Multilingualism

Many people use several languages and dialects in their daily lives. What are the current scholarly models for and insights into this stunning capacity of the human mind? The book discusses research into multilingual practices and multiple language learning, from both cognitive and sociolinguistic angles. Discussion focuses on the repertoires of multilinguals and the processes of cross-linguistic influence, transfer and convergence that are typically observed on the levels of linguistic patterns and matter. Multilingualism is here construed as a continuous, multidimensional phenomenon including more or less linguistically similar subsystems evolving on different skill levels depending on multilinguals’ needs and affordances. The most important theoretical views that shape the field are discussed and compared, and evidence from different contexts considered: tutored and untutored learning, minority language settings, multimodal repertoires with sign languages and multilingualism fostered by foreign language instruction. Moreover, different types of learners are discussed, from hyperpolyglots via bidialectals to ‘ordinary’ second language users. The book scrutinizes scholarly insights and debates with respect to their relevance for language policy and instructed language learning.