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Current Issues in Bilingualism: A Complex Approach to a Multidimensional Phenomenon

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Current Issues in Bilingualism

Part of the book series: Literacy Studies ((LITS,volume 5))

Abstract

The past 20 years have seen an unprecedented upsurge of interest in bilingualism and multilingualism. A major reason for this is no doubt the acknowledgement by a growing number of researchers that the use of two or more languages is far more common than was previously thought, and may perhaps even be the norm. There are no exact data on the number of bilinguals throughout the world.1 However, some researchers claim that over 50% of the world’s population is bilingual (Fabbro, 1999). Bilingualism prevails at the societal level as well. With an estimated 6000 languages at this time being spoken in the world (Grimes, 2000), and with only some 200 countries, simple mathematics demonstrates that many countries must, in one way or another, be bi- or multilingual (Dewaele, Housen, & Wei, 2003). An investigation of the phenomenon of bilingualism and second language acquisition, therefore, has not only great theoretical significance, but will also be of great practical importance.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hereinafter the term “bilingual” is used in the wider sense of the word: people who know more than one language.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Neurocognitive Research of Giftedness, Department of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Mark Leikin

  2. Research and Evaluation Authority, Oranim Academic College of Education, Kiryat Tivon, Israel

    Mila Schwartz

  3. Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Mila Schwartz

  4. Department of Foreign Literatures & Linguistics, Ben-Gurion University, Be’er Sheva, Israel

    Yishai Tobin

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  1. Mark Leikin
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  2. Mila Schwartz
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Correspondence to Mark Leikin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Department of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, 31905, Israel

    Mark Leikin

  2. , Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences,, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, 84105, Israel

    Mila Schwartz

  3. , Dept. of Foreign Literatures & Linguisti, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, 84105, Israel

    Yishai Tobin

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Leikin, M., Schwartz, M., Tobin, Y. (2012). Current Issues in Bilingualism: A Complex Approach to a Multidimensional Phenomenon. In: Leikin, M., Schwartz, M., Tobin, Y. (eds) Current Issues in Bilingualism. Literacy Studies, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2327-6_1

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