An Introduction to Multilingualism

Description

This book offers an introduction to the many facets of multilingualism in a changing world, bringing in approaches from linguistics, sociology, history, political philosophy, and psychology. It provides the basic tools to analyse different kinds of multilingualism, and suggests questions and problems for discussion at the end of each chapter.

• Explores both current and historical issues surrounding multilingualism in different contexts across the world
• Provides the tools to analyse different kinds of multilingualism at the individual level and across society
• Offers questions for discussion and suggested further reading
• Introduces the reader to the psychological, sociological, and political dimensions of multilingualism

About the Author(s)

Florian Coulmas, Senior Professor, IN-EAST Institute, University of Duisberg-Essen

Florian Coulmas is Senior Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Duisberg-Essen University. He has previously held teaching and research positions at Georgetown University, Chuo University Tokyo, and the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics. From 2004 to 2014 he served as Director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. His publications include The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems (Blackwell, 1999), Writing and Society (CUP, 2014), and Guardians of Language (OUP, 2016).

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
1:The polyphonic world
2:Multilingualism is...: Twenty definitions - and more
3:Descriptive and theoretical concepts
4:Power, inequality, and language
5:The polyglot individual
6:Multilingual (international) institutions
7:Talk of the town: Language in super-diverse cities
8:Multilingual (multiethnic) countries
9:Diversity in cyberspace: The multilingual Internet
10:Integration and separation: Language
11:Integration and separation: Society
12:Research methods for investigating multilingualism
References

Reviews

"covers multilingual phenomena with clarity and erudition. The strength of the study is the attention it pays to new concepts such as multiethnolects and subfields of linguistics, such as Internet linguistics, that should prove to be of great use and serve as implications for future research." - Irina Ustinova, Linguist List

"Diverse in research topics and approaches, overall An Introduction to Multilingualism covers multilingual phenomena with clarity and erudition. The strength of the study is the attention it pays to new concepts such as multiethnolects and subfields of linguistics, such as Internet linguistics, that should prove to be of great use and serve as implications for future research." - Irina Ustinova, Linguist List

"This book is clearly designed as a text for a course entitled multilingualism. The first eleven chapters provide the structure and focus for a semester of lectures and the final chapter, which is a guide to research in the area, gives support for assessment by coursework." - Sue Wright, University of Portsmouth, Language Policy

"...Coulmas has given readers an exceptionally well-written, clear and coherent book. It can be fully recommended—not only to students of multilingualis... but also to researchers in the field—as both a good source of references and an inspiration for further research." - Danuta Gabrys-Barker, Institute of English, University of Silesia, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

"This is an important book. Timely and engagingly written, with just enough documentation and the right sprinkle of enlightening anecdotes." - Stefan Dollinger , World Englishes

"This book introduces the concepts, issues, and methodologies of multilingualism; it serves as a good introductory book for undergraduate students who are new to world language systems and novice graduate students who are interested in language use and the multilingual context. It is related to many fields, including language ideology, language policy and planning, internationalization, and language education. It provides various perspectives from the micro individual level to the macro international institute level, from regional phenomenon to international issues, from offline multilingualism to online communication. The book also covers examples from various ethnicities, races, regions, countries, and languages" - Yi Wang, Linguist List

"A tour de force. The book includes discussions of all the latest trends, such as multilingualism on the internet and urban youth language, and weaves them seamlessly into existing research traditions. It covers a whole gamut of social and individual aspects of the subject with clarity, erudition, and panache. It is a first-class teaching tool, offering relevant discussion points after each chapter. Above all, it is a pleasure to read." - Penelope Gardner-Chloros, Birkbeck, University of London

"Florian Coulmas offers a fresh perspective on multilingualism that sets a new standard for an introductory text on the topic. Its coverage is impressive, with fascinating examples from a wide range of spheres, demonstrating vividly the dynamic nature of the multilingual phenomena. It will attract generations of new researchers to the topic and put them on the right track." - Li Wei, University College London