Cover not available
Article published In:
Research methods and approaches in Applied Linguistics: Looking back and moving forward
Edited by Rosa M. Manchón
[AILA Review 27] 2014
► pp. 56–79

Methodology in Bi- and Multilingual Studies

From simplification to complexity

| University of Haifa
| Universität Innsbruck
Research methodology is determined by theoretical approaches. This article discusses methods of multilingualism research in connection with theoretical developments in linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and education. Taking a brief glance at the past, the article starts with a discussion of an issue underlying the choice of research methodology: the distinction between bilingualism and multilingualism. This is followed by an account of the way in which traditional methods of research diverge and have expanded to include additional methodologies, which are shown to accommodate new theories and the most recent data in the field. Special attention is paid to the emerging research directions employing methods of conceptualization. Overall, the paper presents a review of the current state-of- the- art including an account of the latest trends in research methodology on bilingualism and multilingualism, as well as a looking-forward analysis of the challenges and potential future methodological developments in the field.
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 22 May 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.27.03aro
References (89)
Andrason, A. & Visser, M. Forthcoming. Affordances perspective and grammaticalization – incorporation of language, environment and users in the model of semantic paths. SSLLT.. DOI logo
Aronin, L. 2006. Dominant language constellations: An approach to multilingualism studies. In Multilingualism in Educational Settings, M. Ó Laoire (ed.), 140–159. Hohengehren: Schneider Publications.Google Scholar
. 2012. Material culture of multilingualism and affectivity. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 2(2): 179–191. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2013. The concept of affordances in applied linguistics and multilingualism. In Essential Topics in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism, M. Pawlak & L. Aronin (eds), 157–173. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
. Forthcoming. Multicompetence and dominant language constellaton. In Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multicompetence, V. Cook & Li Wei (eds), Cambridge: CUP.
Aronin, L., Fishman, J., Singleton, D. & Ó Laoire, M. 2013. Introduction. Current multilingualism: A new linguistic dispensation. In Current Multilingualism: A New Linguistic Dispensation, D. Singleton, J. Fishman, L. Aronin & M. Ó Laoire (eds), 3–23. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aronin, L. & Hufeisen, B. 2009. Methods of research in multilingualism studies: Reaching a comprehensive perspective. In The Exploration of Multilingualism: Development of Research on L3, Multilingualism and Multiple Language Acquisition, L. Aronin & B. Hufeisen (eds), 103–120. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aronin, L. & Jessner, U. 2015. Understanding current multilingualism: What can the butterfly tell us? In The Multilingual Challenge: Crossdisciplinary Perspectives, C. Kramsch & U. Jessner (eds). Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aronin, L. & Ó Laoire, M. 2004. Exploring multilingualism in cultural contexts: Towards a notion of multilinguality. In Trilingualism in Family, School and Community, C. Hoffmann & J. Ytsma (eds), 11–29. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
. 2012. The material culture of multilingualism. In Minority Languages in the Linguistic Landscape, D. Gorter, H.F. Marten & L.V. Mensel (eds), 299–318. Houndmills: Palgrave-MacMillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2013. The material culture of multilingualism: Moving beyond the linguistic landscape. International Journal of Multilingualism10(3): 225–235. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aronin, L. & Politis, V. Forthcoming. Multilingualism as an edge. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition 11.
Aronin, L. & Singleton, D. 2008. The complexity of multilingual contact and language use in times of globalization. Conversarii. Studi Linguistici 21: 33–47.Google Scholar
. 2010. Affordances and the diversity of multilingualism. In International Journal of the Sociology of Language, L. Aronin & D. Singleton (guest eds), Special Issue: The Diversity of Multilingualism, 105–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012a. Affordances theory in multilingualism studies. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 2(3): 311–331. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2012b. Multilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2013. Multilingualism and philosophy. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, C.A. Chapelle (ed.), 3951–3954. New York NY: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bielska, J. 2014. Bridging theory and practice: The role of objects in regulating young learners’ behavior in the foreign language classroom. Paper presented at the 26th international conference on Second Language acquisition and Foreign Language Learning , Szczyrk, Poland, 22-24 May 2014.
