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Child bilingualism

Aims

This module will provide a review of bilingual development. Some of the issues to be considered are:

  • Differences between child and adult bilingualism and between simultaneous and sequential bilingualism in childhood
  • The controversy over one system vs. two in simultaneous bilingual acquisition
  • The relation between bilingualism and intelligence or cognitive processing
  • Code-switching in children vs. adults
  • Aspects of bilingual education

Through a combination of lectures and readings, you will become acquainted with the findings of both case studies and group studies of bilingual children. The main theoretical issues debated in both the popular press and the scientific literature will be considered. By the end of the course you should have a good understanding of the complex questions surrounding child bilingualism and be able to critically evaluate some of the issues involved.

This module will be capped at 30.

About this module