A Portrait of the Young in the New Multilingual Spain

"It is no surprise that a large amount of interesting contemporary work on all aspects of bi-tri-and multilingualism emanates from Spain. A portrait of the young in the new multilingual Spain provides a rich example of this work, covering many aspects, both internal and external, of a multi-faceted phenomenon. Factors taken into account include the context of acquisition linguistic input, the "critical mass" hypothesis, the role of the classroom "personal factors" learners with SLI, learners of different ages, the role of literacy and the nature of bilingual linguistic competence: Grosjean's "the bilingual is not two monolinguals in one person". From the grammatical point of view this last factor finds an almost ideal testing ground in Spain, with the availability of bilinguals speaking closely-related languages (Spanish and Catalan) and non-related languages (Basque and Spanish), a fact reflected in this book. Finally, and above all, this book is a striking example of the way attitudes to bi-and multilingualism have changed."

-- Professor Clive Perdue, France Université Paris 8, France

"This book is rich in facts, ideas, and perspectives. The various chapters together cover just about any aspect of bilingualism or multilingualism, at every level of linguistic description, and in every corner of Spain, drawing on a wide array of theories and methodologies. An enticing read for all those interested in bilingualism in general and in Spain in particular."

-- Professor Robert DeKeyser, University of Maryland at College Park, USA

This book thus provides important information about different areas and methods in language acquisition studies carried out in Spain and may have international interest. The range of topics and methodological approaches used reflects the diversity and the different existing possibilities of conducting research on language acquisition

-- Jasone Cenoz, University of the Basque Country * Studies in Second Language Acquisiti