Bilingualism

Source: https://www.su.se/english/education/course-catalogue/education-subjects/language-and-linguistics/bilingualism Parent: https://www.su.se/english/education/course-catalogue/education-subjects

Do you want to develop and deepen your knowledge of how we learn and use languages, and how this is affected by various factors at the individual and societal level?

Photo: Kristian Pohl.

Subject description

Bilingualism is a cross-disciplinary subject connecting areas such as linguistics, sociology, social anthropology, and cognitive psychology.

Issues studied within this subject include second language acquisition and bilingual development in children and adults, age effects in second language acquisition, bilingualism and memory, the bilingual brain, communication and linguistic diversity, multiethnic youth language, bi- and multilingual education, second and foreign language teaching, language attrition in bilinguals, language ideology, language politics, and transnational multilingualism including migration.

Bilingualism is one of the specializations within the Master’s Programme in Language Sciences. This specialization provides a comprehensive two-year education in the core areas of Bilingualism, aiming to develop and deepen your knowledge of bi- and multilingualism at both the individual and societal level.

The programme also includes courses that are common to all specializations as well as optional courses, aiming at extending and deepening your knowledge in language science and strengthening your grasp of research methodology and ethics as well as your ability to carry out scientific reasoning.

We also offer several undergraduate courses in Bilingualism (taught in Swedish) that can be included as elective courses in the bachelor’s degree in different areas.

Career opportunities

In today’s multilingual and multicultural society, knowledge about bi- and multilingualism is important in virtually any job dealing with people. It is of particular relevance for work in agencies and organizations of various kinds, schools and businesses, and especially in positions dealing with recruitment and human resource management.

In addition, the education in the Master’s Programme with specialization in Bilingualism may serve as preparation for PhD studies in Bilingualism.

Courses and programmes

Courses and programmes within the subject area.

Degree

Information about degrees at Stockholm University

Research

Bilingualism and second language acquisition is one of the leading research areas at Stockholm University. Research at the Centre for Research on Bilingualism covers a number of profile areas:

Second language acquisition and Swedish as a second language
Minority languages, language policy and language ideology in Sweden and elsewhere
First language (L1) attrition and reactivation
Transnational multilingualism
Multilingualism and education in the South
Bilingual development, bilingual school programs, second language teaching, and literacy
Young people’s language and language use in multilingual contexts.

Contact

The Centre for Research on Bilingualism is part of the Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism.

Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism

Area of interest

Language and Linguistics