The research trends of multilingualism in applied linguistics and education (2000-2019): A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

This study explored the state of the arts of bilingualism or multilingualism research in the past two decades. In particular, it employed a bibliometric method to examine the publication trend, the main publication venues, the most influential articles, and the important themes in the area of bilingualism or multilingualism. The main findings are summarised as follows. First, a significant increase of publications in the area was found in the past two decades. Second, the main publication venues and the most influential articles were reported. The results seemingly indicated that the research in the area focused largely on two broad categories, that is, (1) bilingualism or multilingualism from the perspective of psycholinguistics and cognition research and (2) how second/additional languages are learned and taught. Last, the important themes, including the hot and cold themes, were identified. Results showed that researchers prefer to study bilingualism or multilingualism more from deeper cognition levels such as metalinguistic awareness, phonological awareness, and executive control. Also, they may become more interested in the issue from multilingual perspectives rather than from the traditional bilingual view. In addition, the theme emergent bilinguals, a term closely related to translanguaging, has recently gained its popularity, which seemingly indicates a recent advocate for heteroglossic language ideologies.