Braunmüller, K. 2007. Receptive multilingualism in Northern Europe in the middle ages: A description of a scenario. In Receptive Multilingualism: Linguistic Analyses, Language Policies and Didactic Concepts, J.T. Thije & L. Zeevaert (eds), 25–47. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Braunmüller, K. & Ferraresi, G. (eds). 2003. Aspects of Multilingualism in European Language History. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J. & Jessner, U. 2009. The study of multilingualism in educational contexts. In The Exploration of Multilingualism: Development of Research on L3, Multilingualism and Multiple Language Acquisition, L. Aronin & B. Hufeisen (eds), 121–138. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Condamines, A. & Narcy-Combes, J.P. 2013. La linguistique appliquée comme science située. Paper presented at the colloquium on Cultures de Recherche en Linguistique Appliquée . University of Nancy, November 2013.
Cook, V. 1992. Evidence for multi-competence. Language Learning 42(4): 557–591. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1996. Competence and multi-competence. In Performance and Competence in Second Language Acquisition, G. Brown, K. Malmkjaer & J. Williams (eds), 57–69. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Cook, V.J. 2013. Multi-competence. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, C. Chapelle (ed.), 3768–3774. New York NY: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Cook, V. & Li, W. (eds). Forthcoming. Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multicompetence. Cambridge: CUP.
Costa, A., Santesteban, M. & Ivanova, I. 2006. How do highly proficient bilinguals control their lexicalization process? Inhibitory and language-specific selection mechanisms are both functional. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 32(5): 1057–1074. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Angelis, G. 2005. Multilingualism and non-native lexical transfer: An identification problem. International Journal of Multilingualism 2(1): 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Bot, K., Verspoor, M. & Lowie, W. 2007. A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 10(1): 7–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Bot, K., Verspoor, M., & Lowie, W. 2011. A Dynamic Approach to Second Language Development: Methods and Techniques. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, J.M. 2010. Multilingualism and affordances: Variation in self-perceived communicative competence and communicative anxiety in French L1, L2, L3 and L4. IRAL 481: 105–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. 2014. Researching complex dynamic systems: ‘Retrodictive qualitative modelling’ in the language. Language Teaching 47(1): 80–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flynn, S., Foley, C. & Vinnitskaya, I. 2004. The Cumulative-Enhancement Model for language acquisition: Comparing adults’ and children’s patterns of development in first, second and third language acquisition of relative clauses. The International Journal of Multilingualism 1(1): 3–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gabryś-Barker, D. 2014. Big culture in small packages: On material culture in developing cultural awareness. Paper presented at the 26th international conference on Second Language acquisition and Foreign Language Learning , Szczyrk, Poland, 22-24 May 2014.
Gardner-Chloros, P. 2008. Bilingual speech data: Criteria for classification. In The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism, Li Wei & M. Moyer, 53–72. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gibson, E.J. & Pick, A.D. 2000. An Ecological Approach to Perceptual Learning and Development. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Gibson, J.J. 1977. The theory of affordances. In Perceiving, Acting and Knowing, R. Shaw & J. Bransford (eds), 67–82. New York NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
. 1979. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Good, J.M.M. 2007. The affordances for social psychology of the ecological approach to social knowing. Theory & Psychology 171: 265–295. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goral, M. 2012. Multiple languages in the adult brain. In The Handbook of the Neuropsychology of Language, M. Faust (ed.), 720–737. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gorter, D. & Cenoz, J. 2009. Language economy and linguistic landscape. In Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the Scenery, E. Shohamy, D. Gorter & J. Cenoz (eds), 55–69. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Grin, F. 1999. Economics. In Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity, J. Fishman (ed), 9–24. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Gross, D., Stanney, K. & Cohn, J. 2005. Evoking affordances in virtual environments via sensory-stimuli substitution. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 141: 482–491. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hammarberg, B. 2001. Roles of L1 and L2 in L3 production and acquisition. In Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspectives, J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner (eds), 21–41. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heft, H. 2001. Ecological Psychology in Context: James Gibson, Roger Barker, and the Legacy of William James’s Radical Empirism. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Herdina, P. & Jessner, U. 2002. A Dynamic Model of Multilingualism: Perspectives of Change in Psycholinguistics. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hernández-Campoy, J.M. & Conde-Silvestre, J.C. (eds). 