Ellen Bialystok

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications – extracts from books, key articles, research findings, and practical and theoretical contributions. Ellen Bialystok has published widely in the field of cognitive development and decline across the lifespan. Her research uses behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine the effect of experience on cognitive and brain systems with a focus on bilingualism. Her discoveries include the identification of differences in the development of cognitive and language abilities for monolingual and bilingual children, the use of different brain networks by monolingual and bilingual young adults performing cognitive tasks, and the postponement of symptoms of dementia in bilingual older adults. In other studies, she has investigated the effects of bilingual education on children’s development and the cognitive and brain consequences of bilingualism in older adults. Including a specially written introduction, in which Ellen Bialystok reflects on the role that language plays on thought, this collection will serve as a valuable resource for students and researchers of psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications – extracts from books, key articles, research findings, and practical and theoretical contributions. Ellen Bialystok has published widely in the field of cognitive development and decline across the lifespan. Her research uses behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine the effect of experience on cognitive and brain systems with a focus on bilingualism. Her discoveries include the identification of differences in the development of cognitive and language abilities for monolingual and bilingual children, the use of different brain networks by monolingual and bilingual young adults performing cognitive tasks, and the postponement of symptoms of dementia in bilingual older adults. In other studies, she has investigated the effects of bilingual education on children’s development and the cognitive and brain consequences of bilingualism in older adults. Including a specially written introduction, in which Ellen Bialystok reflects on the role that language plays on thought, this collection will serve as a valuable resource for students and researchers of psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics.

Multilingualism is achieved through different paths, at different ages, and for different purposes. But languages matter, and the experiences and abilities we acquire with languages impact our cognitive, social, and emotional lives. Moreover, we are now in a position in which we can control our language learning experiences and opportunities to a far greater degree than previously possible, so it is important to pause and examine what we know about multilingualism, foreign language learning, and their effects on individuals and families. The global and historical prevalence of multilingualism should be reassuring to those who struggle with the decisions around language use in their families and communities but we still want to make the best decision possible. The purpose of this book is to examine what is known about these issues in order to understand the impact of multilingualism on children

Bilingualism in Development is an examination of the language and cognitive development of bilingual children focusing primarily on the preschool years. It begins by defining the territory for what is included in bilingualism and how language proficiency can be conceptualized. Using these constraints, the discussion proceeds to review the research relevant to various aspects of children's development and assesses the role that bilingualism has in each. The areas covered include language acquisition, metalinguistic ability, literacy skill, and problem-solving ability. In each case, the performance of bilingual children is compared to that of similar monolinguals, and differences are interpreted in terms of a theoretical framework for cognitive development and processing. The studies show that bilingualism significantly accelerates children's ability to selectively attend to relevant information and inhibit attention to misleading information or competing responses. This conclusion is used as the basis for examining a set of related issues regarding the education and social circumstances of bilingual children.

More than five thousand languages are currently spoken around the globe. Learning to speak one of them is virtually effortless for most of us, so why is it commonly so difficult to learn a second language? Unraveling this mystery, two top researchers in the field explain how language acquisition can be an odyssey of self-discovery.