South Africa is a country characterised by great linguistic diversity. Large indigenous languages, such as isiZulu and isiXhosa, are spoken by many millions of people, as well as the languages with European roots, such as Afrikaans and English, which are spoken by several millions and used by many more in daily life. This situation provides a…

This volume presents the latest research from internationally recognized researchers and practitioners on language, literacy and numeracy, cognition, and social and emotional development of deaf learners. In their contributions, authors sketch the backgrounds and contexts of their research, take interdisciplinary perspectives in merging their own…

Concerns that parents might have about raising their children bilingually are addressed, and a case study of an Australian family pursuing this course over an 8-year period is presented. In addition, relevant research into bilingualism is cited. Bilingualism means having command of two languages, and bilinguals can range from the rare equilingual…

This book provides a practical introduction to questions about bilingualism. It is for parents and teachers who are themselves bilingual, for monolinguals who want to know more, for those with some intuitive understanding of bilingual situations and for those who are starting from the very beginning. The book poses questions that people often ask…

This book is a comprehensive treatment of the literature on second language acquisition in childhood, viewed in terms of contemporary process models. After a general introduction on bilingualism in society, six major topics are considered: first-language acquistion, language acquisition and learning in childhood and adulthood, simultaneous…