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Multilingualism is a typical aspect of everyday life for most of
the world's population; it has existed since the beginning of
humanity and among individuals of all backgrounds. Nonetheless, it
has often been treated as a variant of bilingualism or as a
phenomenon unique to individual areas of study. The purpose of this
book is to review current knowledge about the acquisition, use and
loss of multiple languages using a multidisciplinary perspective,
highlighting the common themes and stimulating insights that can
emerge when multilingualism is viewed from different but related
areas of investigation. The chapters focus on research evidence,
showing that multilingualism is a complex phenomenon that involves
a myriad of linguistic and extra-linguistic forces and that should
be studied in its own right as evidence of human potential and
capacity for language. The book is primarily addressed to students
and scholars interested in deepening their understanding of the
different facets of multilingualism, including the individual and
societal circumstances that contribute to it, the cognitive and
neural mechanisms that make it possible, and the dynamics involved
in the acquisition, use and loss of multiple languages.
Multilingualism is a typical aspect of everyday life for most of
the world's population; it has existed since the beginning of
humanity and among individuals of all backgrounds. Nonetheless, it
has often been treated as a variant of bilingualism or as a
phenomenon unique to individual areas of study. The purpose of this
book is to review current knowledge about the acquisition, use and
loss of multiple languages using a multidisciplinary perspective,
highlighting the common themes and stimulating insights that can
emerge when multilingualism is viewed from different but related
areas of investigation. The chapters focus on research evidence,
showing that multilingualism is a complex phenomenon that involves
a myriad of linguistic and extra-linguistic forces and that should
be studied in its own right as evidence of human potential and
capacity for language. The book is primarily addressed to students
and scholars interested in deepening their understanding of the
different facets of multilingualism, including the individual and
societal circumstances that contribute to it, the cognitive and
neural mechanisms that make it possible, and the dynamics involved
in the acquisition, use and loss of multiple languages.
Current research on multilingual acquisition is concerned with
whether children exposed to multiple languages from birth build
separate language systems from early on or a single system
comprised of elements of all languages. While several studies have
shown that developing bilinguals show signs of language
differentiation from the onset of speech, very little work has been
done on children learning more than two languages. This book
examines the emergence of three languages - Tagalog, Spanish, and
English - in a child raised in a trilingual environment and focuses
on the process of language differentiation from the perspective of
phonology, lexicon, word order, and language choice. These analyses
shed light on a child's ability to develop the various components
of three languages and suggest that multilingual exposure does not
slow down the process of language differentiation. The results of
this study and their implications will be of interest to those
working in linguistics, developmental psychology, and related
fields, interested in the processes and mechanisms involved in
multilingual children's language and cognitive development.
The study of bilingualism unfolds against a varied backdrop of
sociocultural and sociopolitical factors. While the nature of
bilingualism and multilingualism has often been misunderstood, the
bilingual community is a dynamic and ever-growing part of the
global population. This book pioneers the study of bilingualism
across the lifespan and in all its diverse forms. In framing the
newest research within a lifespan perspective, the editors
highlight the importance of considering an individual's age - from
infancy to late adulthood - when researching how bilingualism
affects language acquisition and cognitive development. A key theme
of the volume is the variability among bilinguals, which may be due
to a host of individual and sociocultural factors. Five major
topics are explored: early bilingualism; factors affecting
bilingualism across the lifespan; academic achievement and literacy
in bilinguals; and cognitive effects of bilingualism. While
bilingualism is not always valued in the U.S.A. and thus may result
in negative outcomes, in other countries and contexts, positive
outcomes are common. Thus, this book is a call for language
researchers, psychologists, and educators to pursue and promote a
better understanding of bilingualism in our increasingly
multicultural society.
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