The Additive Effects of Bilingualism on Third or Additional Language Acquisition: the Role of Metalinguistic Awareness

Abstract

The research conducted on the general effects of bilingualism on cognitive and metalinguistic development can be divided into two different phases demonstrating, respectively, its negative and positive effects. The “additive effects” phase started in 1962, when the most influential work on bilingualism was published. Peal and Lambert’s contribution (1962), The Relation of Bilingualism to Intelligence, paved the way to a number of important studies questioning the validity of previous research focused on bilingual disadvantages. Currently, the general view shared by academics in different fields including applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and foreign language education is that bilingualism fosters cognitive development and metalinguistic abilities. … [edited by Author]