Multilingualism
Larissa Aronin and David Singleton
Trinity College Dublin and Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel
IMPACT: Studies in Language and Society, 30, ix, 230 pp.
Publishing status: Printing
This book is an authoritative account of multilingualism in the present era, a
phenomenon affecting a vast number of communities, thousands of
languages and millions of language users. The book’s focus is specifically on
the knowledge and use of multiple languages, but its treatment of the topic is
very wide-ranging. It deals with both bilingualism and polyglottism, at the
level of the individual speaker as well as at the societal level. The volume
addresses not only linguistic facets of multilingualism but also
multilingualism’s cultural, sociological, educational, and psychological
dimensions, moving from classic perspectives to recent and emerging
directions of interest. The book’s extensive coverage takes in topics ranging
from the ‘new linguistic dispensation’ in our globalized world to child
development in multilingual environments, from the classification of
multilingual groupings to characteristics of the multilingual mind. This
breadth makes Multilingualism an ideal advanced textbook for undergraduate
and postgraduate students in the areas of linguistics, education and the
social sciences.
Hardbound – Forthcoming
ISBN 978 90 272 1870 4 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00
Paperback – Forthcoming
ISBN 978 90 272 1871 1 | EUR 33.00 | USD 49.95
e-Book – Forthcoming ISBN 978 90 272 7498 4 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Multilingualism: Some preliminary considerations
3. Multilingualism as a new linguistic dispensation
4. The Dominant Language Constellation (DLC)
5. Multilinguality and personal development
6. Language development in multilingual conditions
7. Classifications of multilinguals, multilingual contexts and languages in
multilingual environments
8. A multilingual monolith?
9. Towards a comprehensive view of multilingualism
10. Concluding thoughts
Bibliography
Language index
Name index
Subject index
ix
1–9
11–32
33–57
59–75
77–97
99
117–143
145–162
163–186
187–189
191–219
221–222
223–226
227–230
Quotes
“This book advances the study of multilingualism by providing new evidence
that at times broadens existing theories and at other times displaces old
myths.”
Suzanne Flynn, MIT
“A highly contemporary view of multilingualism across many countries of the
world, which never forgets that multilinguals are human beings, is always
grounded on a clear idea of language itself and proposes thought-provoking
new lines of enquiry for the future. The concept of Dominant Language
Constellation is an important synthesis from existing schemes and certainly
helps one to understand better the complex interaction of languages in
multilingualism.”
Vivian Cook, Newcastle University
Subjects
Benjamins Subject classification
Linguistics
Bilingualism
Language acquisition
Sociolinguistics and Dialectology
BIC Subject
CFB: Sociolinguistics
BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics
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