2012. The Handbook of Historical Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Higby, E., Kim, J. & Obler, L. 2013. Multilingualism in the brain. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31: 68–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N. 2002. Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach. Language Policy 1(1): 27–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hornberger, N.H. & Corson, D. (eds). 1997. Encyclopaedia of Language and Education, Vol.8: Research Methods in Language and Education. Dordrecht: Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hufeisen, B. 2000. A European perspective – Tertiary languages with a focus on German as L3. In Handbook of Undergraduate Second Language Education: English as a Second Language, Bilingual and Foreign Language Instruction for a Multilingual World, J.W. Rosenthal (ed.), 209–229. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
. 2001. Deutsch als Tertiärsprache. In Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Ein internationals Handbuch, G. Helbig, L. Götze, G. Henrici & H.J. Krumm (eds), 648–653. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
. 2005. Multilingualism: Linguistic models and related issues. In Introductory Readings in L3, B. Hufeisen & R.J. Fouser (eds), 31–45. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar
. 2010. Theoretische Fundierung multiplen Sprachenlernens –Factorenmodell 2.0. Jahrbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache 361: 191–198.Google Scholar
Hufeisen, B. & Gibson, M. 2003. Zur Interdependenz emotionaler und kognitiver Faktoren im Rahmen eines Modells zur beschriebung sukzessiven multiplen Sprachenlernens. In Gehirn und Sprache: Psycho- und neurolinguistische Ansätze, R. Franceschini, B. Hufeisen, U. Jessner & G. Lüdi (eds). Bulletin Suisse de Linguistique Appliquée 781: 13–33.Google Scholar
Hufeisen, B. & Marx, N. 2003. Multilingualism: Theory, research methods and didactics. In New Visions in Foreign and Second Language Education, G. Bräuer & K. Sanders (eds), 178–203. San Diego CA: LARC Press.Google Scholar
Hufeisen, B. & Neuner, G. (eds). 2004. The Plurilingualism Project: Tertiary Language Learning – German after English. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.Google Scholar
Hutchby, I. 2003. Affordances and the analysis of technologically mediated interaction. Sociology 371: 581–589. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jessner, U. 2006. Linguistic Awareness in Multilinguals: English as a Third Language. Edinburgh: EUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2008a. Teaching third languages: Findings, trends and challenges. Language Teaching 41(1): 15–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2008b. The dynamics of multilingual development. Conversarii. Studi Linguistici 21: 49–65.Google Scholar
. 2015a. Multilingualism. In International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, J. Wright (ed). Oxford: Elsevier. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2015b[2008]. Multicompetence approaches to language proficiency development in multilingual education. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education, Vol. 5: Bilingual Programs, O. Garcia & A. Lin (eds). Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Jessner, U., Megens, M., Unterthiner, D. & Baur, S. Under Review. Multilingual awareness in Tyrolean material culture. In The Material Culture of Multilingualism, L. Aronin & G. Kiliańska-Przybyło (eds). Dordecht: Springer. DOI logo
Kemp, C. 2007. Strategic processing in grammar learning: Do multilinguals use more strategies? International Journal of Multilingualism 4(4): 241–261. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Komorowska, H. 2014. Material culture in language teaching and teacher education. Paper presented at the 26th international conference on Second Language acquisition and Foreign Language Learning , Szczyrk, Poland, 22-24 May 2014.
Kroll, J., Bobb, S., Misra, M. & Taomei, G. 2008. Language selection in bilingual speech: Evidence for inhibitory processes. Acta Psichologica 1281: 416–430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lacey, A.R. 2001. A Dictionary of Philosophy, 3rd edn. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. & Cameron, L. 2008. Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. 2013. A promising combination: Complexity theory, design-based research, and CALL. CALICO Book Series, Vol. 111.Google Scholar
Li, W. 2013. Conceptual and methodological issues in bilingual and multilingual research. In The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, T.K. Bhatia & W.C. Ritchie (eds), 26–52. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Li, W. & Moyer, M. (eds). 2008. The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
May, S. 2014. The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education. Oxford: Routledge.Google Scholar
Meara, P. 2007. Growing a vocabulary. In EUROSLA Yearbook, Vol. 71, L. Roberts, A. Gürel, S. Tatar & L. Martı (eds), 49–65. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meißner, F.J. 2003. EuroComDidact: Learning and teaching plurilingual comprehension. In Sprachkompetenz – Mehrsprachigkeit – Translation. Akten des 35. Linguistischen Kolloquiums, L. Zybatow (ed.), 33–46. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Niżegorodcew, A. 2014. Material culture artefacts and language: Lwów in old postcards. Paper presented at the 26th international conference on Second Language acquisition and Foreign Language Learning , Szczyrk, Poland, 22-24 May 2014.
