Introduction -- Personal fascination and professional interest -- Who is this book for? -- Information, encouragement, and practical advice -- How to use this book -- 1. The benefits of childhood bilingualism -- How common is bilingual upbringing? -- Advantages of bilingual upbringing : Why did they do it? Why do they like it? -- Different types of benefits of bilingual upbringing : for money or for love -- How two languages are better than one : support from research -- 2. Learning a first language -- The child's language-learning equipment : the LAD and the LASS -- The steps along the way : from syllables to stories -- The timetable for learning a language -- LAD versus LASS : how much is nature? How much is nurture? -- Things parents can do to help children learn language -- 3. Learning two (or more) languages -- Different ways of being bilingual -- What is it like to be bilingual? -- Are children better language learners? -- When do you lose the capacity for bilingual first language acquisition or early second language acquisition? -- How to learn two languages as easily as one : what makes it possible? -- 4. Establishing a bilingual environment -- The foundation for a bilingual family -- The odds that a child will become bilingual -- Factors affecting whether the child becomes bilingual -- Organizing your home for bilingual language development -- General considerations for bilingual families -- Troubleshooting : ways to supplement minority language input -- Strategies to promote your child's bilingual language development -- Your bilingual goals, evaluating your strengths -- 5. How-to testimonials -- Selecting your strategy -- The classic pattern : one parent-one language (OPOL) -- "Elective" bilingualism with OPOL -- Minority language in the home (mL@H) -- "Time and place"/"accidental bilinguals" -- Combinations of strategies -- The contribution of schools -- The scorecard : evaluating the strategies -- Deciding between strategies -- Providing motive and opportunity, but how? -- A bag of tricks -- 6. Are there any children who cannot learn two languages? -- Background -- What about language impairment? -- Questioning the diagnosis -- Making the right decision -- 7. Research comparing monolinguals and bilinguals -- Is bilinguals' language development slower (or faster or neither)? -- What's better?: two languages from birth or second language second -- What do standardized tests tell us about how bilinguals compare to monolinguals? -- 8. About bilingual identity -- One culture or two? -- Confusion or cornucopia -- Frequently asked questions and alternate table of contents -- Twelve common myths and misconceptions about bilingual children -- Resources -- Glossary -- References -- Index -- About the author.
|
