Computational Modeling of Bilingualism

Computational modeling and bilingualism have had until recently only limited interactions (see reviews in French & Jacquet, 2004; Hernandez, Li, & MacWhinney, 2005; Li & Farkas, 2002; Thomas & van Heuven, 2005). Bilingualism has been the norm rather than the exception in our globalized world, but the acquisition of two languages entails significant complexity that challenges empirical methodology. Computational modeling, because of its flexibility in parameter variation and hypothesis testing, is ideally suited for identifying mechanisms underlying bilingual language acquisition and representation. In this symposium, we propose to integrate current computational studies of bilingualism and second language acquisition.