Embracing a multilingual approach for assessment in multilingual people with aphasia

In this comment, I advocate for embracing a true multilingual approach in the assessment of acquired language difficulties-by allowing people to use their complete linguistic repertoire-rather than the traditional binary approach, which assesses each language separately. I first briefly review the shift that has occurred in the fields of neurolinguistics and psycholinguistics of bilingualism from binary to non-binary views of both the processing of multiple languages in the brain and in the study of multilingual individuals. I then address assessment challenges in multilingual individuals with aphasia and suggest that, when appropriate, multilingual people could be evaluated and treated in a context that allows them to employ their complete linguistic repertoire rather than in a context in which they have to select one target language and inhibit the other(s). This new assessment practice can then alleviate added cognitive and affective demands associated with language selection and inhibition, and can provide ecologically valid information about the communication abilities of the individual. This new approach is suitable for multilingual people who tend to use their multiple languages with their interlocutors, and may be less relevant for those multilingual people who use their languages in a diglossic manner. Customizing services in accordance with multilingualism-related variables may enhance best practices and well-being.