Defining and investigating monolingualism

Abstract

In this introduction I will outline why a simple definition of monolingualism is neither easy to establish nor useful, and also why it is important to come to an understanding of it as a particular kind of 'lingualism' (Cruz Ferreira p.c.). I then review ways in which monoligualism has been represented thus far in the literature, outline some possible research questions and end by introducing the contributions to this volume.