Bilingualism & Multilingualism

CD 486 – Language Disorders – Honors Project
This video presentation explores bilingualism and multilingualism. Topics of discussion in this presentation include the controversial definition of bilingualism; types of bilingualism; key terms used to identify and compare bilinguals; the five stages of second language acquisition; several normal processes and phenomena of second language acquisition; theories on bilingual language acquisition proposed by professor Jim Cummins; the breakdown of global language abilities; key differences between multilingualism and polyglottery; monolingualism, bilingualism, and trilingualism; and contributing factors to truly immersive multilingual societies.

Link to Spanish-Influenced English video presentation:
   • Spanish-Influenced English  
(discussion of transfer from Spanish to English begins at 6 :11)
(examples of phonological, syntactical, and semantic transfer begin at 7 :35)