Ellen Bialystok – författare

This volume creates a bridge across cognitive development and cognitive aging. Pairs of researchers study the rise and fall of specific cognitive functions, such as attention, executive functioning, memory, working memory, representations, language, problem solving, intelligence, and individual differences to find ways in which the study of development and decline converge on common processes and mechanisms. The contributed chapters are framed by an introduction that sets out the problems to be discussed and a conclusion that extracts the common themes and speculates on the implications for theory building. The book is unique in offering a lifespan approach to cognition by experts in the individual facts of cognitive functioning from either the developmental or the aging perspective.

More than five thousand languages are currently spoken around the globe. Learning to speak one of them is virtually effortless for most of us, so why is it commonly so difficult to learn a second language? Unraveling this mystery, two top researchers in the field explain how language acquisition can be an odyssey of self-discovery.

This book is a collection of papers that explore the ways in which bilingual children cope with two language systems. The papers address issues in linguistics, psychology, and education bearing on the abilities that bilingual children use to understand language, to perform highly specialised operations with language, and to function in school settings. All of the papers provide detailed analysis about how specific problems are solved, how bilingualism influences those solutions, and how the social context affects the process. Finally, the implications of these findings for policy-setting and the development of bilingual education programmes are explored. This will be an important and useful volume at the forefront of topical research in an area which is exciting increasing interest among linguists and cognitive scientists.

Bilingualism in Development is an examination of the language and cognitive development of bilingual children focusing primarily on the preschool years. It begins by defining the territory for what is included in bilingualism and how language proficiency can be conceptualized. Using these constraints, the discussion proceeds to review the research relevant to various aspects of children's development and assesses the role that bilingualism has in each. The areas covered include language acquisition, metalinguistic ability, literacy skill, and problem-solving ability. In each case, the performance of bilingual children is compared to that of similar monolinguals, and differences are interpreted in terms of a theoretical framework for cognitive development and processing. The studies show that bilingualism significantly accelerates children's ability to selectively attend to relevant information and inhibit attention to misleading information or competing responses. This conclusion is used as the basis for examining a set of related issues regarding the education and social circumstances of bilingual children.

Bilingualism in Development is an examination of the language and cognitive development of bilingual children focusing primarily on the preschool years. It begins by defining the territory for what is included in bilingualism and how language proficiency can be conceptualized. Using these constraints, the discussion proceeds to review the research relevant to various aspects of children's development and assesses the role that bilingualism has in each. The areas covered include language acquisition, metalinguistic ability, literacy skill, and problem-solving ability. In each case, the performance of bilingual children is compared to that of similar monolinguals, and differences are interpreted in terms of a theoretical framework for cognitive development and processing. The studies show that bilingualism significantly accelerates children's ability to selectively attend to relevant information and inhibit attention to misleading information or competing responses. This conclusion is used as the basis for examining a set of related issues regarding the education and social circumstances of bilingual children.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications – extracts from books, key articles, research findings, and practical and theoretical contributions.Ellen Bialystok has published widely in the field of cognitive development and decline across the lifespan. Her research uses behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine the effect of experience on cognitive and brain systems with a focus on bilingualism. Her discoveries include the identification of differences in the development of cognitive and language abilities for monolingual and bilingual children, the use of different brain networks by monolingual and bilingual young adults performing cognitive tasks, and the postponement of symptoms of dementia in bilingual older adults. In other studies, she has investigated the effects of bilingual education on children’s development and the cognitive and brain consequences of bilingualism in older adults.Including a specially written introduction, in which Ellen Bialystok reflects on the role that language plays on thought, this collection will serve as a valuable resource for students and researchers of psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications – extracts from books, key articles, research findings, and practical and theoretical contributions.Ellen Bialystok has published widely in the field of cognitive development and decline across the lifespan. Her research uses behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine the effect of experience on cognitive and brain systems with a focus on bilingualism. Her discoveries include the identification of differences in the development of cognitive and language abilities for monolingual and bilingual children, the use of different brain networks by monolingual and bilingual young adults performing cognitive tasks, and the postponement of symptoms of dementia in bilingual older adults. In other studies, she has investigated the effects of bilingual education on children’s development and the cognitive and brain consequences of bilingualism in older adults.Including a specially written introduction, in which Ellen Bialystok reflects on the role that language plays on thought, this collection will serve as a valuable resource for students and researchers of psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics.