Bilingualism mannerisms and attitudes towards it

1. INTRODUCTION:

 

Bilingualism is a sociolinguistic phenomenon that has received much scholarly attention, not only because of its importance in communications but also because of political and demographic considerations that have led many sociologists to brand some languages as major and others as minor in multiliguistic settings. This classification forces African languages into subordinate positions on the grounds that only a few of them have been codified, and fewer still are used in instruction; hence the superiority of European languages in Cameroon, where the term “bilingualism” immediately brings to mind a mastery of English and French. In this wise, handling the topic “bilingualism” becomes a difficult task to the African mind as it has to grapple with the decision whether or not to consider local tongues in the study.

 

On the other hand, the definition of the term has also been a subject of much debate. The dimension of this debate is clearly shown by two definitions which could best be considered as being polarised: while Bloomfield defines bilingualism as “a native – like control of two languages”, Diebold gives a minimal definition when he uses the term “incipient bilingualism” to mean “the initial stages of contact between two languages”. These two definitions imply that we are forced, in studying bilingualislm, to consider it as something entirely relative because the point at which the leaner of a second language becomes bilingual is either arbitrary or difficult to determine.

 

It goes without saying, however, that sociolinguists are interested in all languages. In addition, speakers of a particular speech community are always made up of many groups; with the speech of the members of each group reflecting their age, place of origin, professional interests, and educational background, among others. This renders it difficult for one speaker to internalise all the variants; thus the difficulty in determining how perfect language use by a speaker is. It is on the basis of these two considerations that in its attempt to discuss the notion of bilingualism, this paper will include both local and foreign languages; and consider bilingualism as the alternate use of two languages (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary). Given the complexity of the Cameroonian context, a bilingual in this paper will refer to (1) a speaker of a national language plus an official language, (2) a speaker of two official languages, and (3) a speaker of two national languages.

 

Furthermore, the paper will, among others, attempt to examine bilingualism mannerisms and attitudes towards it.

 

2. BILINGUALISLM AS A PROCESS:

 

To understand the process of bilingualism, it should first be understood that human beings inherit the ability to speak, though they do not inherit the ability to speak a particular language. A child therefore learns to speak the language of those who bring it up from infancy. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica points out that these, in most cases, are its biological parents, especially the mother. But one’s first language is acquired from the environment and learning. Adopted infants, whatever their race and whatever the language of their actual parents, acquire the language of the adoptive parents who raise them just as if they had their own children.

 

The learning of a second and any subsequently acquired language is quite a different matter. Except in case where the child’s parents / foster parents are bilingual, or from different linguistic backgrounds, learning a second language becomes either a deliberate activity or one imposed on the child by extraneous social, political or religious factors acting on him.

 

3. DETERMINANTS OF THE NEED FOR BILINGUALISM

 

At both the individual and societal levels, the need for bilingualism might variously arise from the following reasons:

Geographical Proximity: Geographical proximity of two communities naturally leads to the need for communication among their members for purposes of trade as no community, it is usually said, is an island. Since language might pose as a barrier to effective communication, members of the two communities each learn the other’s language. This inevitably leads to bilingualism. Furthermore, this proximity occasions exogamous marriages leading to the creation of bilingual families.

Historical Factors: Historical events such as conquests and colonialism made the newcomers wield much influence in all spheres of life. Since “the most powerful groups in any society are able to force their language upon the less powerful” (Romaine, 1955:23), all official transactions were done in the foreign language. This is evident in most African countries where colonial masters bequeathed their language as “official” languages in a multilingual sub – Saharan Africa. With her historical contortions, Cameroon ended up with two foreign languages as official languages, which are learnt in schools.

Migration: Either collective or individual migrants fleeing from war or searching individual attainment have settled in foreign linguistic communities. For purposes of communication and job hunting, they have been compelled to learn the languages of host communities, thus becoming bilingual.

Religion: Some religions like Islam consider the language of their sacred scriptures pure and holy. As such, clerics in such religions have to learn the language in which the sacred books were originally written.

