ABSTRACT
A Brief Introduction Throughout history humans have always asked themselves what is it that separates them from other species? What is it that makes them human? According to some theorists and researchers, it is language that sets humans apart from other species of life. It is not that other species do not have some form of communication, but rather that none has a system of grammar that is rule-governed wherein new and novel utterances can be understood and new sayings and words, for example, can be generated and learned. How do we comprehend and use language? When an individual knows more than one language, are they each stored in different ways or are some aspects of the two languages shared across both sets of representations? The current chapter will uncover some of the basic aspects of human language and specifically, how speakers of more than one language coordinate their learning, recall, and use of their languages in effective and useful ways.
