Full Description
This book explores the life and experiences of one of the world's most renowned and well-respected experts in bilingualism. François Grosjean takes us through his life, from his monolingual childhood in a small village outside Paris to the long periods of time he spent in Switzerland, England, France, and the United States, becoming bilingual and bicultural in the process. During his life, his dominant language has changed many times between English and French, and he has also acquired, and subsequently lost, other languages, including American Sign Language. Throughout the book, he combines his personal accounts and anecdotes with insights from and reflections on his extensive scholarly research in bilingualism and biculturalism, which has, in turn, been heavily influenced by his own experiences. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the book will appeal to general readers interested in bilingualism and language contact, educators and parents of bilingual children, researchers working on bilingualism, and to bilinguals themselves.
Contents
1: Roger and Sallie
2: My early monolingual years
3: Becoming bilingual
4: Culture shock
5: Returning to my first culture
6: May 68 and Vincennes
7: A new life in the United States
8: Discovering sign language
9: Life with Two Languages
10: The children become bilingual
11: Reflections on the bilingual and the bicultural person
12: A difficult choice
13: Living and working in a fourth culture
14: Delving further into the bilingual person
15: A life in danger
16: A quieter life
Conclusion
