Understanding Variability in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, and Cognition

This collection brings together linguistic, psychological, and sociological perspectives reflecting on the relationships and interactions of the multilayered factors impacting second language development and cognitive competence.

The book advocates a system approach as a counterpoint to existing scholarship, which has tended to focus on a small set of variables. The 13 chapters demonstrate the ways in which cognitive and linguistic development are intrinsically linked, occurring within a nested structure of multiple levels: individual neuro-cognitive systems and processes, individual engagement with the social world, and the wider social and institutional environments and cultural contexts affecting the belief systems and linguistic conventions of social groups. The volume begins by outlining the theoretical and methodological foundations before moving into a more focused look at the interplay of these different variables at the macro, meso, and micro levels. A final section features two commentary chapters from linguistics and psychology, respectively, synthesizing insights from earlier chapters and situating the collection within broader scholarship on linguistic and cognitive development, theoretical and methodological implications, and discussions of avenues for future empirical research.

This book will be of particular interest to scholars in second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, cognition, psychology, and sociology.

Kristin Kersten is professor of Language Acquisition and English Language Teaching at Hildesheim University, Germany. Her research and publications focus on psycholinguistics, bilingualism and cognition, bilingual education (CLIL, immersion), and instructed second language acquisition. She headed the interdisciplinary research projects Early Language and Intercultural Acquisition Studies (ELIAS), an EU Comenius project, and Studies on Multilingualism in Language Education (SMILE) on language acquisition in bilingual preschool and primary education.

Adam Winsler is Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. He has published more than 100 journal articles and 2 books on topics including English-Spanish bilingualism, bilingual education, L1 language maintenance and loss, and the academic performance over time of ethnically diverse dual language learners and immigrant students in poverty in the USA. He also does research on children’s private speech, selfregulation, and executive function and was the former editor of Early Childhood Research Quarterly.