The Cognitive Neuroscience of Bilingualism

John W. Schwieter · Julia Festman

Oct 2023 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Bilingualism presents an introduction to the neural bases and cognitive processes of the bilingual brain. It covers foundational knowledge required for study in the area of bilingualism, including prominent theories and research methodologies, and the state of research in relevant fields of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. Major topics include bilingual development and brain plasticity; aphasia and the bilingual brain; cross-linguistic effects of bilingualism; bilingual lexical and conceptual memory; and cognitive and neurocognitive effects of bilingualism. This book represents the first of its kind to bring together the various psychological and theoretical issues of bilingualism with respect to language processing and representation, while providing insight into the 'reality' of the bilingual brain.

About the author

John W. Schwieter is Professor of Spanish and Linguistics, cross-appointed in psychology, and Director of Bilingualism Matters @ Laurier and the Language Acquisition, Multilingualism, and Cognition Laboratory at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Linguistics at McMaster University, Canada, and is Executive Editor of Bilingual Processing and Acquisition (2016), Editor-in-Chief of Ampersand, and Co-Editor of Cambridge Elements in Second Language Acquisition (2019).

Julia Festman is Professor of Multilingualism at the University College of Teacher Education Tyrol, Austria. Her main research focus is on multilingualism on the individual, cognitive and educational level. She combines psycholinguistic, and neuroscientific methods for investigating learning and processing of multiple languages. Her latest book, Second Language Acquisition and Lifelong Learning (2023), is coauthored with S. Pfenninger and D. Singleton.