El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante by Silvina Montrul (review)

In El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante, Montrul provides an exhaustive overview of the complex issue of bilingualism among Spanish-speakers throughout the world. Focusing on the  social, political and cultural contexts that affect(ed) the appearance and presence of bilingualism among Spanish speakers in Spain, in Spanish America, and in the United States, the volume also discusses bilinguals as individuals, reviewing some important characteristics and factors affecting first and second language (L2) acquisition.

The book contains an introductory chapter (chapter 1) plus twelve others, grouped into three parts. Chapter 1 addresses key issues of the bilingual experience, while the next three parts focus on specific aspects of bilingualism. Part 1 (chapters 2–5) analyses the social aspects of bilingualism, part 2 (chapters 6–9) focuses on the bilingual individual, and part 3 (chapter 10–13) discusses the political context of bilingualism and the role of bilingual education. Parts 1 and 3 devote a chapter to Spain, another to Spanish America, and another one to the United States.

The first chapter, “¿Quién es bilingüe?,” presents definitions of key language concepts, theoretical perspectives of bilingualism, factors and characteristics that define bilingual speakers, and attitudes toward bilingualism. Figures and tables in this chapter are helpful to present the different concepts being discussed.

Chapter 2, “Aspectos sociales del bilingüismo,” presents a sociolinguistic perspective of bilingualism, including the use of language in a linguistic community and some of the structural linguistic changes produced in a language-contact situation. Specific references and examples, such as of Sapir and Creole, would have enriched the language-contact discussion. Because the role of power and identity can be essential to understanding this topic, a more in-depth discussion about the role of identity, as well as a discussion of language and ethnicity, would have strengthened this chapter.

Chapters 3 to 5 discuss bilingualism in Spain, Spanish America, and the United States. Specific examples of bilingual speakers are presented in boxes throughout these chapters, providing concrete examples of the discussions presented. There are also several examples of the languages spoken in Spain and Spanish America. It would have been interesting to describe and analyze in detail some linguistic examples to visualize how languages interfere with each other in bilingual and language-contact situations. Considering the intended audience for this book, references to Stavans’s studies on Spanglish, for example, would also have contributed to chapter 5.

The second part of the volume focuses on bilingual individuals. Chapter 6, “Aspectos psicolingüísticos del bilingüismo,” starts by describing the purpose of psycholinguistics, as well as how language is processed and acquired by children and adults. Montrul subsequently discusses language processing, and the role of age when acquiring a language. Chapter 7 presents how language is acquired by both monolingual and bilingual children. The author explains that bilingual children may demonstrate features of monolingual children of these two languages as well as characteristics of bilingual speakers, such as code-switching and structural interferences. In the next chapter, Montrul examines the characteristics of L2 acquisition and focuses on factors that can affect the acquisition of L2, such as the formal/informal context, motivation, and age. She also skillfully explains interlanguage, providing examples of some common errors, especially among Spanish and English speakers, and later discusses the phenomenon of fossilization. In the last chapter of this section, (chapter 9, “Debilitamiento y adquisición incompleta de la primera lengua”), Montrul gives a broad overview and examples of bilingual situations that end with a weak or incompletely acquired first language.

The third part focuses on the political aspects of bilingualism and, specifically, on the role of education in the maintenance (or not) of bilingual situations in Spain, Spanish America, and the United States. Chapter 10 presents the role of politics in the maintenance and expansion of languages in bilingual situations, and explains different types of bilingual education programs. This aspect is further developed in the last three chapters of...