COMMENTS:Radwa Saied

The back matter of “The Bilingual Family” consists of two sections: The Bibliography and The Index. Firstly, The Bibliography contains a list of journals and internet sites which are seen by the authors to be of great use for the readers. Then, the authors listed a great number of references and sources used in the book. Actually, the references are very accurate. They are all primary sources. They are listed in alphabetical, logical order. This makes it easy for the readers to read, analyze and refer to them.(This is the norm in references. The authors did not do anything new) Moreover, the authors did not depend, in their references, on a certain period of time but they use references covering various ages and times. This makes the subject of the book chronologically totally covered. Secondly, The Index is, also, accurate and simplified. The authors mention certain terms which they use in their book and which may not be understandable for the readers. The authors determine the pages where these terms are mentioned in the book and define them in section III of the book (The Alphabetical Reference Guide).For example: the word ‘Accent’, which is found in pages 12, 55, 69-70, 137, is accurately defined in section III of the book. Really, this makes the book and the terms in it very accurate for the readers. Thus the authors apparently succeed in conveying the subject for(to) the readers through their valuable and accurate Bibliography, Index and Sources.Actually, “The Bilingual Family” succeeds to convey a certain message to the readers; How to raise their children bilingually and How to use the right methods to do so. The book greatly helped the bilingual families in their bilingual process by introducing complete and sufficient information and bilingual experiences to them. Thus, there is no need to refer to other works on bilingualism to raise bilingual children.“A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism” by Colin Baker is a book dealing with the same subject; Bilingualism. By Comparison, the two books are good and successful guides to Bilingualism. “The Bilingual Family” deals with the subject from head to toe. The book tackled Bilingualism from the birth of the child till he becomes a bilingual child. The Authors specifies a whole chapter in the beginning of the book in order to talk about the child and his first language acquisition before beginning to talk about bilingualism in chapter two of the book. This makes the subject clearer for the readers as it is tackled from the beginning till the end. On the other hand, Baker’s book tackles the subject in the form of questions and answers. Baker’s book does not tackle the stages of the bilingual child’s life from his birth. Moreover, “The Bilingual Family” contains sixteen case studies which enhance the reader’s understanding of the bilingual process. On the other hand, Colin Baker’s book contains only questions and answers about Bilingualism without mentioning any case studies of bilingual children and this makes the subject more vague for the readers and lacking concrete evidence.Also, “The Bilingual Family” defines the concept of Bilingualism and the concepts related to it in chapter two of the book (p.22) before beginning to talk about how to bring up bilingual children. On the contrary, “A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism” tackles the subject directly without defining it’s concepts to the readers first. Clearly, this makes the subject less understandable for the readers.Furthermore, the two books tackle the same point of the shared culture or the Biculture that the bilingual child should have. “The Bilingual Family” defines Culture as “a way of life of the society in which we grow up, influences our habits, our customs, the way we dress and eat our beliefs and values, our ideas and feelings, our notions of politeness and beauty”. The book, also, mentions that the cultures’ aspects are assimilated unconsciously just by being brought up in a certain society. Also, the authors say that if the people are of a certain culture and they become aware of the people’s other culture, they will have a deep ‘sense of shock’. For example: “Our world can be turned upside down when we learn that ‘they’ eat snails, mint sauce, or sheeps’ eyes”. The book mentions that Bilingualism and Biculturalism do not necessarily coincide. The authors define Biculturalism as :an individual two co-existing cultures. Moreover, the book mentions the fact that many Monolinguals are bicultural. For example: “those Irish, Scots and welsh people who despite having English as their sole language, maintain a cultural identity which they do not share with the English (for example: in terms of the institutions such as the legal and the educational systems and in their tastes and customs)”.Actually, “people whose lives are shared between two communities, exhibit various combinations of two distinct cultures”. Meaning that they feel at ease in any culture of the two cultures.Baker’s book, also, tackles this point of “sharing two cultures”. He asks a question which is “My children can speak two languages. How can I help them to belong to two cultures?” .Baker answers this question for his readers saying that “Merely speaking a language to the child conveys culture to that child…through culture the child learns a whole way of life”. However, the child can speak a language and yet he cannot act this language. For example: those people are said to be speaking Spanish but they do not act Spanish. Baker says that a child should be made, by the help of his parents, to ‘Identify’ himself with a particular language culture. He provides the parents with the ways by which they can make their children belong to a particular language culture. Colin Baker says that parents should make their children meet speakers of their two languages and visit a variety of cultural events. Parents can, also, introduce their children to “the cultures that surround each language”. “Where first-hand experience is not possible, T.V and video tapes allow a second-hand experience”. Baker says that introducing the child to wider ranges of cultures that goes with each language will widen the “horizons of the child…and give the world a view where there are fewer barriers and more bridges”.Thus, the two books tackle, to some extent, the same point but from different perspectives. All in all, “The Bilingual Family” is more successful than” A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism” by Colin Baker. This is because the first book tackles the overall bilingual process. It defines all the concepts concerning bilingualism and those concepts related to this broad concept .Actually, this really establishes an authoritative book namely” The Bilingual Family” by Edith Harding-Esch and Philip Riley.

