279 Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz SSLLT 2 (2). 279-282 http://www.ssllt.amu.edu.pl Book review Nabywanie j zyków trzecich i kolejnych oraz wieloj zyczno . Aspekty psycholingwistyczne (i inne) [Third and additional language acquisition and multilingualism. Psycholinguistic (and other) aspects] Author: Zofia Ch opek Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wroc awskiego, 2011 ISBN: 978-83-229-3224-7 Pages: 449 The book by Zofia Ch opek even at first sight makes an impression on the reader, as it includes 449 pages, out of which the text covers 397 pages and the remaining ones contain a bibliography of some thousand resource texts. The length of the text alone testifies to the extent of the material it pre- sents to the readers. The monograph consists of eight chapters, each one of which is a thor- ough overview of both theoretical studies in the field and empirical studies in the particular area of multilinguality. In Chapter 1 “Sociolinguistic Aspects of Multilingual Language Acquisition and Use”1 and Chapter 2 “Neurolinguistic Aspects of Multilingual Language Acquisition and Their Use,” the author pre- 1 Chapter titles used in the review are translations of their Polish originals. 280 sents an outline of the selected aspects of multilinguality, the purpose of which is to provide a thorough background knowledge for the subsequent chapters focusing on multilinguality from a psycholinguistic perspective. This partly justifies why the author did not provide a more thorough discussion of the acculturation model of language acquisition in Chapter 1 or why there is no comment on the affective filter (Krashen) in Chapter 2, the two models that the reader might expect to find in this book. The author focuses instead in a more detailed fashion on the factors that constitute multilinguality in an individual language learner and user and the educational contexts of foreign language learning. The presentation of neurolinguistic aspects of multilinguality constitutes a competent description of the processing of linguistic knowledge and competence as they occur in the brain. The author not only moves freely and competently discussing very rich resource material but also shows her understanding, ability to interpret it and inclination to take a critical view. Chapter 3 “Characteristics of a Bi-/Multilingual” is devoted to the discus- sion of the broadly understood concept of communicative competence and the latest theories of individual multilinguality. The theories and models the author refers to are among others, Jessner and Herdina´s dynamic model of multilinguality, which has to be considered a milestone in the development of multilingual research, and thus it can never be discussed enough. One of the merits of this chapter is a precise definition of the constructs and terms the author provides the reader with. I refer here to such concepts as metalinguis- tic awareness, metapragmatic awareness and metacognitive awareness, which are often defined quite freely and sometimes used interchangeably, even in scholarly texts. Each of these constructs is illustrated with examples from empirical studies in bilingual and multilingual contexts. Chapter 4 “Cross-linguistic Influences” deals with language contact, which is one of the most important and visible issues in learning foreign lan- guages. The significance of the issue justifies the size of the chapter. The re- source material overviewed here must cover almost all the research work done in the area of cross-linguistic influences, that is, in language transfer. The author not only discusses comprehensively the reasons for language transfer in bilingual and multilingual language users but also illustrates this discussion with examples of different types of transfer in different language subsystems. The reader will also find here a presentation of the construct of paralinguistic transfer, which relates to intercultural communicative competence and is therefore a significant aspect of communication. The author refers here to the well-known study of R. Kaplan on culturally-based models of thinking, which she rightly considers to be formative for transfer at the level of both oral and 281 written discourse. The only aspect of the topic that might leave the reader unsatisfied is the discussion of the role of affect in multilingual development. In Chapter 5 “Mental Lexicon,” the author presents the models of lexical access by Dijkstra, Grosjean and Costa. Naturally, she also discusses models of the mental lexicon itself. The presented models of Weinreich, de Groot, Kroll and Stewart´s are models of second language mental lexicons. The author suggests how these models could be adapted for the context of multilingual lexical storage, which is much more complex than the bilingual one. The mod- els of mental lexicon constitute one of the most thoroughly researched as- pects of language acquisition so it was not possible for the author to present a complete overview; however, the selection made for the purposes of this chapter is sufficient for the reader to get a general idea. At the same time, the author is aware of the fact that L2 models of men- tal lexicon cannot be easily adapted to the L3 mental lexicon and that the re- search done so far seems to be highly selective and does not allow us to form L3 models. Thus, she points to the need of more research in the area. Chapter 6 “Hypotheses and Models of Language Processing in Production and Reception” is a very scrupulously prepared text overviewing the research dealing both with language production and also with processes involved in lan- guage reception. The author uses classical and seminal, as well as the latest, publications in psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics on this subject. She starts with a discussion of the models of L1 processing (Dell, Levelt), moves on to L2 processing (de Bot, Paradis) and finally shows the possibilities of application of these models to multilingual contexts of language acquisition (de Bot, Paradis). These are very complex theories; however, the author manages to interpret them not only correctly but also in a very accessible way for the reader who may not necessarily know a great deal about this area of research. The penultimate chapter of the monograph, Chapter 7 “Models of Lan- guage Development,” is devoted solely to the multilingual context, in contrast with the previous chapters where the author reports on quite a few bilingual theories and studies. The works quoted here referring to multilingual develop- ment are the most recently published theoretical and empirical sources, for example those of Ecke and Hall, Muller-Lance, and Herdina and Jessner. It is an exhaustive presentation of the state of multilingual research, but not always very easily assimilatable (for example, for a Polish reader). The final chapter, Chapter 8 “Summary,” presents an overview of the whole monograph, which allows the reader to come to grips with the vast amount of knowledge presented in a more elaborate fashion in the previous chapters. The author also discusses here possible ways forward for multilingual research. 282 The value of this monograph lies in the fact that it is probably the first thor- oughly presented compendium of knowledge on multilingualism and multilingual research. Also, the fact that the author is able to take a critical view of research which has been an active domain for scholars for only about the last ten years or so is worth pointing out. It would be difficult not to agree with the opinion that some multilingual research is still highly selective and not reliable and also artifi- cial, using laboratory studies of multilingualism based on L2 research paradigms. Thus, there is a need to create more appropriate multilingual research paradigms and a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach. The author also rightly points to the flaws in multilingual research demonstrated by the imprecise use of termi- nology, even at the basic level of what constitutes L2, L3, or Ln. To sum up, I think that the monograph by Zofia Ch opek is a valuable text for those scholars whose research interests are in multilinguality, as the book constitutes a thorough compendium overviewing both theory and em- pirical studies in the area, supplemented by a critical evaluation of their mer- its. The monograph would therefore be especially useful as a reference book for those scholars for whom more recent publications on multilinguality are not easily available. Reviewed by Danuta Gabry -Barker University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland danutagabrys@hotmail.com