Abstract
The body of work that is the subject of this chapter is on the bilingual cognitive advantage in very young children and on the structure of the early bilingual lexicon. As a result of work initiated by Ellen Bialystok, we now know that even preverbal infants show better attentional control than monolingual infants. We also know that the organization of the early bilingual lexicon shows striking similarities but also notable differences to that of adults. The chapter concludes with a prospective outlook of what is still unknown about early bilingualism, including how proficiency and language use impact bilinguals’ cognitive skills in addition to language exposure. The significant progress that has been made in understanding the young bilingual mind is a fitting tribute to Ellen Bialystok.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company