Introductory description

Is it an advantage or disadvantage to be brought up bilingual? Is the bilingual or multilingual mind different? How do multilingual individuals draw on culturally shaped understandings of the social world to manage their interactions? In this module you will become familiar with key terms, concepts, theories and research evidence related to linguistic, psychological, and social aspects of bi/multi-lingualism. By the end of the module, you will be able to describe and discuss evidence in bi/multi-lingualism research, analyse the use of language in bi/multi-lingual contexts and evaluate theoretical and empirical research in bi/multi-lingualism.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Learning multiple languages in childhood
Sequential multilingualism and the critical period
The multilingual mind and cognition
Code-switching
Multilingual societies
Language endangerment
Language policy, planning and education

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to: demonstrate your understanding of key concepts, terminology, research methods and theories related to the linguistic, psychological and social aspects of multilingualism demonstrate a critical understanding of issues related to multilingualism and culture describe and discuss the use of language by multilinguals and in multilingual contexts critically evaluate theoretical and empirical research in multilingualism

Indicative reading list

Bhatia, T. K., & Ritchie, W. C. (Eds.). The handbook of bilingualism and multilingualism (2nd edn) (pp.5-25). Chichester/Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Wei, L. (Ed.). The bilingualism reader (pp. 3-25). London/New York: Routledge.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Interdisciplinary

This module demonstrates how the study of multilingualism is inherently interdisciplinary. We can study multilingualism from a number of different perspectives including linguistic, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and applied linguistics.

International

In an increasingly globalised and mobilised world, speakers of different languages are interacting with one another more and more, perpetuating local and global multilingualism. It is therefore critical to understand how an individual and/or a society becomes multilingual, how multilingual individuals interact, how the multilingual mind works, and how multilingualism can be supported (or not) through policies and education.

Subject specific skills

Describe and discuss theory and evidence in bilingual first language acquisition research
Demonstrate their understanding of key concepts, terminology, research methods and theories of bilingualism
Describe and discuss the use of language in bilinguals
Evaluate theoretical and empirical research in bilingualism
Be familiar with theory, research findings, research methods related to bilingualism

Transferable skills

Communicate clearly in oral presentation and written work
Retrieve, evaluate critically and select relevant information to support coherent arguments