Knowledge of language and the multilingual mind

Contrary to the conclusions suggested by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and other techniques in electronic imaging of mind, it seems that knowledge of language may not be the property of a particular part of mind. How is the knowledge of language organized by a multilingual mind then? Are different languages stored in different and isolated cells? We do not know for certain yet, but instances of reading, writing, listening and speaking errors by multilingual people suggest that knowledge of any number of languages is organized together, though at different levels of structure. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.