Bilingualism

Catalog description

This course explores key questions about the linguistic competence of bilinguals in comparison to monolinguals. Although many linguistic models assume a monolingual speaker, most of the world’s population is bi- or multilingual. What does it mean to be bilingual rather than monolingual? How does knowing two languages shape linguistic behavior? What are the consequences of bilingualism for both language use and broader cognitive abilities? How do these realities align—or clash—with social attitudes and public policy? Drawing on data from a wide range of bilingual communities, students will engage with research from psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics to begin addressing these questions. Topics include language comprehension and production, acquisition, the mental representation of dual language knowledge, and the cognitive effects of bilingualism. We will also examine the social context of bilingualism, the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism, and their implications for linguistic theory.