**Introduction**

**Section III: Psycholinguistic Perspectives on Bilingualism**

that is, their capabilities and competence when using either language.

*nation, knowledge appropriation*

VIII Preface

tion retrieval system.

and access to information in this section of the book.

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

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,**

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‐*

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

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‐

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.

, *and knowledge management* they leverage. It is now axiomatic that

**Professor Beban Sammy Chumbow** Emeritus Professor of Linguistics

President of the Assembly of Academicians African Academy of Languages, African Union

University of Yaoundé 1

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Relevance of Bilingualism and**

**Introductory Chapter: Relevance of Bilingualism and** 

What is a logically possible answer to the logically possible question: "what is the relevance of multilingualism in a multilingual world?" This is an existentialist question and the first logical reaction will be to question whether the question is logical because it is not logically possible for multilingualism to be absent (and irrelevant) in a multilingual world (that is, in its own world). Indeed, multilingualism is at home in a multilingual world and cannot be challenged with respect to relevance. Ultimately, the real question is: what is the logic of asking multilingualism, what it is doing in a multilingual world or what "business" it has in a multilingual world? However, with such a question, we end up with a *logical "argumentum ad absurdum," a question whose answer leads to a logical conclusion of absurdity* for, indeed, it is self-evident that multilingualism owns the multilingual world, and its relevance is therefore equally self-evident. The apparently interesting question is, therefore, (on further examination) as foolish as asking a man what he is doing in his own home. Indeed, in our world of the twenty-first century, *multilingualism is the norm and monolingualism the exception* [1]. Besides, inherent *bilingualism* and *multilingualism*, over the years, language contact resulting from conquest, colonization, mass migration of populations due to disasters, and the impact of globalization has made all countries of the world multilingual in varying degrees. Given the symbiotic relationship between language, culture, and identity, multilingualism ipso facto implies multiculturalism and ethnolinguistic and ethnocultural identity have become inalienable rights. This imposes challenges for nation building, driven by ideals of ideological pluralism, social cohesion, and living together in diversity and so on, which have

been the object and subject of various studies of bilingualism and multilingualism.

context of the knowledge economy and national development.

This chapter focuses on the compendium of aspects of recent original research contributions to more and new knowledge on *bilingualism*, and its societal corollary, *multilingualism* in the

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.77083

**Multilingualism in a Multilingual World**

**Multilingualism in a Multilingual World**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Beban Sammy Chumbow

Beban Sammy Chumbow

**1. Introduction**

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77083

#### **Introductory Chapter: Relevance of Bilingualism and Multilingualism in a Multilingual World Introductory Chapter: Relevance of Bilingualism and Multilingualism in a Multilingual World**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.77083

Beban Sammy Chumbow Beban Sammy Chumbow

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77083
