Bilingualism in the Spanish-Speaking World: Linguistic and Cognitive Perspectives

Bilingualism has given rise to significant changes in Spanish-speaking countries. In the US, the increasing importance of Spanish has engendered an English-only movement; in Peru, contact between Spanish and Quechua has brought about language change; and in Iberia, speakers of Basque, Galician and Catalan have made their languages a compulsory part of school curricula and local government. This book provides an introduction to bilingualism in the Spanish-speaking world, looking at topics such as language contact, bilingual societies, bilingualism in schools, code-switching, language transfer, the emergence of new varieties of Spanish, and language choice - and how all of these phenomena affect the linguistic and cognitive development of the speaker. Using examples and case studies drawn primarily from Spanish/English bilinguals in the US, Spanish/Quechua bilinguals in Peru and Spanish/Basque bilinguals in Spain, it provides diverse perspectives on the experience of being bilingual in distinct cultural, political and socioeconomic contexts.

Author: Jennifer Austin, María Blume, Liliana Sánchez
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 04/20/2015
Pages: 248
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.60h x 6.80w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780521132978

About the Author
Austin, Jennifer: - Jennifer Austin is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at Rutgers University, Newark.Blume, María: - María Blume is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Literature at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.Sánchez, Liliana: - Liliana Sánchez is a Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University.