Research into bilingualism has revealed a number of surprising findings about the way (0) IN which the human brain processes language. For many years, it was widely assumed that children brought 1 speaking two languages would suffer from confusion and impaired cognitive development. This view has since been largely discredited, and there is now substantial evidence to suggest that the opposite may 2 be the case. Studies have shown that bilingual individuals tend to outperform their monolingual counterparts, not 3 on tasks requiring attention and problem-solving, but also on those involving the ability to switch between competing demands. One explanation for this is that constantly 4 to manage two languages forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, thereby strengthening its executive functions. It has also been suggested that bilingualism may serve 5 a form of protection against cognitive decline in later life, although the evidence for this remains inconclusive. What is particularly noteworthy is 6 far these benefits appear to extend beyond language itself. Far from 7 limited to linguistic tasks, the cognitive advantages associated with bilingualism seem to influence a wide range of mental processes. For researchers in the field, the challenge now lies in determining whether 8 not these advantages hold true across all populations and age groups.