THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE CONTACT, BILINGUALISM, AND INTERFERENCE IN MODERN COMMUNICATIVE LINGUISTICS

Abstract

The increasing intensity of intercultural communication, globalization processes, and multilingual interaction have significantly expanded the scope of research on language contact, bilingualism, and linguistic interference. Modern communicative linguistics views these phenomena not merely as structural features of language systems but as complex cognitive, social, and pragmatic processes emerging in multilingual communication. This article examines major theoretical approaches to language contact studies, analyzes contemporary interpretations of bilingualism, and explores interference as multidimensional phenomenon affecting linguistic behavior. Special attention is paid to communicative and cognitive perspectives that explain the interaction of linguistic systems in multilingual discourse. The study argues that interference should be regarded as a dynamic mechanism shaped by linguistic, cognitive, sociocultural, and pragmatic factors. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of language interaction in contemporary multilingual environments and provide a theoretical framework for further research on intercultural and institutional communication.