Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>It is a difficult task to offer a short but comprehensive overview of the field of bilingualism and multilingualism for over sixty encyclopedic entries related to various aspects of the aforementioned linguistic phenomena, to say nothing of bibliographical notes for eminent scholars in the field. Thus, only selected entries in the area are mentioned here directly. Generally, bilingualism is defined as an ability to know/function in two languages (L1 and L2), whereas multilingualism refers to the user having competence in three or more languages, hence multi‐competence (embracing L1, L2 and at least one more foreign language—L3). The entries in this encyclopedia address both bilingualism and multilingualism with a clearly defined focus on one of them or alternatively, they present the overlap in which bilingualism can be also understood as multilingualism (and vice versa). Various aspects of bi/multilingualism relate to the distinction between these two phenomena. The entries also focus on language processing at different levels of linguistic systems and skills. They describe individual learner differences in bi/multiple language learning and use at the level of cognition and affectivity. Different contexts of bi/multilingual functioning are elaborated on, as well as educational issues of policy and language planning are presented. Newly presented entries (absent in the first edition of this Encyclopedia) demonstrate the multidisciplinary perspective on bi/multilingualism referring to psychology, philosophy, and sociology in more recent research, with emphasis on the new research methods used in present‐day projects in bi/multilingualism.</jats:p>