In Other Words - by Ellen Bialystok & Kenji Hakuta (Paperback)

About the Book

"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 lang"

Book Synopsis

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.

From the Back Cover

Ellen Bialystok and Kenji Hakuta view second-language acquisition as one way of coming to grips with the fundamental nature of language, mind, and brain. Although they have conducted some of the key research in the area of second-language acquisition, they also work more broadly in the fields of cognitive and language development as well as in education policy, and thus they are ideally suited to address this issue. Using an array of vivid illustrations, lively anecdotes, and fascinating research examples, they show how five elements - brain, language, mind, self, and culture - make up the complex ecology of language learning. The book considers vital questions: Is the brain "hard-wired" for language learning? Why are the mental operations that allow us to learn language different from those we use to solve math problems or play a musical instrument? How do differences between languages affect language learning? What are various cultures doing to encourage bilingualism?

About the Author

Ellen Bialystok is professor of psychology at York University in Toronto and the author of three books, including Communicaiton Strategies and Language Processing in Bilingual Children.

Kenji Hakuta is professor of education and linguistics at Stanford University and the author of The Mirror of Language.