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.

This book is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Ellen Bialystok, Professor of Psychology at York University. Ellen Bialystok is a world-leading expert on the effects of bilingualism on cognitive processes across our lifespan. This conversation examines how she discovered differences in the development of essential cognitive and language abilities for bilingual children, the use of different brain networks by monolingual and bilingual young adults performing simple conflict tasks, and the postponement of symptoms of dementia in bilingual older adults, and many more fascinating aspects of bilingualism. This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, The Plastic Revolution, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter: I. Focusing on Bilingualism - From pedagogy to battling stereotypes II. Becoming Scientific - Inklings of plasticity III. Out of the Minds of Babes - Focusing attention from the earliest moments IV. Differences and Definitions - Statistically significant results, and defining bilingualism V. Multitasking and Focusing - Real-world applications of bilingualism's advantages VI. In the Brain - What’s happening inside VII. The Art of Measurement - The power of fMRI VIII. Bilingualism, Extended - The challenge of isolating relevant factors IX. Bilingualism and Dementia - Surprising results and current puzzles X. Public Policy Implications - The societal benefits of bilingualism XI. Open Questions and Speculations - Ongoing mysteries and the problem with projections About Ideas Roadshow Conversations Series This book is part of an expanding series of 100+ Ideas Roadshow conversations, each one presenting a wealth of candid insights from a leading expert through a focused yet informal setting to give non-specialists a uniquely accessible window into frontline research and scholarship that wouldn't otherwise be encountered through standard lectures and textbooks.

How is language acquired when infants are exposed to multiple language input from birth and when adults are required to learn a second language after early childhood? How do adult bilinguals comprehend and produce words and sentences when their two languages are potentially always active and in competition with one another? What are the neural mechanisms that underlie proficient bilingualism? What are the general consequences of bilingualism for cognition and for language and thought? This handbook will be essential reading for cognitive psychologists, linguists, applied linguists, and educators who wish to better understand the cognitive basis of bilingualism and the logic of experimental and formal approaches to language science.

Multilingualism, including bilingualism, has become internationally important today because of the increasing interdependence between countries, regions and continents, and because of increasing concern with preserving linguistic and cultural diversity. This book is a comprehensive introduction to research on multilingualism. Although psychological aspects predominate, it provides a multidisciplinary perspective on the individual and societal consequences of multilingualism, bringing together insights from linguistics, pedagogy, cognitive neuroscience, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. The book underlines the normality of speaking and using more than one language, and serves to dispel many myths and fears in this regard. Besides theoretical issues, it also provides recommendations on how to promote multilingualism in children from a dominant language group, and how to maintain all languages of students from ethnic communities by means of education.

For decades, bilingualism has resisted definition. If bilingualism is defined as habitual, fluent, correct and accent-free use of two languages, few individuals would qualify as bilinguals. A more viable approach may be to concede that ‘bilingual’ can be seen instead as a range of points on a continuum that allows for differences. The psychological study of bilingualism encompasses a wide range of phenomena including the organization and representation of the grammar, the perception and production of language mixing, cerebral lateralization of language functions, and patterns of recovery of aphasic patients. This book collects together an international array of researchers in experimental psychology, linguistics and neuropsychology, who bring their expertise to bear on the critical issues that are raised by the bilingual phenomena.

This collection brings together leading names in the field of bilingualism research to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Studies in Bilingualism series. Over the last 25 years the study of bilingualism has received a tremendous amount of attention from linguists, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and neuroscientists. The breadth of coverage in this volume is a testament to the many different aspects of bilingualism that continue to generate phenomenal interest in the scholarly community. The bilingual experience is captured through a multifaceted prism that includes aspects of language and literacy development in child bilinguals with and without developmental language disorders, language processing and mental representations in adult bilinguals across the lifespan, and the cognitive and neurological basis of bilingualism. Different theoretical approaches – from generative UG-based models to constructivist usage-based models – are brought to bear on the nature of bilingual linguistic knowledge. The end result is a compendium of the state-of-the-art of a field that is in constant evolution and that is on an upward trajectory of discovery.