Preface

**Section 4 Bilingualism, Information Retrieval and Access to**

**LSI via SDD and LSI via SVD 121**

and Carlos Daniel Acosta Medina

Chapter 7 **Cross - Language Information Retrieval Using Two Methods:**

Chapter 8 **Cross-Lingual and Cross-Chronological Information Access to**

Chapter 9 **Innovative Multilingual CAPTCHA Based on Handwritten**

**Multilingual Historical Documents 143**

Daniel Enrique Tamara Lopez, Estefania Julieth Guevara Blanquicett

**Information 119**

**VI** Contents

Biligsaikhan Batjargal

**Characteristics 163** Maha Hamad Aldosari

Bilingualism and multilingualism as the object and subject of scientific inquiry is an enigmatic and intriguing phenomenon. Bilingualism is indeed phenomenal (in the etymological sense of the word), in that even though so much research is done and so much knowledge is generated on bilingualism and multilingualism, there is still so much that is unknown and so much to be known that the much we know about bilingualism may not be much after all.

Who would have thought, several decades ago, that bilingualism as the ability to use two or more languages confers on the bilingual individual cognitive advantages over the monolingual individ‐ ual that makes bilingualism not only palatable but desirable and, indeed, indispensable? Today, the avalanche of empirical evidence of research findings to this effect, presented in this book, makes an assertion that bilinguals have enormous competitive advantages over monolinguals in the educational system, an incontrovertible fact.

In the Europe of yesteryears, the paradigm of "one nation one language" (the monolingual habi‐ tus) was so dominant and fashionable as a nation-building ideology that multilingualism was considered a curse, a demon that had to be exorcised. This led to the voluntary and involuntary endangerment, attrition, or death of minority languages. Today, the abundance of research find‐ ings of advantages for multilingualism or societal bilingualism has led to a rethinking of the issue. This, coupled with considerations and acknowledgement of the value of language, any language and every language as an invaluable treasure of the manifestation of the human mind and human knowledge whose loss or death impoverishes humanity immeasurably, has led today to the de‐ construction of the paradigm of monolingual habitus by the European Union's language policies in favor of linguistic diversity and the preservation of rights for minority languages.

The nine chapters of this book provide elucidations of the issue of benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism and further provide original research findings on developments in the areas of psychological dimensions of bilingualism and bilingualism in information retrieval systems. Thus, there is still so much to be learned and to be known about the phenomenon of bilingualism and multilingualism to make another book, this book, relevant, worthwhile, and necessary. It is preceded by an introduction containing topics that mirror the issues discussed in the book.

#### **Section II: Advantages and Case Studies of Bilingualism and Multilingualism**

The section presents the benefits of bilingualism to the individual and the advantages of multilin‐ gualism to society and the nation followed by two case studies of multilingualism: aspects of bi‐ lingualism and multilingualism in Europe and the evaluation of achievements of bilingual policy in Columbia, South America. The section establishes the benefits of bilingualism and multilin‐ gualism, and the case studies that follow examine how, considering the phenomenon of bilingual‐ ism as a desirable "good," nations (in Europe and Latin America) accommodate what appears ostensibly as the adverse side effects of an otherwise useful and much-needed medication for the arduous but rewarding task of nation building within an ideological paradigm of linguistic and cultural pluralism.

#### **Section III: Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Bilingualism**

This section contains two original research papers that extend the frontiers of knowledge with empirical evidence on two crucial aspects of the psycholinguistics of bilingualism. The first seeks to elucidate and provide answers to important psycholinguistic questions of language acquisition. Do bilingual children possess one or two linguistic systems in the learning of their respective lan‐ guages, and when do these systems emerge in the process of acquisition? The second seeks to illuminate the role of psycholinguistic identity and cognition on one hand and culture on the oth‐ er hand as variables in bilinguals' perception and evaluation or assessment of their **self-efficacy,** that is, their capabilities and competence when using either language.

#### **Section IV: Bilingualism, Information Retrieval and Access to Information**

This section presents three research-based chapters with findings related to issues of information retrieval and access to information in bilinguals or in multilingual settings. "Knowledge is pow‐ er," as rightly observed by the visionary, Francis Bacon several centuries ago (1597). In the present **age of knowledge economy,***knowledge is power*, and "knowledge power" rules the world because economically powerful nations in the hierarchy of development are characterized by in‐ dustrialization determined by the quantity and quality of *knowledge production, knowledge dissemi‐ nation, knowledge appropriation*, *and knowledge management* they leverage. It is now axiomatic that the present century of knowledge-based economy is also the **age of information and communica‐ tion technology**, which serves as the engine and motor of the (abovementioned) pillars and deter‐ minants of knowledge economy (knowledge production, dissemination, appropriation, and management). This underscores the importance of research pertaining to information retrieval and access to information in this section of the book.

The first article contributes to solutions to the problem of determining the best method of crosslin‐ guistic information retrieval such as retrieving information in two or more languages (e.g., Eng‐ lish, Spanish, and French) when the query is given in one language (e.g., English). The second chapter presents research that provides answers to the complex but useful question "how does one access information from digital bases across several languages both synchronically and dia‐ chronically, i.e., in the present state of the language(s) and across historical stages"? In the third chapter, it is demonstrated that while different websites frequently use Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA), the design and successful use of a CAPTCHA obtained from analyzing handwriting samples in several languages (English, French, Spanish, and Arabic) stand as a significant innovation in Internet security and informa‐ tion retrieval system.

The book by its illuminating description and insightful analysis of issues of bilingualism will be of significant interest to scholars and researchers, and given the knowledge dissemination vocation of the work, in the present multilingual world, all concerned with bilingualism and multilingualism from whatever perspective will find a worthwhile interest in various components of the book.

> **Professor Beban Sammy Chumbow** Emeritus Professor of Linguistics University of Yaoundé 1 President of the Assembly of Academicians African Academy of Languages, African Union

**Section 1**

**Introduction**

**Section 1**
