Josiane F. Hamers

A Sociocognitive Model of Bilingual Development

The present article proposes a theoretical approach to bilingual development that is in line with general guidelines on language behavior. Aswe view bilingual development as a particular case of language development we first present a general approach to language development. We argue that language development is dependent upon a number of prerequisites; this includes socialization processes, the development of the functions for which language will be used, and the existence of language-behavior models in the child’s environment. The principal feature of this model is that it attempts to take simultaneously into account a macrological analysis at the societal level, a micrological analysis at the individual level and the interface between both. In accordance with the Bates and MacWhinney approach, we suggest that language develops through a constant formfunction, form-form, and function-function mapping. We apply this approach to bilinguality and analyze a number of case studies of bilingual development.

Towards a Social-Psychological Model of Bilingual Development

In the present paper a social psychological model for the development of bilinguality in the young child is proposed, covering all typical cases of bilingual development. Central to the proposed model of bilingual development are the valorisation mechanisms which the child develops through her/his own system of social networks during early childhood as well as the social psychological mechanisms which develop consequently in the child. Taking as a starting point a general theoretical approach to language development, the model attempts to take into account the empirical evidence of the social, social psychological, linguistic and cognitive aspects of bilingual development. In the second part of the paper different outcomes of early bilingual development are discussed in the light of the model and an attempt is made to define the conditions that are necessary in order for the child to develop a harmonious type of bilinguality as well as those that might lead to an impairment of the cognitive development of the bilingual child.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: culture and identity

In the preceding chapters we have discussed the bilingual individuals language development and behaviour. We have insisted all along that the roots of this behaviour are to be found in social interactions which occur in social networks; both are embedded in broader social structures, such as groups, classes, etc. In the present chapter we analyse, from a social psychological perspective, the relationships between the individual and the sociocultural group or groups around him when two or more languages are in contact. More specifically we focus on the following: the relationship between language and culture (Section 8.1); the development of ethnolinguistic identity (Section 8.2); bilinguality and ethnolinguistic identity (Section 8.3); bilinguality, perceptions and attitudes (Section 8.4) and the social psychological aspects of L 2 acquisition (Section 8.5). The bilinguals development and behaviour cannot be considered independently from society, its structure and its cultural dimension. It must be borne in mind that the development of language, and hence of bilinguality, is part and parcel of the socialisation process through which a child becomes a member of a given social group (see Section 4.1.1). The psychological mechanisms which result from this process should therefore be analysed within the framework of society and of the cultures in which they develop. LANGUAGE AND CULTURE All definitions of culture agree that language is an important part of culture. There is a consensus that culture is a complex entity which comprises a set of symbolic systems, including knowledge, norms, values, beliefs, language, art and customs, as well as habits and skills learned by individuals as members of a given society.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: Definitions and guiding principles

The aim of this book is to review critically the state of the art in the field of languages in contact. By ‘languages in contact’ we mean ‘the use of two or more codes in interpersonal and intergroup relations as well as the psychological state of an individual who uses more than one language’. We distinguish between bilingualism and bilinguality. The concept of bilingualism refers to the state of a linguistic community in which two languages are in contact with the result that two codes can be used in the same interaction and that a number of individuals are bilingual (societal bilingualism); but it also includes the concept of bilinguality (or individual bilingualism). Bilinguality is the psychological state of an individual who has access to more than one linguistic code as a means of social communication; the degree of access will vary along a number of dimensions which are psychological, cognitive, psycholinguistic, social psychological, social, sociological, sociolinguistic, sociocultural and linguistic (Hamers, 1981). DEFINITIONS The concept of bilingualism seems at first sight to be non-problematical. According to Websters dictionary (1961) bilingual is defined as ‘having or using two languages especially as spoken with the fluency characteristic of a native speaker; a person using two languages especially habitually and with control like that of a native speaker’ and bilingualism as ‘the constant oral use of two languages’. In the popular view, being bilingual equals being able to speak two languages perfectly; this is also the approach of Bloomfield (1935: 56), who defines bilingualism as ‘the native-like control of two languages’.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: Dimensions and measurement of bilinguality and bilingualism

