Vol. 3 in the Multilingual Matters series.

Includes bibliographical references.

"In the world today there are many parents who have the opportunity to raise their children in two languages, but who are discouraged or dissuaded from doing so, either because they are uncertain of how to go about it or because of the often conflicting advice they receive from relatives, friends, acquaintances, health workers, teachers, etc. Bilingual Children: Guidance for the Family was written to allay many of the doubts and fears parents might have about raising their children bilingually. By focussing in detail on the experiences of one particular family as well as drawing widely on other relevant research into bilingualism, George Saunders shows that although parents may encounter some difficulties in bringing up their children in two languages, these difficulties are by no means insurmountable, and that it is possible for children to achieve a reasonable and useful level of bilingualism, even when the circumstances are far from ideal. Children's acquisition of bilingualism is shown to be something normal, something positive, which can be a rewarding and enriching experience for both children and their parents. Since the book was written with the general reader in mind, it is composed in a very readable style and has clear, easily understandable explanations of any technical matters. Containing much useful information and practical advice, Bilingual Children: Guidance for the Family should of interest not only to parents contemplating or actually already raising their children bilingually, but also to other people, such as educators, researchers and health workers, indeed to anyone having contact with bilingual families and who would benefit from gaining a clear insight into bilingualism in general and bilingual children in particular." (Book Cover)

CONTENTS:

Preface

Glossary

1. Bilingualism
Introduction
What is bilingualism?

Is bilingualism an advantage or disadvantage?

2. Establishing Bilingualism in the Family
The Family
Motives for creating bilingualism
Infant bilingualism
Method employed

3. Communication in the Family: How it Works
General remarks
The children's communications strategies
The children addressing both parents simultaneously
The children addressing father plus monolingual(s)
Brother to brother communication
Brothers to sister communication
Private speech
Communication with animals

Communication with toys

4. Departures from Normal language Choice in the Family
Introduction
Role play
The mother's knowledge of German
Storytelling by the parents
Code switching and triggering
Quotational switching

Quotational switching in storytelling

5. Influences from Outside the Immediate Family
Attitudes of monolingual English-speakers
Relatives and friends
Playmates
Peer group pressure
Use of the "wrong" language
The children and German-English bilinguals
Kindergarten and school

6. Further Possible Problems in Establishing Bilingualism
Children reluctance to speak the home language
Effect of the Father's not being a native speaker of German

7. Measuring Proficiency in Both Languages
Introduction
Receptive vocabulary
Estimating fluency and accuracy
Storytelling
Free speech
A look at the children's accuracy over time
Types of errors and reasons for their occurrence
Syntactic transference
Semantic transference
Lexical transference

Phonological transference

Communicative competence

Conclusions about the children's accuracy

Measuring degree of bilingualism

8. Biliteracy

9 How the Children View Bilingualism
The children's attitudes to their to languages
The children and language and languages

10. Other Aids to the Development of Bilingualism
Books
Records and cassettes
Radio and television
Games
Outings
Shops, restaurants, etc
Ethnic schools and playgrounds
Visits to and from the linguistic homeland
Correspondence
Language maintenance for parents

11. Conclusions

Notes

References

Index

"In the world today there are many parents who have the opportunity to raise their children in two languages, but who are discourages or dissuaded from doing so, either because they are uncertain of how to go about it or because of the often conflicting advice they receive from relatives, friends, acquaintances, health workers, teachers, etc. Bilingual Children: Guidance for the Family was written to allay many of the doubts and fears parents might have about raising their children bilingually. By focusing in detail on the experiences of one particular family as well as drawing widely on other relevant research into bilingualism, George Saunders shows that although parents may encounter some difficulties in bringing up their children in two languages, these difficulties are by no means insurmountable, and that it is possible for children to achieve a reasonable and useful level of bilingualism, even when the circumstances are far from ideal. Children's acquisition of bilingualism is shown to be something normal, something positive, which can be a rewarding and enriching experience for both children and their parents. Since the book was written with the general reader in mind, it is composed in a very readable style and has clear, easily understandable explanations of any technical matters. Containing much useful information and practical advice, Bilingual Children: Guidance for the Family should be of interest not only to parents contemplating or actually already raising their children bilingually, but also to other people, such as educators, researchers and health workers, indeed to anyone having contact with bilingual families and who would benefit from gaining a clear insight into bilingualism in general and bilingual children in particular" (Book cover).

1.Bilingualism
Introduction
What is bilingualism?
Is bilingualism an advantage or disadvantage?
2. Establishing Bilingualism in the Family
The Family
Motives for creating bilingualism
Infant bilingualism
Method employed
3. Communication in the Family: How it Works
General remarks
The children's communications strategies
The children addressing both parents simultaneously
The children adressing father plus monolingual(s)
Brother to brother communication
Brothers to sister communication
Private speech
Communication with animals
Communication with toys
4. Departures from Normal language Choice in the Family
Introduction
Role play
The mother's knowledge of German
Storytelling by the parents
Code switching and triggering
Quotational switching
Quotational switching in storytelling
5. Influences from Outside the Immediate Family
Attitudes of monolungual English-speakers
Relatives and friends
Playmates
Peer group pressure
Use of the "wrong" language
The children and Germance English bilinguals
Kindergarten and school
6. Further Possible Problems in Establising Bilingualism
Children reluctance to speak the home language
Effect of the Father's not being a native speaker of German
7. Measuring Proficiency in Both Languages
Introduction
Receptive vocabulary
Estimating fluency and accuracy
Storytelling
Free speech
A look at the children's accuracy over time
Types of errors and reasons for their occurrence
Syntactic transference
Semantic transference
Lexical transference
Phonological transference
communicative competence
Conclusions about the children's accuracy
Measuring degree of bilingualism
8. Biliteracy
9. How the Children View Bilingualism
The children's attitudes to their to languages
The children and language and languages
10. Other Aids to the Development of Bilingualism
Books
Records and cassettes
Radio and television
Games
Outings
Shops, restaurants, etc
Ethnic schools and playgrounds
Visits to and from the linguistic homeland
Correspondence
Language maintenance for parents
11. Conclusions
Notes
References
Index