Published on 25 May 2023

SGA-SoL Science of Learning in Education Seminar Series: ”Multilingualism, Cognition and Society” by Professor Henriette Hendriks

Professor Henriette Hendriks, Professor in Language Acquisition and Cognition at the University of Cambridge spoke on the relationship between executive functions and multilingualism, referencing her work in the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition on how social factors such as multilingualism influence how successful training of cognitive flexibility is. She shared preliminary findings  of a positive correlation between multilingualism and cognitive flexibility, as well as multilingualism’s relationship with important social factors such as perceived social support, tolerance of uncertainty, and cooperativeness. She provided insights on how multilingualism can be better measured, including the need to look at the societal and cultural value of multilingualism. The seminar, hosted by Dr Aishah Abdul Rahman, Education Research Scientist at the Science of Learning in Education Centre (SoLEC), was attended by 18 participants. An engaging Q&A segment between participants and Professor Henriette Hendriks included discussion on the lifespan changes in the relationship between multilingualism and cognitive flexibility as well as the educational implications of Professor Hendriks’ work.