ELAN7045

FALL 2008

ELAN 7045 / 8045: Bilingualism and Cognitive Development

Instructor: Viktoria Driagina-Hasko

Mon. 5:00 pm—7:45 pm

The split-level MA/PhD course will draw on the recent literature in the area of bilingualism, cognitive studies, neurolinguistics, language acquisition (first and second), and educational research to examine the dynamics of bilingual development and cognition in adults and children and the ensuing educational consequences.

The course will address a number of questions which will be of interest to those intrigued by the theoretical basis of research on cognitive aspects of bilingualism but also to those speaking two or more languages, teaching languages, working in bilingual contexts, counseling bilingual parents, or wanting to raise their own children bilingual. These questions include but are not limited to the following issues:

-What does it mean to be a bilingual?

-What is the neurolinguistics of bilingualism? If a person knows more than one language, how does that affect the way language is processed by the brain? How are the different languages kept apart, and how do they interfere with each other?

-Does bilingualism grant cognitive benefits or disadvantages or both? Is it true that bilingualism is confusing and detrimental to young children’s language development?

-Do individuals who speak several languages also have diverging conceptualizations of reality when they speak different languages? And are their memories language-specific?

-When, how, who, and under which circumstances can one become bilingual, foster, and sustain bilingualism?

-Which methods can be used to investigate cognitive aspects of bilingualism?

-Do sociocultural and sociopolitical factors play a role in bilingualism and language attainment?

Main texts:

Myers-Scotton, C. (2006) Multiple voices: An introduction to bilingualism. Blackwell.

Wei, L. (2007) (Ed.) The bilingualism reader. Routledge.