Norman, D.A. 2002. The Design of Everyday Things. New York NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Rindler-Schjerve, R. & Vetter, E. 2007. Linguistic diversity in Habsburg Austria as a model for modern European language policy. In Receptive Multilingualism: Linguistic Analyses, Language Policies and Didactic Concepts, J. ten Thije & L. Zeevaert (eds), 49–70. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Safont-Jordà, M.P. 2012. A longitudinal analysis of Catalan, Spanish and English request modifiers in early third language learning. In Cross-linguistic Influences in Multilingual Language Acquisition, D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), 99–114. Berlin: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Singleton, D. & Aronin, L. 2007. Multiple language learning in the light of the theory of affordances. Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning 1(1): 83–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. Multilingual language learners’ use of affordances: Theoretical perspectives and some evidence. In Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning, J. Arabski (ed.), 170–182. Katowice: University of Silesia Press.Google Scholar
Scarantino, A. 2003. Affordances explained. Philosophy of Science 701: 949–961. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Segalowitz, N. 2001. On the evolving connections between psychology and linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 211: 3–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Strik, N. 2012. Wh-questions in Dutch: Bilingual and trilingual acquisition compared. In Multilingual Individuals and Multilingual Societies, K. Braunmüller & G. Christoph (eds), 47–61. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verspoor, M., Lowie, W.M. & Van Dijk, M. 2008. Variability in L2 development from a dynamic systems perspective. Modern Language Journal 921: 214–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Visser, M. 2012. Linguistic (dis)similarity, affordances and the development of second and third language proficiency: Continua of multilingual learning and teaching at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Presentation at the international conference “ Multilingualism in Society, the World of Work, and Politics . New Challenges for Teaching at Institutes of HigherEducation/Universities”, April 18-20, 2012, University of Freiburg.
. 2014. African languages in multilingual literacy development in sub-Sahara Africa: A profile of affordances and variability in the South African educational context. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Third Language Acquisition and Multilingualism , Uppsala, Sweden, June 12-14.
Warren, R. & Owen, D.H. 1982. Functional optical invariants: A new methodology for aviation research. Journal of Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine 531: 977–983.Google Scholar
Williams, S. & Hammarberg, B. 1998. Language switches in L3 production: Implications for a polyglot speaking model. Applied Linguistics 19(3): 295–333. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (11)

Cited by 11 other publications

Sperl, Laura, Anna Schroeger, Jürgen M. Kaufmann & Helene Kreysa
2024. Mental representation of words and concepts in late multilingualism. The Mental Lexicon DOI logo
Stojanović, Maja & Petra A. Robinson
2024. A critical conceptual framework for understanding career development in linguistically diverse individual and organizational contexts. Career Development International 29:3 ► pp. 297 ff. DOI logo
Aronin, Larissa, Daria Bylieva & Victoria Lobatyuk
2023. Material Culture Inside and Beyond the Multilingual Classroom: Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspectives. In Linguistic Landscapes in Language and Teacher Education [Multilingual Education, 43], ► pp. 259 ff. DOI logo
Hofer, Barbara
2023. Applying DLC to the Study and Discussion of Early Multicompetence in a Trilingual Minority Context in Northern Italy. In Language Awareness and Identity [Multilingual Education, 45], ► pp. 69 ff. DOI logo
Hofer, Barbara
2024. Affordances for Multilingual Development in Minority Contexts: A Sociolinguistic Perspective on Multilingualism in South Tyrol. In Modern Approaches to Researching Multilingualism [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 129 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Xinran & Yongcan Liu
2023. Emergent LOTE motivation? The L3 motivational dynamics of Japanese-major university students in China. Applied Linguistics Review 14:5 ► pp. 1253 ff. DOI logo
Zheng, WeiKang & Yuxing Li
2022. A Study on the Impact of International Translation Levels Based on Multiple Correlation Analysis. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2022 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Hufeisen, Britta
2018. Models of multilingual competence. In Foreign Language Education in Multilingual Classrooms [Hamburg Studies on Linguistic Diversity, 7], ► pp. 173 ff. DOI logo
Adesemowo, A Kayode
2017. Multilingualism as a learning scaffolding element: Reflection on first-year Information Communication Technology networking students. South African Journal of African Languages 37:1 ► pp. 11 ff. DOI logo
Gabryś-Barker, Danuta
2017. New Approaches to Multilingualism Research: Focus on Metaphors and Similes. In Multiculturalism, Multilingualism and the Self [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 77 ff. DOI logo
Aronin, Larissa
2016. Multi-competence and Dominant Language Constellation. In The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multi-Competence, ► pp. 142 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.