Multilingualism

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The study of the use and acquisition of multiple languages by individuals and communities.

Definition of Multilingualism: Explains what multilingualism is and the different forms of multilingualism.
Benefits of Multilingualism: Discusses the advantages of being multilingual and the impact it has on individuals and society.
Types of Multilingual Education: Outlines the methods used for teaching multilingualism, including immersion, bilingual education, and sequential bilingualism.
Language Acquisition: Reviews how people learn multiple languages and the stages of language acquisition.
Bilingualism and Cognitive Functioning: Explores the relationship between being bilingual and cognitive abilities, including memory, attention, and problem solving.
Multilingualism and Culture: Discusses the intersection of language and culture, and how multilingualism can promote cultural understanding.
Language Policies: Examines the policies and practices related to language use and maintenance in various contexts, including education, government, and employment.
Code-Switching: Describes the phenomenon of using multiple languages in a single conversation or text, and the social and linguistic implications of code-switching.
Language Maintenance and Loss: Reviews the factors that affect the retention or loss of a person's multilingual abilities over time.
Translation and Interpretation: Explores the roles of translation and interpretation in facilitating communication and bridging language barriers.
"Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers."
"It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population."
"More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue."
"But many read and write in one language."
"Multilingualism is advantageous for people wanting to participate in trade, globalization and cultural openness."
"Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages has become increasingly possible."
"People who speak several languages are also called polyglots."
"Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1)."
"The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is usually acquired without formal education, by mechanisms about which scholars disagree."
"Children acquiring two languages natively from these early years are called simultaneous bilinguals."
"It is common for young simultaneous bilinguals to be more proficient in one language than the other."
"People who speak more than one language have been reported to be better at language learning when compared to monolinguals."
"Multilingualism in computing can be considered part of a continuum between internationalization and localization."
"Due to the status of English in computing, software development nearly always uses it."
"Some commercial software is initially available in an English version, and multilingual versions, if any, may be produced as alternative options based on the English original."