Three aspects of language behavior--linguistic independence, linguistic interference, and code-switching, are an integral part of the language processing experiences of the bilingual person. Complex cerebral mechanisms function in a coordinated effort to analyze and synthesize the various components of linguistic codes, store them in semantic representations in one memory, and reproduce them in the language in which the bilingual speaker is expected to communicate in a given situation or context. Aware that they communicate in a sociocultural environment, speakers interact with members of social groups representing two different languages and realize that their linguistic codes are influenced by and permeated with sociocultural elements unique to each language. This is the reality for bilingual persons as they learn to live in and adapt to the changing circumstances of a bilingual bicultural society. (Author/MSE)