Föreliggande rapport redovisar ett uppdrag åt Sannings- och försoningskommissionen förtornedalingar, kväner och lantalaiset (Ku 2020:01). Studien ska utifrån tidigare forskning omspråkbytesprocesser beskriva faktorer som påverkat de historiska skeenden då befolkningen imeänkielitalande områden genomgick en språklig försvenskning under 1800-och 1900-talen.Studien ska beskriva hur centrala politiska beslut och det lokala genomförandet av dessa underett långt tidsförlopp har kommit att påverka minoritetens språkanvändningsmönster liksområdande ideologiska trenders betydelse för språkbytet. Detta knyts till gruppinterna faktorersom berör demografi, genus, förekomst av religiösa rörelser, näringsstruktur, institutioner medmera. I fokus finns även de socialpsykologiska effekterna av språkkontakten mellan minoritetoch majoritet och särskilt i relation till ojämna maktförhållanden.Studien ska även belysa införandet av begreppet ”halvspråkighet” och dess påverkan förspråkbytesprocessen från 1960-talet och framåt samt halvspråkighetsbegreppets uppkomst,innebörd och spridning utanför den norrbottniska kontexten.Slutligen innefattar uppdraget att mot ovanstående bakgrund resonera om dagens situationoch de möjligheter för språkrevitalisering som föreligger utifrån aktuell lagstiftning om nationella minoriteter och minoritetsspråk. 

It has recently been suggested that bilingualism, rather than age of acquisition, is what underlies less than nativelike attainment in childhood L2 acquisition. Currently, however, the empirical evidence in favor of or against this interpretation remains scarce. The present study sets out to fill this gap, implementing a novel factorial design in which the variables age of acquisition and bilingualism have been fully crossed. Eighty speakers of Swedish, who were either L1 monolinguals, L1 simultaneous bilinguals, L2 sequential monolinguals (international adoptees), or L2 sequential bilinguals (childhood immigrants), were tested on phonetic, grammatical, and lexical measures. The results indicate consistent effects of age of acquisition, but only limited effects of bilingualism, on ultimate attainment. These findings thus show that age of acquisition – not bilingualism – is the primary determinant of L2 ultimate attainment.

This paper discusses the notion of language aptitude as a factor contributing to successful language acquisition achievements in polyglots. The difficulty in distinguishing between what is, indeed, language aptitude and what is language awareness is the main focus of the paper. A polyglot is operationalized here as a person who, after puberty, (a) acquired/learned at least six new languages (L2s), (b) commands at least six L2s at an intermediate or advanced proficiency level, and (c) presently uses these languages relatively unimpededly in oral interaction. The article draws specifically on a controlled investigation of ten polyglots who were extensively interviewed and tested for language aptitude, motivation, language awareness, and use of language learning strategies. Results show well above average, often outstanding, aptitude scores and an immediate preference for explicit learning. It appears that the combination of strong motivation and high levels of language aptitude and language awareness is what makes polyglots unusually successful second language learners. This paper suggests that language aptitude is both a prerequisite for developing high levels of language awareness and (since the two concepts are partially overlapping), much of the dynamism sometimes ascribed to aptitude is indeed awareness.

This article presents an edited conversation between Kenneth Hyltenstam, Christopher Stroud, Linus Salö and David Karlander. Its main topic is the rise and consolidation of bilingualism research/multilingualism research as a demarcated subject area in Swedish academe. The article delves into this history via the professional, scholarly trajectories of Hyltenstam and Stroud. By mapping and discussing their involvement in the field of bilingualism/multilingualism, the article offers analytical perspectives on the formation of the field, and on the general atmosphere surrounding this process. The account focuses on past and current research themes, institutional settings and modes of knowledge exchange. The creation of the Centre for Research on Bilingualism at Stockholm University in the 1980s emerges as a significant event in the evolving account of the research area. The conversation also makes clear that the history of bi/multilingualism research encompasses a variety of agents and interests. The subject area maintains mutable connections to numerous other scientific disciplines and is susceptible to various forms of intellectual influence. It has likewise been shaped in relation to various scholarly and societal values and concerns. By clarifying some of these dynamics, the article contributes to the yet-to-be-written history of bi/multilingualism research. It also comments on conversation as a scholarly method, and clarifies the scope and strength of its claims.

Whereas the cognitive advantages brought about by bilingualism have recently been called into question, the so-called ‘lexical deficit’ in bilinguals is still largely taken for granted. Here, we argue that, in analogy with cognitive advantages, the lexical deficit does not apply across the board of bilinguals, but varies as a function of acquisition trajectory. To test this, we implement a novel methodological design, where the variables of bilingualism and first/second language status have been fully crossed in four different groups. While the results confirm effects of bilingualism on lexical proficiency and processing, they show more robust effects of age of acquisition. We conclude that the traditional view of the linguistic costs of bilingualism need to give way to a new understanding of lexical development in which age of acquisition is seen as a major determinant.