974. How does aging affect our ability to understand language? From the challenges of processing complex sentences to the resilience you get from a rich vocabulary, we look at how our language skills change over time. Â Plus, looking into why people say “anyways” led me to some interesting historical tidbits.
The aging segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of “Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English.” A version of the piece originally appeared on Psychology Today, and you can find her at valeriefridland.com.
| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/aging-anyways/transcript
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References for the Aging segment
van Boxtel, W, Lawyer, L. Sentence comprehension in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. Lang Linguist Compass. 2021;e12430.
Payne, B. R., Gao, X., Noh, S. R., Anderson, C. J., & Stine-Morrow, E. A. (2012). The effects of print exposure on sentence processing and memory in older adults: Evidence for efficiency and reserve. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 19(1–2), 122–149.