Description
Book SynopsisThe teenage years are a fascinating time in the life of any family, but what happens when the challenges of parenting teenagers are combined with the desire to help your children build on their multilingual abilities? In this follow-up to Growing up with Three Languages: Birth to Eleven, Xiao-lei Wang offers a unique insight into the dynamics of a multilingual family. She combines practical, evidence-based advice with rich detail from observations of her own family to offer support and inspiration on an aspect of multilingual parenting that has received comparatively little attention. By placing language within the wider context of teenagers’ cognitive and social development, this book will enable parents everywhere to help and guide their children through the next step in their multilingual journey.
Trade ReviewXiao-lei Wang is our own personal tour guide on the journey of raising multilingual children during their adolescent years. She shows us that it is possible for our children’s multilingualism to not only thrive during these years, but to grow and develop into an even richer linguistic and cultural tapestry. This book is more than a study of one family’s experiences raising multilingual teenagers. It is a road-map, backed by research and common sense, filled with specific tips, suggestions and insights which we can use to further our own family’s multilingualism. It is a joy to read and will leave you feeling more empowered in your ability to continue raising your children multilingually during a time when they may be eager to spread their wings and fly.
-- Corey Heller, Founder of Multilingual Living
Colin Baker once compared parents of multilingual children to gardeners, who need to make sure the garden gets sufficient sunlight, water and nutrients. Xiao-lei Wang (2008) showed herself to be an accomplished gardener for her pre-teen biracial and trilingual sons. In this book she describes how her efforts and strategies paid off with her sons entering adulthood as smart, open-minded and articulate multilinguals.
-- Jean-Marc Dewaele, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Turbulent teenage years and multilingualism: this can be a challenge for any parent! Xiao-lei Wang shows us how to navigate through the adolescence years by sharing her own personal experiences in raising multilingual teenagers. Personal anecdotes are balanced with scholarly research and practical advice. This is an informative and enjoyable read for any parent with teenagers!
-- Alice Lapuerta, mother of three trilingual children and former editor of Multilingual Living Magazine
Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Heritage-Language Maintenance and Multilingual Development in the Teenage Years
Chapter 3. Multilingual Sound System Development During Adolescence
Chapter 4. Multilingual Word and Meaning Development During Adolescence
Chapter 5. Multilingual Word- and Sentence-Structure Development During Adolescence
Chapter 6. The Development of Multilingual Knowledge and Usage During Adolescence
Chapter 7. Multilingual Literacies Development During Adolescence
Chapter 8. Developing Multiple Identities During Adolescence
Chapter 9. Multilingual Childrearing and Family Welfare
Chapter 10. Pulling It Together: Concluding Thoughts
Appendix: Examples of Standardized Language Assessments
Glossary
