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Knowledge About Bilingualism and Multilingualism

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Language Awareness and Multilingualism

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

Abstract

A key research issue about bilinguals and multilinguals has been about their implicit and explicit knowledge of the languages they speak including within the different contexts of their communication. This is often termed ‘the metalinguistic awareness of bilinguals’. Research suggests that bilinguals have specific advantages over monolinguals in analysing their languages and in controlled attention to their language processing. Other research examines a bilingual’s sensitivity to communication, the social uses of code-switching and translanguaging, and bilinguals as language brokers. However, research does not uniformly show all bilinguals having such advantages, with those who have two or more relatively well-developed languages having a higher probability of showing positive effects. Such positive effects appear to last beyond childhood into late adulthood.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Bangor University, Normal Site, LL57 2PZ, Bangor, Wales, UK

    Colin Baker

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  1. Colin Baker
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Correspondence to Colin Baker .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education Philosophy and Anthropology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia – San Sebastián, Spain

    Jasone Cenoz

  2. Faculty of Education Philosophy and Anthropology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Donostia – San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain

    Durk Gorter

  3. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen May

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Baker, C. (2017). Knowledge About Bilingualism and Multilingualism. In: Cenoz, J., Gorter, D., May, S. (eds) Language Awareness and Multilingualism. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02240-6_18

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