The fifth edition of this bestselling book provides a comprehensive introduction to bilingualism and bilingual education. In a compact and clear style, its 19 chapters cover all the crucial issues in bilingualism at individual, group and national levels. These include:

* defining who is bilingual and multilingual

* testing language abilities and language use

* languages in communities and minority groups

* endangered languages

* language planning, language revival

* the development of bilingualism in infancy and childhood

* bilingualism in the family

* age and language learning

* adult language learning

* bilinguals' thinking skills

* bilingualism and the brain

* theories of bilingualism

* types of bilingual education

* heritage language education

* evaluations of bilingual education

* minority language literacy

* biliteracy and multiliteracies

* effective teaching and learning methods in bilingual classrooms

* the effectiveness of bilingual education in the United States

* the history of bilingual education in the United States

* language minority underachievement

* bilingual special education

* the assessment of language minority children

* Deaf bilinguals

* the spread of English as a global language

* learning English as a second or third language

* language identity and multiple identities

* the politics surrounding language minorities and bilingual education

* assimilation and pluralism

* bilingualism and employment

* bilingualism and the internet