Bilingualism in children: An introduction

Abstract

This article attempts at formulating an introduction and "state of the art" on bilingualism in young children. Therefore a short definition of both language acquisition and bilingualism is formulated. Although early bilingualism has numerous variations, the author focuses on three common types: a. the situation where standard language and dialect are involved, a common but "soft" type of bilingualism; 2. the simultaneous or family bilingualism; 3. early successive bilingualism. General conclusions focus on the necessity of a differentiated approach in answering general or individual questions about early bilingualism.