Bilingualism - EDU00002M
Module summary
This module is for students who would like to explore bilingualism. It is a rich journey through cutting-edge research on the currently most resonant issues in the field of bilingualism.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
-
To provide an introduction to bilingualism from linguistic, psychological and sociolinguistic perspectives.
-
To allow students to develop an awareness of the most influential theories, methods and findings of bilingualism research.
-
To relate theories, methods and findings to understand the needs and potential of children and adults who are or are becoming bilingual.
Module learning outcomes
Subject content
-
describe and evaluate research methods used in bilingualism research, and discuss how these differ from methods used with monolinguals;
-
describe and discuss bilinguals’ language development, language use, knowledge about language and attitudes towards bilingualism;
-
describe and discuss the consequences of knowing more than one language on interaction, cognition and emotion;
-
describe and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of learning and knowing more than one language.
Academic and graduate skills
-
critically read and evaluate primary sources;
-
give solo or group presentations and evaluate peers’ presentations;
-
participate in group work and tutorials, listen and take notes;
-
use e-mail, the Virtual Learning Environment, a word processing programme, a presentation programme and the Web.
Module content
Indicative topics:
Definition of bilingualism – With regard to
this topic, we will be discussing the meaning of bilingualism. We will
look at different definitions that have been proposed over the years
and discuss their appropriateness. We will then explore ways of
measuring and assessing bilingualism.
Research methods in bilingualism – We will
consider the main methods used to research various aspects of
bilingualism. We will see how data is collected and analysed and
discuss how research on bilinguals differs from research on monolinguals.
Bilingual first language acquisition – We will
discuss how children learn two languages simultaneously. We will
tackle topical issues such as: does learning two languages from birth
slow down linguistic development? Does it accelerate metalinguistic
awareness? We will explore linguistic development throughout
childhood, starting from the ability of newborn babies to recognise
languages they heard before birth, and concluding with the effects of
bilingualism on school-aged children learning to read.
Bilingual mind – We will explore how knowledge
of more than one language can impact various aspects of cognition,
affecting for instance performance on IQ and creativity tests. After
rejecting past views of bilinguals as being intellectually deficient,
we will discuss recent research that shows positive cognitive effects
of bilingualism, for instance on the development of theory of mind in
children, and on attention and control in both children and adults. We
will also look at the bilingual brain, discussing recent findings that
bilingualism can affect the actual structure of the brain, and
exploring how language pathologies affect bilinguals.
Bilingualism and thought – With regard to this
topic, we will look at a very recent development in bilingualism
research, which links linguistic relativity and bilingualism in order
to test the possibility that knowing more than one language results in
bilinguals thinking differently from monolinguals.
Bilingual processing – We will see how two or
more languages are represented and processed in one mind,
concentrating on the organisation of the bilingual mental lexicon and
on speech perception and production. We will also look at recent
findings showing that bilinguals describe (and possibly feel) emotions
differently from monolinguals.
Attitudes and identities – We will discuss
bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ attitudes towards languages and towards
bilingualism, and explore issues of bilingual identity. We will also
consider bilingualism at the level of society.
Bilingual
interaction – We will discuss some uses of language that are peculiar
to bilinguals, in the sense that monolinguals cannot use languages
this way: code-switching, translation and interpreting.
Bilingual education – We will talk about
different forms of bilingual education, whereby students are educated
in more than one language, for instance in immersion programmes. We
will also discuss the teaching of literacy to bilingual children. For
instance, should children whose first language is not English learn to
read in English straight away, or should they learn to read in their
mother tongue first?
Bilingualism across lifespan – We will see how
languages are learnt (and forgotten) over the life of a bilingual. We
will look at the post-childhood acquisition of an additional language
and how this differs from first language acquisition, and at how
bilingualism can facilitate the acquisition of an additional language.
We will look at language attrition and see how not only a second
language but also a first language can be partially or completely lost
over time. We will conclude by discussing recent research suggesting
that bilingualism might slow down some aspects of mental ageing.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Module feedback
Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessments. The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.
Indicative reading
Altarriba, J., & Heredia, R. R. (Eds.). (2018). An introduction to bilingualism: Principles and processes, 2nd edition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Chin, N. B., & Wigglesworth, G. (2007) Bilingualism: An
advanced resource book. Routledge.
Grosjean, F. (2022). The mysteries of bilingualism: Unresolved
issues. Blackwell.
Grosjean, F., & Li, P. (2012). The psycholinguistics of
bilingualism. John Wiley & Sons.
Mahootian, S. (2019). Bilingualism (Routledge Guides to
Linguistics). Routledge.
Schwieter, J. W. (Ed.). (2015). The Cambridge handbook of
bilingual processing. Cambridge University Press.
Shin, S. J. (2017). Bilingualism in schools and society:
Language, identity, and policy. Routledge.
Wei, L. & Moyer, M. G. (Eds.). (2008). The Blackwell guide
to research methods in bilingualism and multilingualism. Blackwell.