Multilinguism/ Bilinguism

BilinguismMultiliguism

Alua Magzumova > 403

DEFINITION

Bilingualism (Multilingualism)

Individual Bilingualism – the use of two (or more) languages by an individual

E.g., an individual who speaks both English and Spanish as described by many of the informants in the Hinton article

Societal Bilingualism – the use of two (or more) languages within a given community

E.g., the bilingual setting in India, Canada, Switzerland, Malaysia, etc.

75% of the world’s population speak two or more languages.

Not all bilinguals speak two languages at the same level.

By the age of 2.5, a bilingual child begins to make choices in language use, usually the majority language.

Parents who want their children to retain their heritage language must work at it.

In the U.S. immigrants are strongly urged to assimilate and discourages from retaining their heritage language.

That is a national loss.

Bloomfield (1933): native-like control of two languages (maximalist)

Mackey (1962): the ability to use more than one language (minimalist)

Weinriech (1953): the practice of alternately using two languages (minimalist)

Haugen (1953): the point where a speaker can first produce complete meaningful utterances in the other language (minimalist)

Maximalist approach: describes the ideal bilingual (not reality)

Macnamara (1969): need to discuss the degree of bilingualism / competence in sub-components (LSRW)

DEGREE OF BILINGUALISM - DEFINITIONS

• Balanced Bilinguals • Dominant Bilinguals• Passive / Recessive Bilinguals • Semilinguals / Limited Bilinguals

DEGREES OF BILINGUALISM

Individuals fully competent in both languages • Almost impossible to achieve

• Sociolinguistic forces demand that bilinguals organize their languages in functionally complementary spheres. No society needs two languages to perform the same set of functions. Balanced bilingualism entails the death of bilingualism.

BALANCED BILINGUALS

Individuals who are dominant in one language. • Less dominant language =

‘subordinate.’

• Dominance does not apply to all domains.

• One may be dominant in the subordinate language in some domains.

DOMINANT BILINGUALS

Individuals who are gradually losing competence in one language, usually because of disuse.

• common among immigrant groups

• often loose productive skills while retaining receptive skills

PASSIVE / RECESSIVE BILINGUALS

Individuals who appear to have limited proficiency in both languages. Deficit in six language competencies:

• size of vocabulary

• correctness of language

• unconscious processing of language (automation)

• language creation

• mastery of the functions of language (e.g., emotive, cognitive)

• meanings and imagery

SEMILINGUALS / LIMITED BILINGUALS

Context of Bilingual Language Acquisition

Primary context / natural bilingualism: situations in which a child acquires both languages in a naturalistic setting without any structured instructionSecondary context / school bilingualism: situations in which a child acquires one of the languages in a structured setting, usually school.Naturalistic fused setting: no separation of context for both languages; child is exposed to both languages in the same context.Naturalistic separate setting: one parent, one language model; but also applies to other interlocutors, i.e., siblings, peers, grandparents, etc. Elective bilinguals: individuals who have some element of choice about learning a second language.Circumstantial bilinguals: individuals who have no choice about learning a second language; indigenous colonized or minority groups.

Code switching: The juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems (Gumperz 1982)

Lexical borrowing: Words from one system adapted phonologically and morph-syntactically and used regularly in another system

CODE SWITCHING

• The linguistic proficiency of the person(s) to whom one is speaking

• The language requirements of the setting, i.e., speak the language that is spoken to one

WHY SWITCH?

CHANGE OF LANGUAGE, CHANGE OF PERSONALITY?

Bilingual 1: "When I'm around Anglo-Americans, I find myself awkward and unable to choose my words quickly enough ... When I'm amongst Latinos/Spanish-speakers, I don't feel shy at all. I'm witty, friendly, and ... I become very out-going."Bilingual 2: "In English, my speech is very polite, with a relaxed tone, always saying "please" and "excuse me." When I speak Greek, I start talking more rapidly, with a tone of anxiety and in a kind of rude way...".Bilingual 3: "I find when I'm speaking Russian I feel like a much more gentle, "softer" person. In English, I feel more "harsh," "businesslike."Multilingual 4: "When talking English, French or German to my sister, my personality does not change. However, depending on where we are, both our behaviors may adapt to certain situations we find ourselves in."