Public / International Relations: In multilingual countries like Cameroon and Nigeria, need soon arises for citizens to interact at the national level, implying the inevitability of a lingua franca. Whereas some countries have adopted African languages along European ones for communication purposes, others have maintained those of their colonial masters, which must be taught in schools. Nigeria, for instance, has Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo as well as English to facilitate personal relationship within the country. Similarly, relations between countries have also become indispensable, demanding of politicians, traders and diplomats a mastery of Languages of Wider Communication (LWD). This has necessitated the elaboration of many language teaching programmes within countries. In Cameroon, programmes exist for the teaching of English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and even Chinese.

TYPES OF BILINGUALISLM:

 

Though bilingualism may be classified according to the pairing up of the languages spoken, Weinreich (1963) discussed three types bilingualism in terms of the ways in which it was thought that the concepts of a language were encoded in the individual’s brain (Romaine, 1995). The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, however, identifies two main types, which have adopted here. These are:

 

a)      Coordinate Bilingualism: In this type, the person learns the languages in separate environments, and words of the two languages are kept separate with each word having its own specific meaning. An instance of this is seen in a Cameroonian child learning English at school. This may also be referred to as subtractive bilingualism.

 

b)      Compound Bilingualism: Here, the person learns the two languages in the same context where they are used concurrently, so that there is a fused representation of the languages in the brain. This is the case when a child is brought up by bilingual parents, or those from two different linguistic backgrounds. This is additive in nature.

 

It is worthy of note that the above classification has given rise to several models of bilingual education programmes. Larsen and Long (1994) distinguish two main types:

 

i. The model devised to help students continue to grow in their first language while acquiring a second language, and

 

ii. The immersion programme permitting native speakers to receive all of their initial education in a second language. After early grades, more and more content courses are taught in the target language.

BILINGUAL BEHAVIOUR

 

Bilingual people are known to show some of the following dominant traits, which are themselves subject to different interpretations.

 

a)      Interference: This occurs in a case where a speaker consciously or inadvertently brings in pronunciation, sentence formation and vocabulary of the source language while using a target language. Ruke – Dravina has argued that interference is always present in bilingualism, especially when the two languages are closer in their phonological, syntactic and morphological features. It affects pronunciation as can be seen when Francophone students pronounce the “ch” as “chicken” as “sh”, and might include whole sentences syntactically as in * “John is come here” for “John has come here”. This occurs in the intralingual stage when Francophones misapply rules binding the use of auxiliaries in English.

 

b)      Code-switching: This occurs when a speaker drops into his target language a word or phrase from his source language. This sometimes makes up for inadequacies, especially stylistic, in the first language. This can be seen when the Franco-English bilingual wishes his guests “ Bon appetit”, an expression considered absurd by users of English.

 

In Cameroon code-switching may result more often than not from language group influence or occasional lapses which speakers want to fill. It may also be prompted by the bureaucratic influence of the dominant language. Hence, most civil servants prefer “dossiers” to “files”; and gendarmes have a habit of asking for “identities”.

 

 c)      Translation: Since a bilingual person masters two mutually incomprehensible languages, he becomes a translator. The problem with translation is that any translated version must lose something of the author’s original intent. Especially in poetry, the translation is sometimes said to be a better work than the original and, in such cases, one is actually dealing with a new, though derived, work and not just a translation. Hence, the justification of the Italian epigram: “Traduttore traditore” (The translator is a traitor).

