A Neurolinguistic Theory Of Bilingualism (studies In Bilingualism)
by Michel Paradis /
2004 / English / PDF
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This volume is the outcome of 25 years of research into the
neurolinguistic aspects of bilingualism. In addition to reviewing
the world literature and providing a state-of-the-art account,
including a critical assessment of the bilingual neuroimaging
studies, it proposes a set of hypotheses about the representation,
organization and processing of two or more languages in one brain.
It investigates the impact of the various manners of acquisition
and use of each language on the extent of involvement of basic
cerebral functional mechanisms. The effects of pathology as a means
to understanding the normal functioning of verbal communication
processes in the bilingual and multilingual brain are explored and
compared with data from neuroimaging studies. In addition to its
obvious research benefits, the clinical and social reasons for
assessment of bilingual aphasia with a measuring instrument that is
linguistically and culturally equivalent in each of a patient’s
languages are stressed. The relationship between language and
thought in bilinguals is examined in the light of evidence from
pathology. The proposed linguistic theory of bilingualism
integrates a neurofunctional model (the components of verbal
communication and their relationships: implicit linguistic
competence, metalinguistic knowledge, pragmatics, and motivation)
and a set of hypotheses about language processing (neurofunctional
modularity, the activation threshold, the language/cognition
distinction, and the direct access hypothesis).
This volume is the outcome of 25 years of research into the
neurolinguistic aspects of bilingualism. In addition to reviewing
the world literature and providing a state-of-the-art account,
including a critical assessment of the bilingual neuroimaging
studies, it proposes a set of hypotheses about the representation,
organization and processing of two or more languages in one brain.
It investigates the impact of the various manners of acquisition
and use of each language on the extent of involvement of basic
cerebral functional mechanisms. The effects of pathology as a means
to understanding the normal functioning of verbal communication
processes in the bilingual and multilingual brain are explored and
compared with data from neuroimaging studies. In addition to its
obvious research benefits, the clinical and social reasons for
assessment of bilingual aphasia with a measuring instrument that is
linguistically and culturally equivalent in each of a patient’s
languages are stressed. The relationship between language and
thought in bilinguals is examined in the light of evidence from
pathology. The proposed linguistic theory of bilingualism
integrates a neurofunctional model (the components of verbal
communication and their relationships: implicit linguistic
competence, metalinguistic knowledge, pragmatics, and motivation)
and a set of hypotheses about language processing (neurofunctional
modularity, the activation threshold, the language/cognition
distinction, and the direct access hypothesis).