of their known languages, in the oral production; and oftentimes it can even spread into subsequent behavioural and perception changes in the way we experience the life around us. This thesis aims to explore the complexity behind language as well as the neuroprotective characteristic of bilingualism and its reflection on our lived, personal and cultural experience, and whether it is beneficial to the speaker and the way that language fundamentally changes the brain and its circuits. Themes of discussion will be language production, how the presence of multiple languages influences cognitive processes, the differences in neural pathways that polyglots have compared to monolingual cases, in the first part of the thesis. The second part of this thesis deals with the neuroplastic changes the cerebrum goes through once a new language is introduced to it, the thereafter reformed pathways of action. Meanwhile, the final part of this thesis discusses the intersectional factors that contribute to a uniquely subjective - yet culturally diverse - experience that an individual may have as a byproduct of the languages they speak and the cultures that they are thereby able to participate in and be a part of.