ATTITUDES TOWARDS BILINGUALISM:

Many writers have examined various attitudes towards bilingualism in multilingual situations. It has been agreed that in the final analysis, some language groups end up viewing bilingualism with suspicion or contempt. These negative attitudes are based on one or more of the following reasons:

 

 

(a)    Linguistic Basis: Monolinguals often consider bilinguals as proud. For the most part, language purists view certain bilingual behaviours like code-switching and interference as impure admixtures and detest them because they lead eventually to language shift and eventual death of minority languages, especially as relexification is often a threat to the structural integrity and maintenance of the minority languages. This happens to be true if,, after introducing certain structures into a target language, initiators of these structures maintain them; thus creating pidgins, Creoles, hybrid or mixed languages. According to Romaine (1995), these substratum interferences result from imperfect group learning during language shift. It can be found when a group of speakers shifting to a target language fail or refuse to learn the new language perfectly. From this, one can validly contend that what is commonly referred to as “Francanglais” qualifies for substratum interference which, allowed to grow, threatens the structural integrity of Cameroonian English, considering that most of those perpetuating it cannot express themselves in grammatically acceptable structures.

 

(b)   Political basis: Conflicts involving language are usually not about languages but about fundamental inequalities between groups which happen to speak different languages. A language can become or be made focus of loyalty for a minority community that thinks itself suppressed, persecuted or subjected to discrimination.That staunch SCNC(Southern Cameroon National Council)* members abhor hearing French spoken in especially Anglophone Cameron well illustrates this fact. To them, Francophone administrators, French signboards, and documents published in French are all tantamount to symbols of colonial masters in conquered territory. This has not stopped Francophones (the majority) from using their numerical strength to devise means of obtaining high posts, businesses and landed property in these parts, thus justifying to a certain extent the apprehensions of the SCNC.

 

Secondly, a language may become a target for attack or suppression if the authorities associate it with what they consider a rebellious group. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is just one of the many examples.

 

(c) Educational basis: Bilingualism in Education is generally a matter of public policy. Many critics, however, usually hold that children brought up bilingually perform poorly in other subjects, as a greater amount of mental effort has to be expended in the mastery of two languages. While the Cameroon government viewed its introduction of French at the primary School Leaving Certificate Examination as a move towards national integration, Anglophone critics regarded it as a move to assimilate them by confusing their children.

 

(d)   Religion: Although Islam to a certain extent promotes bilingualism, it also inhibits its practice on the grounds that translation makes a text lose something of the author’s original intent. The Qur’an, for instance, is written in a form of Arabic that Muslims consider pure. Consequently, it is considered blasphemous to use its translated version for prayers and other rituals. This makes many Muslims, especially extremists, regard translators of the Qur’an with disdain.

 

12. CONCLUSION: We live in a universe of linguistic diversity accounted for by the biblical tradition of the Tower of Babel. Since the recent attempts at globalisation necessitate high-level human transactions, present strides towards bilingualism are justified. We have examined not only the factors that usher in Bilingualism and those that militate against it,but also their reasons for doing so. Political and religious thinking may make us loathe bilingualism; but that it is a treasure sought by all is relevant. Acquiring “the compound state of mind with two grammars” (Cook: 2003) still remains an ideal attained by relatively few individual (even in a “bilingual” country like Cameroon), but this does not mean that there are few bilinguals, for this paper holds the view that bilingualism is a continuum ranging from mastery of the official languages to the mastery of two national languages.

 

It will not suffice to end without remarking that African languages validate all criteria for making any vocal system quality for a language. Since no language serves as a measuring rod for another, denouncing bilingualism in them is sheer inferiority complex, for learning them requires the same effort as dues any European language.Jacobson (1953 [Cf: Romaine, 1995]) wrote: “Bilingualism is for me the fundamental problem of linguistics.” It really is, given the linguistic reality that all languages are equal in complexity and in mastery.

 

 

 

 

"Bilingual" redirects here. For the journal, see Bilingualism (journal). For other uses, see Bilingual (disambiguation).

For multilingualism in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Multilingual coordination

 

Multilingualism is the act of using polyglotism, or using multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population.[1] Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness.[2] Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is becoming increasingly frequent thereby promoting a need to acquire additional languages.

 

People who speak several languages are also called polyglots.[3]

 

A trash can in Seattle labeled in four languages: English, Chinese (垃圾), Vietnamese (should be rác), and Spanish. Tagalog also uses the Spanish word.

