Life with Two Languages: Introduction to Bilingualism - Hardcover

Grosjean, Francois

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674530918 ISBN 13: 9780674530911

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1982

Synopsis

Many people consider bilinguals to be exceptional, yet almost half the world's population speaks more than one language. Bilingualism is found in every country of the world, in every class of society, in all age groups. Life with Two Languages is the first book to provide a complete and authoritative look at the nature of the bilingual experience. Franois Grosjean, himself a bilingual, covers the topic from each of its many angles in order to provide a balanced introduction to this fascinating phenomenon. Grosjean discusses the political and social situations that arise when languages come into contact and the policies nations have established toward their linguistic minorities in the domains of education and governance. Of particular interest is his detailed account of the psychological and social factors that lead a bilingual to choose one of her languages when speaking to another bilingual or to use both languages in the fascinating phenomenon of code-switching. The author explains how children become bilingual as quickly as they become monolingual, describes the organization of languages in the bilingual brain, and examines the legacy of bilingualism on language, as exemplified in word borrowings. Above all, Life with Two Languages puts the emphasis on the bilingual person. In a series of first-hand reports scattered throughout the book, bilinguals tell what it is like to live with two languages and describe the educational and social experiences they have undergone. Written in a clear and informative style, Life with Two Languages will appeal to professionals and students in linguistics, education, sociology, and psychology, as well as to the more casuallycurious.

About this title

Review

This book is virtually indispensable to anyone already interested in language politics... Grosjean has assembled a great deal of valuable and often intriguing data and organized it clearly. Anyone interested in the distinctly personal aspects of bilingualism will find it rewarding to dip into this survey; he is bound to discover a good deal that has escaped his own attempts. -- W. Haas "Times Literary Supplement" What this book conveys is the incredible variety of ways in which an individual or a nation can be bilingual...Grosjean's book treats the multiple facets of bilingual experience in thought-provoking, wonderful, and lucid prose. Students and general readers, monolingual and bilingual alike, stand to gain new perspectives from reading this excellent comprehensive introduction. -- Loraine K. Obler "Contemporary Psychology" The volume is written in a highly readable, enjoyable style. The coverage is broad and quite comprehensive, with a wide range of examples from different countries and cultures...The message concerning what natural bilingual behavior is like for most bilinguals comes through strongly and impressively. It is this them which holds the book together and which makes it a unique contribution among writings on bilingualism. -- Ellen Bouchard Ryan "Bilingual Review"

About the Author

Francois Grosjean is Professor Emeritus at Neuchatel University, and author of Life with Two Languages: An Introduction to Bilingualism.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1982
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674530918
• ISBN 13: 9780674530911
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384