ABSTRACT
The study of bilingualism, or more generally second language learning, has come a long way. That a number of serious controversies over the implications of bilingualism dominate the literature does not belie this assertion, for much pioneering groundwork is needed before different points of view surface and crystalize into important, recognizable issues. My own concern is with what I believe to be an understudied aspect of second language learning and effective bilingualism, that of social variables in general, and the intergroup context within which language learning takes place in particular.
