In the past two decades, new research on multilingualism has changed our understanding of the consequences of learning and using two or more languages for cognition, for the brain, and for success and well-being across the entire lifespan. Far from the stereotype that exposure to multiple languages in infancy complicates language and cognitive…

The ability to acquire language is a critical part of human development. Yet there is no consensus on how the skill emerges in early development. Does it constitute an innately-specified, language-processing module or is it acquired progressively? One of Annette Karmiloff-Smith's (1938-2016) key contributions to developmental science addresses…

This paper presents an experimental study of the rarely explored question of how input through instruction interacts with L2 acquisition at the level of modular linguistic knowledge. The investigation focuses on L2 knowledge of the English polarity item "any," whose properties are only partially covered by typical language-teaching…

Research with monolingual children has shown that early efficiency in real-time word recognition predicts later language and cognitive outcomes. In parallel research with young bilingual children, processing ability and vocabulary size are closely related within each language, although not across the two languages. For children in dual-language…

Since the 1980s' decoupling of the formal study of second language acquisition from pedagogical concerns, the social relevance of such research has been of little concern. Early studies, in the 1970s, of uninstructed adult learners' acquisition of morphosyntax pointed to social implications: these working class immigrants had varying levels of…

Support for baby signing (BS) with hearing infants tends to converge toward three camps or positions. Those who advocate BS to advance infant language, literacy, behavioral, and cognitive development rely heavily on anecdotal evidence and social media to support their claims. Those who advocate BS as an introduction to another language, such as…

While a substantial body of research exists on First- and Second-Language Acquisition (SLA), research on the language acquisition process that a language minority student goes through when they are acquiring a second language has been largely unexplored. Pedagogical practices that espouse language learning theories facilitate both the language…

Studies of copular forms are extremely relevant to issues in philosophy, psychology, and linguistics. Psychologists have recently argued that the most distinctive aspect of human language is its combinatorial nature (e.g., Gentner, 2003; Spelke, 2003). They argue that this linguistic component might be what separates human from animal cognition.…

Reviews recent research, and discusses difficulties inherent in research, on the language development of bilingual children. Recommendations are made supporting a multidisciplinary approach to research on language development in bilingual children, and suggested avenues of inquiry within such a framework are outlined. (112 references) (Author/OD)

In response to a previous article (Bialystok) on perspectives on the development of applied linguistics, this article begins by adding its own perspectives to what has already been offered. The article concludes by discussing the research agenda for the future. (Author/JL)

Summarizes the benefits of early foreign language learning, including the personal, cognitive, academic, professional, and societal benefits. (Author/VWL)

Examines the relationship between language universals and language acquisition, comparing data from studies on first and second language acquisition and universals of relative clause formation. It is concluded that second language acquisition data provide a clearer window for the investigation and verification of language universals than first…

For some time now second language acquisition (SLA) research has been hampered by unhelpful debates between the cognitivist and sociocultural camps that have generated more acrimony than useful theory. Recent developments in second generation cognitive science, first language acquisition studies, cognitive anthropology, and human development…

This report aims to characterize, in greater detail, the delicate psychological processes children go through when facing two languages and two cultures. In doing so, it is suggested that bilingualism can play an important role in cognitive and linguistic growth. Data used in this study is taken from a larger study involving 30 Italian bilingual…

Argues that further progress in applied linguistics and second-language acquisition will be achieved through collaboration with researchers in other fields. Three examples of research problems are provided that would profit from collaboration with applied linguists: the definition of language proficiency, the neural basis of language functioning,…