Exploring Bilingualism - Key Concepts and Basic Issues

Exploring Bilingualism - Key Concepts and Basic Issues PDF Author: Martin Lehmannn
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638381986
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 29

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin, course: First and Second Language Acquisition, language: English, abstract: [...] This extract from the Book of Genesis is perhaps the oldest recorded attempt to explain the thrilling diversity of languages in the western societies. Moreover, the tale of the Tower of Babel is probably the best-known story about language among ordinary citizens. Though virtually everyone has heard about Babel at some point, only few would link it to the concept of ‘multilingualism’ or be able to give an exact definition of the term. Scholars, on the other hand, have not come up with a universally accepted definition so far, either. The term ‘multilingualism’ is used here synonymously with ‘bilingualism’ and therefore applied in its broadest sense. For the time being, we consider as multilingualism / bilingualism the competence in more than one language or, in other words, we “encompass both the individuals who are fluent in two languages only and those whose linguistic repertoire consists of three or more languages”. Admittedly, this definition is rather inaccurate and vague. In the course of this work we will therefore seek for a much more elaborate understanding of bilingualism / multilingualism. But let us go back to the biblical story for a moment. Unfortunately, a negative attitude towards different languages, which is implicitly expressed in the curse of Babel, is nowadays still widely held when it comes to judging bilinguals and bilingualism. Even in this day and age many people see the simultaneous occurrence of several languages in one place not as a blessing but as an aberration. To them, monolingualism is the norm and hence the natural way of life. However, if we direct our attention to facts rather than fiction, it becomes immediately clear that multilingualism is neither abnormal nor unnatural. Instead, as BHATIA / RITCHIE veraciously state, “[b]ilingualism, – more generally, multilingualism – is a major fact of life in the world today.” For a start, let us consider the domain of economics. The process of globalisation as well as improved travel opportunities have been causing increased mobility throughout the world. It is thus becoming a smaller place and interactions between people of different nations and cultures are getting much more frequent than in the past. As a result, ever more individuals are required to speak two or more languages. Despite these recent developments, the need to communicate with people who do not speak the same language as oneself is probably as old as history itself. [...]

Exploring Bilingualism - Key Concepts and Basic Issues

Exploring Bilingualism - Key Concepts and Basic Issues PDF Author: Martin Lehmannn
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638381986
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 29

Get Book Here

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin, course: First and Second Language Acquisition, language: English, abstract: [...] This extract from the Book of Genesis is perhaps the oldest recorded attempt to explain the thrilling diversity of languages in the western societies. Moreover, the tale of the Tower of Babel is probably the best-known story about language among ordinary citizens. Though virtually everyone has heard about Babel at some point, only few would link it to the concept of ‘multilingualism’ or be able to give an exact definition of the term. Scholars, on the other hand, have not come up with a universally accepted definition so far, either. The term ‘multilingualism’ is used here synonymously with ‘bilingualism’ and therefore applied in its broadest sense. For the time being, we consider as multilingualism / bilingualism the competence in more than one language or, in other words, we “encompass both the individuals who are fluent in two languages only and those whose linguistic repertoire consists of three or more languages”. Admittedly, this definition is rather inaccurate and vague. In the course of this work we will therefore seek for a much more elaborate understanding of bilingualism / multilingualism. But let us go back to the biblical story for a moment. Unfortunately, a negative attitude towards different languages, which is implicitly expressed in the curse of Babel, is nowadays still widely held when it comes to judging bilinguals and bilingualism. Even in this day and age many people see the simultaneous occurrence of several languages in one place not as a blessing but as an aberration. To them, monolingualism is the norm and hence the natural way of life. However, if we direct our attention to facts rather than fiction, it becomes immediately clear that multilingualism is neither abnormal nor unnatural. Instead, as BHATIA / RITCHIE veraciously state, “[b]ilingualism, – more generally, multilingualism – is a major fact of life in the world today.” For a start, let us consider the domain of economics. The process of globalisation as well as improved travel opportunities have been causing increased mobility throughout the world. It is thus becoming a smaller place and interactions between people of different nations and cultures are getting much more frequent than in the past. As a result, ever more individuals are required to speak two or more languages. Despite these recent developments, the need to communicate with people who do not speak the same language as oneself is probably as old as history itself. [...]