Contents

1 Definition

1.1 Definition of language

2 Multilingual individuals

2.1 Cognitive ability

2.2 Receptive bilingualism

2.3 Personality

3 Learning language

4 Neuroscience

4.1 Centralization of Language areas in the Brain

4.2 Brain plasticity in multilingualism

4.3 Aphasia in multilingualism

4.4 PET scan studies on Bimodal Individuals

4.5 The Executive Control System’s Role in Preventing Cross Talk

4.6 Health Benefits of Multilingualism and Bilingualism

5 Multilingualism within communities

6 Multilingualism between different language speakers

7 Multilingualism at the linguistic level

7.1 Models for native language literacy programs

7.2 Sequential model

7.3 Bilingual model

7.4 Coordinate model

7.5 Outcomes

8 Multilingualism in computing

8.1 Internet

9 Multilingualism in music

10 See also

10.1 Policies and proposals

10.2 Education

10.3 Other

11 References

12 Further reading

13 External links

Definition[edit source] This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013)

 

 

The definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate in the very same way as the definition of language fluency. On one end of a sort of linguistic-continuum, one may define multilingualism as complete competence and mastery in another language. The speaker would presumably have complete knowledge and control over the language so as to sound native. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be people such as tourists who know enough phrases to get around using the alternate language.

 

Because of the lack of any true definition for multilingualism, it is very difficult to define an individual as being multilingual. Having no specification of how much knowledge of a language is required for a person to be classified as bilingual makes it difficult for language teaching institutions to teach languages to students to the point of fluency. As a result, since most speakers do not achieve the maximally ideal level, language learners may come to be seen as deficient and by extension, language teaching may come to be seen as a failure.

 

Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions. Cook calls these people multi-competent.

Definition of language[edit source]

 

There is no clear definition of what it means to "speak a language". A tourist who can handle a simple conversation with a waiter may be completely lost when it comes to discussing current affairs or even using multiple tenses. A diplomat or businessman who can handle complicated negotiations in a foreign language may not be able to write a simple letter correctly. A four-year-old French child would usually be said to "speak French fluently", but it is possible that he cannot handle the grammar as well as even some mediocre foreign students of the language do and may have a very limited vocabulary despite possibly having perfect pronunciation. On the other hand, it is quite common that even very highly accomplished linguists may speak the language(s) of which they are experts with a distinct accent and to have gaps in their active vocabulary when it comes to everyday topics and situations.

 

Because the development of spoken fluency requires prolonged exposure to a given language, claims of extensive polyglottism must generally be understood to refer to the mastery of basic communicative skills along with the grammatical rules and (possibly) an extensive vocabulary in the target languages, rather than a near-native level of spoken fluency. In historical times prior to audio and video recordings which can be used to facilitate artificial language exposure, quite unusual circumstances would have been needed for an individual to achieve high-level spoken fluency in several languages. Although it is possible to learn the grammatical rules and vocabulary of a language from books alone, such an individual might not be able to communicate in the language at all, neither understanding the language as it sounds spoken out loud nor being able to produce the sounds him- or herself.

 

In addition there is no clear definition of what "one language" means. For instance, scholars often disagree whether Scots is a language in its own right or a dialect of English.[4]

 

As another example, a person who has learned five different languages such as French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian and Portuguese, all belonging to the closely related group of Romance languages, has accomplished something less difficult than a person who has learnt Hebrew, Chinese, Finnish, Navajo, and Welsh, none of which are remotely related to another.

 

Furthermore, what is considered a language can change, often for purely political purposes, such as when Serbo-Croatian was assembled from South Slavic dialects, and after the breakup of Yugoslavia dissolved into Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin, or when Ukrainian was dismissed as a Russian dialect by the Russian tsars to discourage national feelings.[5]

 

Many small independent nations' schoolchildren are today compelled to learn multiple languages because of international interactions. For example in Finland, all children are required to learn at least two foreign languages: the other national language (Swedish or Finnish) and one alien language (usually English). Many Finnish schoolchildren also select further languages, such as French, German or Spanish. In some large nations with multiple languages, such as India, school children may routinely learn multiple languages based on where they reside in the country. In major metros of Central, South and East India, many children may be fluent in four languages (the mother tongue, the state language, and the official national languages, Hindi and English.) Thus a child of Gujarati parents living in Bangalore will end up speaking his or her mother tongue (Gujarati) at home and the state language (Kannada), Hindi and English in school and his or her surroundings.

