Bilingualism and the Metaset
Edward A. De Avila, Sharon E. Duncan · NABE Journal · 1979
This paper represents a theoretical integration of developmental psychology and learning set theory which attempts to provide an empirically testable model of bilingualism. It is presented in three sections. In the introductory section research bearing on the issue of bilingualism as it relates to the educational treatment of language minority children living in the United States is briefly reviewed. The second section, which constitutes the major focus of the paper, presents findings from a number of studies in terms of a theory which integrates the theoretical position of Piagetian developmental psychology with the concept of the learning set proposed by Harlow. This integrated theory, called the metaset, is offered as a new approach to explaining the effects of childhood bilingualism. In the final section, specific hypotheses with respect to the relationship between bilingualism and intellectual/cognitive functioning are presented. Supportive data, which compares the relative performance of the three monolingual and bilingual populations, are cited. Results are discussed in terms of the proposed theory and compared with other recent theories of bilingualism.