**8. Sociolinguistic implications of multilingualism**

Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society. Multilingualism is the act of using polyglottism, or using multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. The simultaneous coexistence of a large number of languages in a country has also important cultural, economical, sanitary, and political effects on the life of its inhabitants, who will be crucially affected by the decisions taken by the government on language policy.