In this chapter first we define the relevant dimensions of bilinguality and bilingualism on the basis of the empirical evidence available in these fields. In the second part we enumerate the main different measures developed in order to try to quantify the relevant concepts. DIMENSIONS OF BILINGUALITY AND BILINGUALISM When qualifiers are used to describe bilingualism or bilinguality, they generally focus on one single dimension of these phenomena which are thereby viewed from a particular angle. If we use some of the classifications put forward by researchers it is because they seem to us to be relevant to the dimension under study; however, we must not lose sight of the fact that bilinguality and bilingualism are multidimensional phenomena which must be investigated as such. In the past, failure to take into account simultaneously other dimensions in addition to linguistic ones has all too often led to incomplete or erroneous interpretations of these phenomena. Dimensions of bilinguality In Chapter 1 we made a distinction between bilingualism and bilinguality. We view bilinguality as the psychological state of an individual who has access to more than one linguistic code as a means of social communication. This access is multidimensional as it varies along a number of psychological and sociological dimensions. We have found the following dimensions relevant: (1) relative competence; (2) cognitive organisation; (3) age of acquisition; (4) exogeneity; (5) social cultural status; and (6) cultural identity.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: Author index

Foreword to the second edition Preface Introduction 1. Definitions and guiding principles 2. Dimensions and measurement of bilinguality and bilingualism 3. The ontogenesis of bilinguality 4. Bilinguality: cognitive development and the sociocultural context 5. The social and psychological foundations of bilinguality 6. Bilinguality: neuropsychological foundations 7. Information processing in the bilingual 8. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: culture and identity 9. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: intercultural communication 10. Societal bilingualism, intergroup relations and sociolinguistic variations 11. Bilingual education Conclusion Notes Glossary References Subject index Author index.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: Subject index

Foreword to the second edition Preface Introduction 1. Definitions and guiding principles 2. Dimensions and measurement of bilinguality and bilingualism 3. The ontogenesis of bilinguality 4. Bilinguality: cognitive development and the sociocultural context 5. The social and psychological foundations of bilinguality 6. Bilinguality: neuropsychological foundations 7. Information processing in the bilingual 8. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: culture and identity 9. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: intercultural communication 10. Societal bilingualism, intergroup relations and sociolinguistic variations 11. Bilingual education Conclusion Notes Glossary References Subject index Author index.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: List of tables

Foreword to the second edition Preface Introduction 1. Definitions and guiding principles 2. Dimensions and measurement of bilinguality and bilingualism 3. The ontogenesis of bilinguality 4. Bilinguality: cognitive development and the sociocultural context 5. The social and psychological foundations of bilinguality 6. Bilinguality: neuropsychological foundations 7. Information processing in the bilingual 8. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: culture and identity 9. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: intercultural communication 10. Societal bilingualism, intergroup relations and sociolinguistic variations 11. Bilingual education Conclusion Notes Glossary References Subject index Author index.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: List of figures

Foreword to the second edition Preface Introduction 1. Definitions and guiding principles 2. Dimensions and measurement of bilinguality and bilingualism 3. The ontogenesis of bilinguality 4. Bilinguality: cognitive development and the sociocultural context 5. The social and psychological foundations of bilinguality 6. Bilinguality: neuropsychological foundations 7. Information processing in the bilingual 8. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: culture and identity 9. Social psychological aspects of bilinguality: intercultural communication 10. Societal bilingualism, intergroup relations and sociolinguistic variations 11. Bilingual education Conclusion Notes Glossary References Subject index Author index.

Bilinguality and Bilingualism: Neuropsychological foundations of bilinguality

Despite the fact that the cerebral organisation of languages in the bilingual person has received a great deal of attention in the latter part of the twentieth century it is still difficult to determine if a bilinguals two languages share the same neural mechanisms. Some early research suggested that brain lateralisation (see Section 6.3) in bilinguals is not different from that occurring in monolinguals and that a bilinguals two languages share the same cerebral substrate (Penfield & Roberts, 1959); on the other hand, early evidence stemming from clinical work with polyglot aphasics has, since the nineteenth century, suggested that a cerebral organisation specific to the bilingual might exist (Minkowski, 1963). Experimental evidence with brain-intact bilinguals since the 1960s tends to support the shared-substrate hypothesis (for a review, see Vaid and Hall, 1991). However, from a more recent study using a refined brain-scanning technique with brain-intact bilinguals, it appears that certain linguistic characteristics are processed in separate anatomical sites for L 1 and L 2 by adulthood bilinguals but not by infancy bilinguals (Kim, Relkin, Lee & Hirsch, 1997; see also Section 6.3.2.4). In the present chapter we discuss the state of the art of the neuropsychological aspects of bilinguality. Following a brief introduction to the problem of hemispheric preferences for language behaviour and a brief description of the most widely used techniques for assessing hemispheric preferences (Section 6.2) we review the empirical evidence on the neuropsychological development of bilinguals, obtained from brain-damaged and brain-intact bilinguals (Section 6.3). We pay special attention to neuropsychological differences between simultaneous and consecutive bilinguality. We then discuss the neuropsychological state of the bilingual signing person (Section 6.4).