Raising Multilingual Children : Foreign Language Acquisition and Children

by Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey

• ISBN13: 9780897897501
• ISBN10: 0897897501
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-10-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Evaluates the most recent research in linguistics, neurology, education, and psychology and reinterprets the findings in an easy-to-follow format. Case studies illustrate the many ways families combine ten key factors in order to successfully raise multilingual children. The book encourages parents and teachers to reflect on their personal situations and helps them to foster multilingual skills in the children around them.

Author Biography

TRACEY TOKUHAMA-ESPINOSA is a native of California who received her Master's of Education at Harvard University and has taught in international schools in Japan, Ecuador, France and Ecuador. She is currently Professor of Education, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at the University of San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Tracey has given numerous workshops on raising multilingual children to schools and families in Australia, Norway, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Ecuador and England. She speaks and writes in English and Spanish fluently, knows conversational French, some Japanese, and is studying basic German. She and her husband are raising their three children in four languages.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures	xi
The Search for the Secret to Successful Bilingualism: Somewhere between Academia and the Family	1	(8)
Ten Key Factors in Raising Multilingual Children: A Recipe for Success	9	(8)
Ingredients	17	(30)
Taking Advantage of the Windows of Opportunity	17	(20)
Your Child's Aptitude for Foreing Languages	37	(10)
Baking Instructions	47	(22)
The Role of Motivation in Language Acquisition	48	(8)
Second Language Learning Strategies	56	(6)
Being Consistent with the Chosen Strategy	62	(7)
Kitchen Design: The Role of the Language Environment	69	(20)
What Is Your Family Language Environment?	70	(1)
What Are the Opportunities in Your Environment?	71	(8)
The Relationship between teh Native and the Foreign Language	79	(7)
The Role of Siblings in Language Acquisition	86	(3)
Plumbing and Electricity: The Multilingual Brain	89	(28)
The Possible Role of Gender in Language Acquisition	89	(2)
The Possible Role of Hand Use in Language Learning	91	(3)
The Multilingual Brain	94	(23)
The Chefs and Chefs' Assistants: The Role of the Teachers and the Schools	117	(16)
Opportunity and Support in the Schools	117	(7)
Opportunity and Support from Teachers	124	(9)
Baking Your Own: Your Personal Family Language Profile	133	(20)
Degrees of Success	133	(6)
Multiliteracy Skills	139	(14)
A Mess in the Kitchen	153	(12)
What to Do in Problem Situations	153	(7)
Some Suggested Readings	160	(2)
Changing Language Strategies	162	(3)
The Sweet Smell of Success	165	(22)
A Summary	165	(2)
Diary Accounts of My Own Children's Language Development	167	(20)
Appendix A Finding Language Sources in Scarce Language Environments	187	(2)
Appendix B The Family Studies: How the Information Was Gathered	189	(6)
Glossary	195	(4)
Bibliography	199	(12)
Index	211