Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning

by Fred Genesee, Johanne Paradis, Martha B. Crago

New edition is ISBN9781598570588

Genres: Linguistics, Language

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a page-tuner...

All joking aside, a great reference manual on all things related to dual language learning with theoritical and practical insights. Very interesting chapters about language disorders and reading difficulties.

My only note would be that it was very American-centric but I guess that's where most of the evidence comes from anyway. Also a lot of information about the Canadian context, which was a plus for me.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite interesting, I picked it up for the dual language development part, because many of my students are interesting in this topic, and I wanted to see if there were chapters that I would recommend to interested students or even assign for a class. Quite a lot of good information about how you can measure someone's development in two languages, with many things parents and educators need to watch out for. These may seem like common sense, but some people overlook them, e.g., if you want to measure the size of a three year old's vocabulary, you need to count the words in BOTH languages. You should assume that she is not making sufficient progress because her vocabulary is smaller in one or both languages compared to a monolingual child. There's lots of reassurance for parents who worry that raising children bilingually will somehow confuse the children, and interesting evidence that even children with developmental disorders such as Down syndrome can learn two languages, and that it is even better for them to do so if they live in a bilingual family or community.

The information in the disorder part was mostly new to me. A lot of this also seems like common sense to me, but apparently is not., e.g., if you are trying to diagnose someone with a reading disorder such as dyslexia or problems with reading comprehension, you have to make sure that the text they read is one that they reasonably have a chance of understanding considering their vocabulary size and cultural background/knowledge.

The book starts out with (fictional) profiles of several different L2 learners, e.g., a child with a Bulgarian mother and American father, being raised bilingually from birth in the US, a Somali child who immigrated with his family at the age of 6 after having lived in a refugee camp. The authors then refer to these profiled children throughout the book to illustrate various points (so, for example, the Somali refugee child who have never been to a dentist's office might naturally have difficulty comprehending a text about a visit to the dentist, and so such a text could not be used to diagnose whether he had some kind of reading impairment.)

There's a good glossary and plenty of references to research for follow-up study, and it's written in a very accessible way. I will definitely recommend it to my students.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook. Myth: A child learning a second language should give up their first language. Fact: A child learning a second language will do better academically and linguistically if both languages are equally supported.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written book that I will keep in my library going forward. A very well researched dual language book that discusses not only language development but culture and the intersection of both.