Description: If languages influence the way we think, do bilinguals think differently in their respective languages? And if languages do not affect thought, why do bilinguals often perceive such influence? For many years these questions remained unanswered because the research on language and thought had focused solely on the monolingual mind. Bilinguals were either excluded from this research as 'unusual' or 'messy' subjects, or treated as representative speakers of their first languages. Only recently did bi- and multilinguals become research participants in their own right. Pavlenko considers the socio-political circumstances that led to the monolingual status quo and shows how the invisibility of bilingual participants compromised the validity and reliability of findings in the study of language and cognition. She then shifts attention to the bilingual turn in the field and examines its contributions to the understanding of the human mind.
Brief description: Aneta Pavlenko is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Temple University, Philadelphia and President of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL). Her book Emotions and Multilingualism (Cambridge, 2005) won the 2006 Book of the Year Award of the British Association of Applied Linguistics.
Review Quotes: "A very thoughtful examination not only of bilingualism but of the nature and uses of language generally. It deals with deep issues, but does so with notable clarity."
--Jerome Bruner, University Professor Emeritus, NYU