The fifth edition of this bestselling book provides a comprehensive introduction to bilingualism and bilingual education. In a compact and clear style, its 19 chapters cover all the crucial issues in bilingualism at individual, group and national levels. These include: • defining who is bilingual and multilingual • testing language abilities and language use • languages in communities and minority groups • endangered languages • language planning, language revival • the development of bilingualism in infancy and childhood • bilingualism in the family • age and language learning • adult language learning • bilinguals' thinking skills • bilingualism and the brain • theories of bilingualism • types of bilingual education • heritage language education • evaluations of bilingual education • minority language literacy • biliteracy and multiliteracies • effective teaching and learning methods in bilingual classrooms • the effectiveness of bilingual education in the United States • the history of bilingual education in the United States • language minority underachievement • bilingual special education • the assessment of language minority children • Deaf bilinguals • the spread of English as a global language • learning English as a second or third language • language identity and multiple identities • the politics surrounding language minorities and bilingual education • assimilation and pluralism • bilingualism and employment • bilingualism and the internet