Introduction to Bilingualism

by Charlotte Hoffmann

An Introduction to Bilingualism provides a comprehensive review of the most important aspects of individual and societal bilingualism, examining both theoretcial and practical issues.

At the level of the individual, it addresses such questios What is involved in the study of bilingual children? What are the patterns of bilingual language acquisition? In which ways do the language competence and the speech of bilinguals differ from those of monolinguals? Topics that sometimes arouse controversy are explored - such as the question of whether there is a relationship between bilingualsim and a child's cognitive, psychological and social development.

The book is also concerned with multilingualism, that is, bilingualsim as a societal phenomenon. It focuses on such issues as language choice in bilingual and multilingual communities, national identity and the education of bilinguals. The inclusion of several case studies of European linguistic minorities serves to exemplify the topics dealt with at the theoretical level and to illustrate the linguistic complexities found in contemporary Europe.

Genres: Language, Linguistics

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Alatea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good overview of the theory on bilingualism. I would have preferred more examples (case studies), though.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

as the title promises, it's an introduction, and it seems to be to be a pretty thorough one. the first half is about individual bilingualism, which is what was mainly of interest to me when selecting the book (since i'm planning on raising a bilingual). the second half is about bilingualism at a societal level, and that turns out to be pretty interesting too.

[Ines]

This book was very interested..

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read. Very interesting and quite detailed but not dense. It is most definitely a bit dated at this point (USSR and West Germany were a thing still). I am curious to see how some of these concepts have evolved. Would recommend.

[Ayat Shobari]

Good book

[Ismail · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...#

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear reading and good foundation of bilingualism theories and studies.

[Puspa · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a good book i ever read