This book is based on the belief that the research object of studies on multilingualism needs a new interpretation and clearer definition. It is argued that the definition of , particularly important in discussions on multilingualism, is sometimes ambiguous and downright confusing. A clarification of the term seems to be of critical importance for the further development of research in this field, and it is the aim of this book to make a contribution in this respect.

Werner Wiater, born in 1946; Full Professor of School Pedagogics at the University of Augsburg and Professorship at the Free University of Bolzano (Italy). Gerda Videsott, born in 1980; graduated in Lettere e Filosofia from the University of Trento (Italy); Researcher at the Teaching and Research Department of School Pedagogics at the Free University of Bolzano, Faculty of Education.

Contents: Werner Wiater/Gerda Videsott: New theoretical perspectives in multilingualism research: Multilingualism as a construct determined by different uses – Werner Wiater: Constructivism and Language Acquisition – Gerda Videsott/Bärbel Herrnberger/Edgar Schilly/Jo Grothe/Klaus Hoenig/Werner Wiater/Manfred Spitzer/Markus Kiefer: The complex measurement of language(s) – Tanja Rinker/Markus Kiefer: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Multilingualism – Doris Manschke: Mental representations, mental imagery and language: An overview – Rosemarie Tracy: Knowledge societies in need of knowledge – Gabriele Pallotti/Stefania Ferrari/Elena Nuzzo: A systematic procedure for assessing communicative competence – Rita Franceschini: The potentiality of Multilingualism: Four Scenarios for a Multilingual Country – Siegfried Baur/Dietmar Larcher: Multilingualism revisited. New Frontiers in Central European Language Education – Christiane Fäcke: Language and dialect between linguistic purism and plurilingualism – Silvia Dal Negro: Notes on the Mother Tongue ideology: Evidence from multilingual environments – Christina Reissner: Language(s), plurilingualism and intercomprehension – Jeroen Darquennes: Aspects of individual and societal multilingualism in the language policy of the European Commission: A preliminary analysis. Inhaltsverzeichnis