This part is well-written. EXCEPT for the repeated use of the word TACKLE. Use synonyms.

Actually, “The Bilingual Family” is written by two professional linguists: Edith Harding-Esch and Philip Riley. Edith Harding-Esch is French. She is a Senior Research Fellow in Language Education at The University of Cambridge and a former member of Centre de Recherchés Et d’Applications Pédagogiques en langues (CRAPEL) at the University of Nancy. She has various academic researches and studies in the applied linguistics, second language learning ,Bilingual acquisition, Bilingual education, Multilingualism, factors of language change, comparative education, pedagogical cultures and plurilingualism . She published many publications. For example: in the Hong Kong University Press she wrote “The Autonomy and Language learning”. Also, she wrote a book entitled “Beyond Language Teaching: Towards Language Advising”. Edith Harding-Esch’s husband is an English Mathematician and they have two children. The family’s language is French but they only use English at work and studies. They themselves undergo the process of Bilingualism.Philip Riley is an English author and linguist. He taught in Universities in Finland and Malta before setting in France. He, now, works at CRAPEL at the university of Nancy. He has many published books on linguistics and language teaching. He married a Swedish-speaking Finn and they have three children. While the children were young they spoke English and Swedish at home and French at school. Thus, there is a strong connection between the authors’ life experience, philosophy and education on the one hand and writing “The Bilingual Family” on the other hand.

What question does this part answer?

COMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh

"The Bilingual Family" is the second edition of Cambridge University Press' best-selling book that gives parents the information and the advice they need,in order to make informed decisions about what language 'policy' to adopt with their children.It also looks at(examines) cases of single-parent families with bilingual children,as well as schooling and bi-literacy issues.The title of the book "The Bilingual Family,a handbook for parents" crystallizes the fact that this book provides practical advice to thousands of parents who want their children to grow up as bilinguals.The book begins with a 'dedication' written by the authors to a number of bilingual children and to their parents.This gives the book some sort of credibility;as it addresses real bilingual families and explores their real problems concerning 'Bilingualsm' and how to face it.Following the dedication,comes. <--(TAKE THIS PART OUT) 'The Table of Contents' is well-divided.It is divided into three main parts.In the first,the authors,Edith Harding-Esch & Philip Riley,help parents identify the factors that will influence their decision whether to bring up their children as bilinguals or not.The second part consists of case studies of real bilingual families,which illustrate a wide range of different 'solutions'.The third part is an alphabatical referance guide providing answers to the most frequently asked questions concerning bilingualism."It is a very book and a reassuring one which is of great interest to parents",as said in the Modern Language Journal about this book.Then comes 'The Authors'.The authors,Edith Harding-Esch and Philip Riley,who are professional applied linguists,draw on their own experience as parents of successfully bilingual children who experienced this process themselves and on interviews with other bilingual families.After that comes 'The Preface'.It shows the main aim and target of the book.The book is particularly written for parents who might consider bringing up their children as bilinguals.It is written for those families who are speaking a language but are living in another country speaking another language.For ex.,"the English speaking family living in Madrid"(preface-xiii).The book,as well, could be useful to the wide range of increasingly mobile families who are encountered with (face) the problem of educating their children in two or more languages.Actually,the preface highlights the fact thet the book is not a set of harsh and hard rules to follow but it is a practical discussion of some of the fundamental aspects that will greatly help parents.It also shows that the book starts with a breif(CHECK SPELLING) presentation of the uses which all children;whether they are bilingual or not,put language(NOT CLEAR).Also,it begins with a definition of a small number of terms that are helpful to talk about,such as:language and language acquisation(CHECK SPELLING)).Actually,bringing up bilingual children is a challange and this book is an essential one that helps parents meet their challange(CHECK SPELLING). Radwa: This part is informative and provides a good overview of the book. However, it is a little bit repetitive. Also try to find a better way for exposition than using 'then comes .. then comes'. Also make sure you double check your review for spelling mistakes and typos.

COMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh.

Hi Dr. Khaled I just want to ask about comparing another book to my book.Shall I compare every single point in the two books or shall I compare the way they tackled the main subject only or shall I choose one single point in my book and compare between it and the same point in the other book?...Thanks alot.

It is more practical to compare just the major points.

COMMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh.

The information in the book is, to a great extent, accurate. most of the information is based on personal experiences by the authors, who are themselves bilinguals and have bilingual families, on the one hand. On the other hand, they are experts in linguistic studies. Moreover, “The Bilingual Family” is based on authenticated sources. It uses various and modern sources such as journals, internet sites, books and references. It uses a great number of academic journals which parents might need or wish to consult such as: “The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism”. Furthermore, the authors use specialized internet sites such as: “The Bilingual Families Web Page-http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/biling-fam.htlm”. The authors, also, refer to a number of books which are useful to parents such as: Colin Baker’s “The Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism-2001”.Moreover, ‘The Japan Times Journal’ says about the book that it is “…of great interest to teachers as well as parents…it is a very humane book, and reassuring”. Thus, the book is, to a great extent, based on accurate and authenticated information and sources.The “The Bilingual Family” contains a lot of illustrations which do enhance the reader’s understanding and makes it faster and easier. An example of such illustrations is on page 96 of the book (Case Study 1-English as a ‘father tongue’) .In this example Peter and Anne Marie are an English/French couple living in Eastern France and they have two children ,Carine (aged 8) and Lydia (aged 3).The pattern of conversation in the family is as follows:The father and mother converse in French,but the father always talks to the children in English.Conversly,the mother always talks to the children in French.Thus,this illustration makes the process of understanding easier for the readers.

Good Work.

NB:Dr.khaled,I tried to put the diagram but I think that the formatting was not accepted. I will try to find a way for you to do that.

Just number the Table and put this number in its place in the text.

COMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh.

The authors’ ideas are well-developed and well-organized. They start the book by a brief presentation of the uses which all bilingual and non-bilingual children put their language(re-write: ungrammatical structure). Moreover the authors give definitions to(for) a small number of terms about language and language acquisition that are useful to the reader. Then, they divided their book into major parts organized logically and respectively(what do you mean?). These major parts are divided into small well-organized chapters. Part I is a summary of the research which has been done on the development of the bilingual child and on bilingualism in general. Part II is a discussion of the factors parents must bear in mind while bringing up their children bilingually. Part III is a collection of case studies of a wide variety of bilingual families all over the world. These case studies are used by the authors as concrete examples so as to make the readers aware of the different decisions that other parents took in various situations. Finally, Part IV is an alphabetical reference guide to a number of notions and concepts that are likely(delete) useful to the readers.Thus, the ideas of the authors are well-developed. They clearly and explicitly define their concepts in a very simple language. Moreover, “The Bilingual Family” completely covers all the areas of the subject; beginning from the birth of the child, acquiring his language, becoming a monolingual and finally, the child becoming a bilingual.Actually, all the areas are well-covered by the authors. All the supporting materials of the authors are really(find another word) convincing. There are concrete examples of bilingual parents going through bilingual issues themselves for every tackled issue(swap the two words) in the book. Actually, this makes the book and the ideas crystal(delete) clear for the readers.

Very good. Move on. Try to avoid exaggerated judgments: e.g. crystal clear.

COMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh

The authors’ style is, to a great extent Informal. It is written by Bilingual parents &(and) addressed to Bilingual parents as well. It addresses the bilingual families in a very friendly manner. Actually, what the authors aim at is to help, inform,& reassure parents by making available to them the experiences of a number of other families. The authors, also, define the word ‘family’ as “the social unit formed by any parent(s) plus children”. Moreover, the authors admit that their style is informal ,saying that “we have no particular theoretical or psychological axe to grind: this is not a set of dogmatic, hard & fast rules, but rather a practical discussion of some of the basic issues that we hope will help parents in their own particular situation”. Thus, it is ,indeed, a parent-to-parent discussion ,not a harsh or formal rules for the bilingual parents to follow in the process of bringing up their children bilingually. what gives the book a sort of credibility is that “The Bilingual Family” presents sixteen case studies of bilingual families which illustrate a wide range of different & various ‘solutions’ for the problems facing bilingual parents everywhere. The book, also, provides an alphabetical reference guide which provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about bilingualism. The authors, also, interviewed bilinguals & they found that nearly all of them valued & enjoyed their bilingualism & they have found in it a source of interest & enrichment.The authors use informal & conversational language. They use simple & easy words so as to make their ideas clearer & easily convey their message to the reader. For example: they use a simple definition of language learning, saying that “learning a language is not simply a matter of repetition, in fact repetition seems to play only a small & relatively superficial part in the learning process…moreover, if learning a language were merely a matter of repetition, how could we ever produce a sentence we had never heard before?”Furthermore, the authors give examples from the speech of the bilingual children themselves so as to make the idea clearer & understandable to the audience. For example they say, “when a child produces an incorrect but true utterance such as ‘mummy spoon’ the mother usually does not correct the child but agrees with him, for instance by saying: ‘yes dear, what a good boy you are’”. By this the authors simply clarify that correcting & being corrected does not have a great influence on the language learning process of the bilingual child.Actually, the book is well-organized & easy to read. It is also very much applicable to the readers & suitable to(check preposition) the audience; as it is an advice(do we say AN ADVICE?) from parents who have been through the process all themselves. Reading the book is recommended by the authors for all the bilingual families all over the world, as well.Also, the authors emphasize that although they are both professional linguists, this book is “the direct, personal & daily experience of bilingualism in our own families”. They, also, says, “We simply tried to formulate what our first-hand experience, over many years, has taught us”.

VERY GOOD. But PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEase do not use & instead of 'and'.

COMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh

hi dr.khaled:i just do not understand your comment about what i wrote & i am a little bit confused..is this part good and i should add to it from the answer to reem's question?or is it totally wrong & i should delete it and write it all over again?...thanks.

COMMENTS: It is good. But you need to make your sentences shorter, and use what the authors say in order to establish their style: formal or informal. It is good and can be better. Go ahead with the next part.

COMMENTS: radwa saied ismaiel moh

The authors’ style is, to a great extent Informal; as it is written by Bilingual parents & addressed to Bilingual parents as well. It addresses the bilingual families in a very friendly manner. Actually, what the authors aim at is to help, inform,& reassure parents by making available to them the experiences of a number of other families; the authors, also, define the word ‘family’ as “the social unit formed by any parent(s) plus children”. Moreover, the authors admit that their style is informal ,saying that “we have no particular theoretical or psychological axe to grind: this is not a set of dogmatic, hard & fast rules, but rather a practical discussion of some of the basic issues that we hope will help parents in their own particular situation”. Thus, it is ,indeed, a parent-to-parent discussion ,not a harsh or formal rules for the bilingual parents to follow in the process of bringing up their children bilingually. what gives the book a sort of credibility is that “The Bilingual Family” presents sixteen case studies of bilingual families which illustrate a wide range of different & various ‘solutions’ for the problems facing bilingual parents everywhere. The book, also, provides an alphabetical reference guide which provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about bilingualism. The authors, also, interviewed bilinguals & they found that nearly all of them valued & enjoyed their bilingualism & they have found in it a source of interest & enrichment.Actually, the book is well-organized & easy to read. It is also very much applicable to the readers & suitable to the audience; as it is an advice from parents who have been through the process all themselves. Reading the book is recommended by the authors for all the bilingual families all over the world, as well.Also, the authors emphasize that although they are both professional linguists, this book is “the direct, personal & daily experience of bilingualism in our own families”. They ,also, says, “we simply tried to formulate what our first-hand experience ,over many years, has taught us”.

COMMENTS: It seems like the authors made your task very easy. They said it explicitly: it is a discussion. SEE the answer to Reem's first question above.