Chapter Five: The good, the bad and the false of bilingualism

Petit Sounds

In this episode, Héctor and Elaine explore the myths, advantages, and potential disadvantages around being bilingual or multilingual. They are joined by applied linguist Friederike Sell, an expert in language learning and multilingualism.

As a non-native English speaker, Héctor is able to use his native Spanish language skills to decode some of the morphemes within English speech, and find meaning behind words that native English speakers might not know.

Links

• The Cambridge Handbook of Child Language
• How Language Shapes the Way We Think, a TED talk by Lera Borodotsky
• Benjamin Whorf
• The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language, by John McWhorter
• Change of Language, Change of Personality? by Francois Grosjean