Psychology of Bilingualism

Psychology of Bilingualism PDF Author: Alfredo Ardila
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319640992
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
The aim of this volume is to integrate the current literature about the psychological dimensions of bilingualism: that is, to analyze psychological, subjective, and internal perspectives on bilingualism. What is the internal world of bilinguals like? How do they perceive the world and how do they think? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being bilingual? How does bilingualism interact with personality? In what way does being bilingual impact the aging mind? Renowned and emerging scholars alike explore these questions in the collected chapters. The organization of the book features four main component parts: (1) the inner cognitive world of the bilingual mind (2) bilingual language representation, and (3) bilingualism across the lifespan, and 4) bilingual cognitive and personality dimensions. Taken collectively, the included chapters provide a multidimensional and up-to-date perspective on bilingual studies, specifically concentrating on the cognitive and emotional dimensions of the individual. Chapter topics include: Conceptual Metaphor Theory Bilingual Figurative Language Processing Aging in Bilinguals Psychopathology in Bilinguals Personality Traits in Bilinguals Addressing the growing demand for bilingual research, this collection provides a timely and much needed perspective on the bilingual as an individual, exploring his/her internal world and a range of phenomena, including emotional word processing, personality traits, language effects on the mind, and cognitive effects of bilingualism. As such, it will appeal to a wide range of readers across various intellectual and professional arenas, including cognitive psychologists, personality psychologists, psycholinguists, educational psychologists and second language teachers, among others.

The Mysteries of Bilingualism

The Mysteries of Bilingualism PDF Author: François Grosjean
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119602378
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Eleven critical issues in the study of bilingualism: Insightful analyses by renowned expert François Grosjean The majority of people living around the world today are able to speak more than one language, yet many aspects of the nature and experience of bilingualism raise unresolved questions for researchers. Who exactly is bilingual? What is the extent of bilingualism? How do infant bilinguals who acquire two languages at the same time manage to separate them? Does language processing work differently when bilinguals are interacting with monolinguals and with bilinguals? When a speaker changes their language, do they also change aspects of their personality? In The Mysteries of Bilingualism, eminent scholar François Grosjean provides a comprehensive examination of individual bilingualism that delves into unanswered questions and challenges many of the myths and misconceptions surrounding bilingualism. Through insightful analyses of eleven key questions, this book offers a unique combination of personal reflection, literature review, personal testimony, and case studies to explore these mysteries. Altogether, this text offers: Comprehensive explorations of the linguistic aspects of bilingualism, including who is bilingual, describing bilinguals, accented speech, and language loss Practical discussions of speech and language processing, including language choice and mixed speech perception and production In-depth examinations of personality and culture in relation to bilingualism and biculturalism Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students of bilingualism, multilingualism, second language acquisition, and applied linguistics, The Mysteries of Bilingualism offers an up-to-date view of the leading research questions in the study of bilingualism today.

Early Biliteracy Development

Early Biliteracy Development PDF Author: Eurydice B. Bauer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136962123
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
A large and growing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the US and around the world have the potential to develop bilingualism and biliteracy if supported in their immediate environment. At the forefront in focusing exclusively on biliteracy development in early childhood across a variety of languages, this book provides both findings from empirical research with young bilinguals in home and school contexts and practical applications of these findings. Each chapter is structured in a similar format to offer parallel descriptions of the research, including a brief review of related empirical studies, an overview of the methods for data collection and analysis, a description of the main findings, and specific pedagogical implications to support educators’ efforts to construct meaningful, challenging, and dynamic literacy and language learning communities where one or more languages are used for communicating and learning. Pushing the field forward, this book is a valuable resource for helping literacy educators understand and respond to critical issues related to the development of young children’s literate competencies in two languages in home and school contexts.

The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism

The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism PDF Author: Tej K. Bhatia
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118332415
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 978

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Book Description
**Honored as a 2013 Choice Outstanding Academic Title** Comprising state-of-the-art research, this substantially expanded and revised Handbook discusses the latest global and interdisciplinary issues across bilingualism and multilingualism. Includes the addition of ten new authors to the contributor team, and coverage of seven new topics ranging from global media to heritage language learning Provides extensively revised coverage of bilingual and multilingual communities, polyglot aphasia, creolization, indigenization, linguistic ecology and endangered languages, multilingualism, and forensic linguistics Brings together a global team of internationally-renowned researchers from different disciplines Covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from neuro- and psycho-linguistic research to studies of media and psychological counseling Assesses the latest issues in worldwide linguistics, including the phenomena and the conceptualization of 'hyperglobalization', and emphasizes geographical centers of global conflict and commerce

Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond

Bilingualism, Executive Function, and Beyond PDF Author: Irina A. Sekerina
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027262748
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
The study of bilingualism has charted a dramatically new, important, and exciting course in the 21st century, benefiting from the integration in cognitive science of theoretical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology (especially work on the higher-level cognitive processes often called executive function or executive control). Current research, as exemplified in this book, advances the study of the effects of bilingualism on executive function by identifying many different ways of being bilingual, exploring the multiple facets of executive function, and developing and analyzing tasks that measure executive function. The papers in this volume (21 chapters), by leading researchers in bilingualism and cognition, investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects (or lack thereof) of bilingualism on cognition in children, adults, and the elderly. They take us beyond the standard, classical, black-and-white approach to the interplay between bilingualism and cognition by presenting new methods, new findings, and new interpretations.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism

Bilinguality and Bilingualism PDF Author: Josiane F. Hamers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521337977
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
The study of bilingualism - the subject of this important textbook - is no longer exclusively an academic preoccupation but is a practical necessity in today's multilingual world. Over the past decades, researchers from a wide range of disciplines - linguistics, psychology, neurology and sociology - have been fragmented and often inaccessible to students. Bilinguality and Bilingualism (a thoroughly revised and updated version of the authors' textbook published in French) provides a comprehensive, critical review of current research, focusing on the need for genuinely explanatory accounts and the development of satisfactory theoretical models. The book explores the way in which bilingualism develops in childhood or later, on its social, neurological and psychological foundations, and on the social and cultural consequences of bilingualism. It also explores the wider issues of languages in contact; both psycholinguistic research to language teaching, translation and interpreting, and also language planning and policy-making. The multidisciplinary material is deftly and logically organised to provide a refreshingly clear synthesis which will be invaluable to students and also to specialists who want an up-to-date account of research in different disciplines. It will also be an important reference work for language teachers and for professionals involved in language planning and multilingual education.

Key Issues in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education

Key Issues in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education PDF Author: Colin Baker
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
ISBN: 9780905028941
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
The book looks at world-wide evidence on issues surrounding bilingualism and bilingual education. These issues include the relationship between bilingualism and intelligence, the advantages and disadvantages of bilingual education and the role of attitude and motivation in bilingualism.

The Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education

The Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education PDF Author: Wayne E. Wright
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119005493
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 688

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Book Description
The Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education presents the first comprehensive international reference work of the latest policies, practices, and theories related to the dynamic interdisciplinary field of bilingual and multilingual education. Represents the first comprehensive reference work that covers bilingual, multilingual, and multicultural educational policies and practices around the world Features contributions from 78 established and emerging international scholars Offers extensive coverage in sixteen chapters of language and education issues in specific and diverse regional/geographic contexts, including South Africa, Mexico, Latvia, Cambodia, Japan, and Texas Covers pedagogical issues such as language assessment as well as offering evolving perspectives on the needs of specific learner populations, such as ELLs, learners with language impairments, and bilingual education outside of the classroom

The Arts and Emergent Bilingual Youth

The Arts and Emergent Bilingual Youth PDF Author: Sharon Verner Chappell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136446389
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
The Arts and Emergent Bilingual Youth offers a critical sociopolitical perspective on working with emerging bilingual youth at the intersection of the arts and language learning. Utilizing research from both arts and language education to explore the ways they work in tandem to contribute to emergent bilingual students’ language and academic development, the book analyzes model arts projects to raise questions about “best practices” for and with marginalized bilingual young people, in terms of relevance to their languages, cultures, and communities as they envision better worlds. A central assumption is that the arts can be especially valuable for contributing to English learning by enabling learners to experience ideas, patterns, and relationship (form) in ways that lead to new knowledge (content). Each chapter features vignettes showcasing current projects with ELL populations both in and out of school and visual art pieces and poems, to prompt reflection on key issues and relevant concepts and theories in the arts and language learning. Taking a stance about language and culture in English learners’ lives, this book shows the intimate connections among art, narrative, and resistance for addressing topics of social injustice.