Bilingualism Across the Lifespan

This book pioneers the study of bilingualism across the lifespan and in all its diverse forms. The study of bilingualism unfolds against a varied backdrop of sociocultural and sociopolitical factors. While the nature of bilingualism and multilingualism has often been misunderstood, the bilingual community is a dynamic and ever-growing part of the global population. In framing the newest research within a lifespan perspective, the editors highlight the importance of considering an individual's age from infancy to late adulthood when researching how bilingualism affects language acquisition and cognitive development. Four major topics are explored: early bilingualism factors affecting bilingualism across the lifespan academic achievement and literacy in bilinguals cognitive effects of bilingualism A key theme is the variability among bilinguals, which may be due to a host of individual and sociocultural factors, including the degree to which bilingualism is or is not valued in each country and context. This book is a call for language researchers, psychologists, and educators to pursue and promote a better understanding of bilingualism in our increasingly multicultural society.