This volume comprises 16 chapters – both research papers and theoretical contributions – grouped in three thematic sections. The chapters in the first part, entitled "Discourse Communities: Languages in Contact," adopt a social and/or historical perspective on bi-/multilingualism. The contributions in the second part, entitled "Languages in the Mind: Language Development and Language Use," view issues related to bi- and multilingualism from psycholinguistic and psychological perspectives. The chapters comprising the third part, "Language Education: Supporting Multilingual Development," adopt a broadly understood didactic perspective on bi-/multilingualism.

This volume comprises 16 chapters both research papers and theoretical contributions grouped in three thematic sections. 0The chapters in the first part, entitled Discourse Communities: Languages in Contact,? adopt a social and/or historical perspective on bi-/multilingualism. 0The contributions in the second part, entitled Languages in the Mind: Language Development and Language Use,? view issues related to bi- and multilingualism from psycholinguistic and psychological perspectives. 0The chapters comprising the third part, Language Education: Supporting Multilingual Development,? adopt a broadly understood didactic perspective on bi-/multilingualism.

This volume offers an ontogenetic perspective on research on L3, multilingualism and multiple languages acquisition and a conceptually updated picture of multilingualism studies and third/multiple language acquisition studies. The contributions by prominent scholars of multilingualism present state-of-the-art accounts of the significant aspects in this field. This unique collection of articles adopts a broad-spectrum and synthesized view on the topic. The volume, largely theoretical and classificatory, features main theories, prominent researchers and important research trends. The articles also contain factual and historical material from previous and current decades of research and offer practical information on research resources. For lecturers, students, educators, researchers, and social workers operating in multilingual contexts, The Exploration of Multilingualism is manifestly relevant.

This book is the very first collection of first-person language learning narratives that offers rich introspective data on the various processes and forces shaping the development and maintenance of multiple languages (seven and more) in a single individual. The writers are twelve multilinguals who have been influenced by quite different contextual factors and who have learned a wide range and combination of dialects and languages from both similar and very different linguistic families. The combinations explored in the narratives include some lesser-known languages that come from under-researched areas, such as the African continent, certain parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Also unique are two theoretical chapters which analyze the narrative data against the background of language development research findings within several thematic areas: multiple language learning as a complex dynamic system; the influence of bilingualism/multilingualism on the acquisition of additional languages; cross-linguistic influence; and also emotions, motivation, and identity. The aim of this juxtaposition and analysis is to allow a meaningful comparison of the extent to which etic, researcher-generated, and emic, learner-offered perspectives match or diverge, and to identify new questions that the emic data may add to research agendas. The book is an excellent resource not only for researchers but also for teachers as well as for students of language at the graduate and undergraduate level.

Only 15 years ago bilingualism was somewhat outside the main debates in cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics had, to a large extent, taken for granted the fact that language is embodied in our experience. However, not much attention was given to questions of whether any changes to our language repertoire alter the way we perceive the world around us. A growing body of recent research suggests that one cannot understand the cognitive foundations of language without looking at bi- and multilingual speakers. In this vein, the present book aims to contribute to the existing debate of the relationship between language, culture and cognition by assessing differences and similarities between monolingual and bilingual language acquisition and use. In particular, it investigates the effect of conceptual-semantic and pragmatic properties of constructions on code choice and code switching, as well as the impact of bilingual and bicultural education on speakers’ cognitive development. This collective volume systematises, reviews, and promotes a range of theoretical perspectives and research techniques that currently inform work across the disciplines of bilingualism and code switching.

This book brings together a broad, interdisciplinary group of leading scholars to critically assess a recent proposal within translanguaging theory called deconstructivism: the view that discrete or ‘named’ languages do not exist. Contributors explore important topics in relation to the deconstructivist turn in translanguaging, including epistemology, language ideology, bilingual linguistic competence, codeswitching, bilingual first language acquisition, the neurolinguistics of bilingualism, the significance of language naming to Indigenous language reclamation efforts, implications for bilingual education and language rights, and the effects of translanguaging on immersion programs for endangered languages. Contributing authors converge on support for a multilingual perspective on translanguaging which affirms the pedagogical and conceptual aims of translanguaging but rejects deconstructivism. The book makes a valuable contribution to the development of translanguaging theory and will be required reading for scholars and students interested in one of the most vibrant and vital debates in contemporary applied linguistics.

This book promotes linguistically responsive foreign language teaching practices in multilingual contexts by facilitating a dialogue between teachers and researchers. It advances a discussion of how to connect the acquisition of subsequent foreign languages with previous language knowledge to create culturally and linguistically inclusive foreign language classrooms, and how to strengthen the connection between research on multilingualism and foreign language teaching practice. The chapters present new approaches to foreign language instruction in multilingual settings, many of them forged in collaboration between foreign language teachers and researchers of multilingualism. The authors report findings of classroom-based research, including case studies and action research on topics such as the functions and applications of translanguaging in the foreign language classroom, the role of learners’ own languages in teaching additional languages, linguistically and culturally inclusive foreign language pedagogies, and teacher and learner attitudes to multilingual teaching approaches.