Cross-Linguistic Structures in Simultaneous Bilingualism: (21 Studies in Bilingualism)

This volume explores the implications of cross-linguistic structures in simultaneous bilingualism. It aims to find cognitive explanations for the presence or absence of cross-linguistic structures that go beyond the debate of ‘one system or two’. The contributors present syntactic, morphological and phonological features that are found in bilingual children, but are untypical of monolingual development, and discuss pertinent methodological issues. The orientation of this volume stands out from competing volumes in the field in that the focus is not limited to similarities between monolingual and bilingual first language acquisition. The volume will be of interest to researchers in the field of bilingualism and primary language acquisition, language theorists, and professionals working with bilingual populations.

Table of Contents:
1. List of Contributors; 2. Preface; 3. Introduction: On the Status of Cross-Linguistic Structures in Research on Young Children Growing Up With Two Languages Simultaneously (by Dopke, Susanne); 4. Language Mixing as a Challenge for Linguistics (by Tracy, Rosemarie); 5. Non-Selective Access and Activation in Child Bilingualism: The lexicon (by Linden, Elisabeth van der); 6. Non-Selective Access and Activation in Child Bilingualism: The syntax (by Hulk, Aafke); 7. The Interplay Between Language-Specific Development and Crosslinguistic Influence (by Dopke, Susanne); 8. Negation as a Crosslinguistic Structure in a German-English Bilingual Child (by Schelletter, Christina); 9. 'I Want A Chimney Builden': The Acquisition of Infinitival Constructions in Bilingual Children (by Gawlitzek-Maiwald, Ira); 10. The Search for Cross-Linguistic Influences in the Language of Young Latvian-English Bilinguals (by Sinka, Indra Rita); 11. Beyond 'One System or Two?': Degrees of Separation Between the Languages of French-English Bilingual Children (by Paradis, Johanne); 12. Cross-Linguistic Structures in the Acquisition of Intonational Phonology by German-English Bilingual Children (by Gut, Ulrike); 13. Concluding Remarks: Language Contact - A Dilemma for the Bilingual Child or for the Linguist? (by Lanza, Elizabeth); 14. Author Index; 15. Subject Index

Review :
I would like to recommend the book for those who teach courses on bilingual language acquisition and are looking for fresh ideas. Although the papers differ in complexity, some may be accessible even to undergraduates. Teachers may find that some chapters can be used in courses on monolingual language acquisition, if the objective is to show how children's minds are adept at cracking two linguistic codes at the same time. Those interested in how linguistic development interacts with children's cognitive development will find some of the papers especially valuable...reading this book will not be wasted effort. This book is highley recommended reading for those in the field for the perceptive issues raised, the clarity of focus, and for the data presented. It can serve as a reference guide for future research directions with a wider range of language combinations and encourages us to delve more deeply into the interactive nature of bilingual cognitive processes beyond the simple question of 'one or two systems'.