Investigação em bilinguismo. Caminhos percorridos e perspetivas futuras

Abstract

This article presentsa brief discussion of thekey questions which were in the focus ofinterest inresearchon bilingualismin the last five decades, particularly in the field ofbilinguallanguageacquisition. We highlighthow the initially negative view of bilingualismhas changed based on scientific evidence. The overview starts with a discussion ofsome of the paths already taken in research on bilingualism, with a focus on the major findings concerning bilinguallanguagedevelopment and the consequences of these findings for current views of bilingualism. The discussionmoves, then,to the current researchquestions in this field, discussing the different methodologies used, as well as specific advances in the area of clinical linguistics. We conclude with a discussionon the topics that we believe still needfurther investigation, namely the nature of the interactions between the language systems of bilingual speakers and the role of the age of onset of bilingualism.