The book reviews critically the state of the art in the field of bilingualism. Including details of empirical studies conducted by scholars from Europe, America and Australia it depicts a spectrum of research topics like educational aspects of bilingualism to reveal various issues of sociolinguistics and even bilingual literature.

The concept of bilingualism has been analyzed for a very long time. Its definitions range from native-like competence in two languages to a minimal proficiency in a second language. Hence one might question why no consensus has been reached in this matter. The authors of this volume imply that there exists a number of theoretical and methodological difficulties raised by older definitions. The notion of bilingualism has to be investigated from different perspectives reflected by the dimensions each individual intends to diagnose. The aim of the book is to review critically the state of the art in the field of bilingualism. The volume reveals the details of empirical studies conducted by scholars from Europe, America and Australia. It depicts a truly interesting spectrum of research topics starting with the educational aspects of bilingualism, such as: bilingual acquisition, bilingual parenting methods and bilingual kindergartens, to reveal various issues of sociolinguistics and even bilingual literature.

Autorentext

Sambor Grucza is Professor at the University of Warsaw. His research interests are applied linguistics as well as linguistics of languages for specific purposes. Magdalena Olpi ska-Szkie ko is Professor at the University of Warsaw. Her research interests include language acquisition, early bilingualism and specialist languages. Piotr Romanowski is Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw. His research interests are bi- and multilingualism and the methodology of language teaching.

Inhalt

Linguistic repertoire - Bilingual acquisition - Bilingual education - Bilingual kindergartens - Cross-linguistic influence - Heritage languages - Lexical richness - Adult-onset bilinguals - Bilingual parenting methods - Language socialization - Inhibitory control - Code-switching - Bilingual fiction - Bilingual instruction