The last two decades have seen a significant amount of interest in bilingual language learning and processing. A number of computational models have also been developed to account for bilingualism, with varying degrees of success. In this article, we first briefly introduce the significance of computational approaches to bilingual language…

Research on multilingualism and the acquisition of language(s) faces numerous challenges given its inherently interdisciplinary character. This discussion will focus on the notion of internal context, a concept that forcefully demonstrates the need for integrating linguistically-oriented research with cognitive research in general. Investigating…

This paper aims to discuss old and contemporary perspectives in understanding language acquisition taking into account the neural theory of language. Discussing a recent theory by Kuhl (2010), neural substrates of first language learning will be put forward (Berwick et al., 2013). Neural substrates of phonetic learning, word learning, sentence…

This dissertation examines the linguistic behavior of code-switching in three groups of highly proficient Cantonese-English bilinguals. Code-switching refers to alternating between two or more languages within the same sentence or between two sentences. While traditional research on bilingualism often compares bilingual speakers against…

Lexical knowledge is complex, multidimensional, and difficult to pin down to a set of defined components. The development, organization, and use of lexical knowledge in the first and additional languages are studied in a number of neighbouring disciplines beyond second language acquisition and applied linguistics, including psycholinguistics,…

In this paper, we present an examination of the literature on prolonged periods of silence in children from the perspective of two different scientific fields. The aim is to call attention to the inherent complexity of the factors that may be involved in the etiology of mutistic behavior during child development. Medical and linguistic literature…

The aim of this paper is to unfold the process of integration in CLIL by describing the role of the cognitive processes involved in the construction of knowledge. While there has been extensive research of various aspects of CLIL, the actual process of integration of content and language has largely been neglected. Therefore, this paper argues…

This special issue on language diversity and bilingual processing is based on papers presented at the "Exploratory Workshop on Speaking, Thinking and Gesturing in Two Languages," at the University of Reading, UK, in September 2012, sponsored by the European Science Foundation (IM/SCH/EW11-145). The workshop brought together a…

Much previous research has pointed to the need for a unified framework for language contact phenomena -- one that would include social factors and motivations, structural factors and linguistic constraints, and psycholinguistic factors involved in processes of language processing and production. While Contact Linguistics has devoted a great deal…

This paper is written to have a preliminary introduction about psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the interrelation between linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The main subject of research in psycholinguistics is the study of cognitive processes that underlie the comprehension and production of…