Multilingual individuals[edit source]

 

Poster of the UNESCO for the International Mother Language Day

 

A multilingual person, in a broad definition, is one who can communicate in more than one language, be it actively (through speaking, writing, or signing) or passively (through listening, reading, or perceiving). More specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A multilingual person is generally referred to as a polyglot. Poly (Greek: πολύς) means "many", glot (Greek: γλώττα) means "language".

 

Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals one language usually dominates over the other.

 

In linguistics, first language acquisition is closely related to the concept of a "native speaker". According to a view widely held by linguists, a native speaker of a given language has in some respects a level of skill which a second (or subsequent) language learner can hardly reliably accomplish. Consequently, descriptive empirical studies of languages are usually carried out using only native speakers as informants. This view is, however, slightly problematic, particularly as many non-native speakers demonstrably not only successfully engage with and in their non-native language societies, but in fact may become culturally and even linguistically important contributors (as, for example, writers, politicians and performing artists) in their non-native language. In recent years, linguistic research has focused attention on the use of widely known world languages such as English as lingua franca, or the shared common language of professional and commercial communities. In lingua franca situations, most speakers of the common language are functionally multilingual.

Cognitive ability[edit source]

Main article: Cognitive advantages to bilingualism

 

Bilinguals who are highly proficient in two or more languages are reported to have enhanced executive function[6][7] and are better at some aspects of language learning compared to monolinguals.[8] Research indicates that a multilingual brain is nimbler, quicker, better able to deal with ambiguities, resolve conflicts, and resist Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia longer.[9]

 

There is also a phenomenon known as distractive bilingualism or semilingualism. When acquisition of the first language is interrupted and insufficient or unstructured language input follows from the second language, as sometimes happens with immigrant children, the speaker can end up with two languages both mastered below the monolingual standard.[citation needed] Literacy plays an important role in the development of language in these immigrant children.[citation needed] Those who were literate in their first language before arriving, and who have support to maintain that literacy, are at the very least able to maintain and master their first language.[citation needed]

 

There is, of course, a difference between those who learn a language in a class environment, and those who learn through total immersion, usually living in the country where the target language is the exclusive.

 

Without the possibility to actively translate, due to a complete lack of any first language communication opportunity, the comparison between languages is reduced. The new language is almost independently learned - like the mother tongue for a child - with direct concept-to-language translation that can become more natural than word structures learned as a subject. Added to this, the uninterrupted, immediate and exclusive practise of the new language reinforces and deepens the attained knowledge.

Receptive bilingualism[edit source]

Main article: Passive speakers (language)

 

Receptive bilinguals are those who have the ability to understand a second language but who cannot speak it or whose abilities to speak it are inhibited by psychological barriers. Receptive bilingualism is frequently encountered among adult immigrants to the U.S. who do not speak English as a native language but who have children who do speak English natively, usually in part because those children's education has been conducted in English: While the immigrant parents can understand both their native language and English, they speak only their native language to their children. If their children are likewise receptively bilingual but productively English-monolingual, throughout the conversation the parents will speak their native language and the children will speak English. If their children are productively bilingual, however, those children may answer in the parents' native language, in English, or in a combination of both languages, varying their choice of language depending on factors such as the communication's content, context, and/or emotional intensity and the presence or absence of third-party speakers of one language or the other. The third alternative represents the phenomenon of "code-switching" (also styled "code switching"), in which the productively bilingual party to a communication switches languages in the course of that communication. Receptively bilingual persons, especially children, may rapidly achieve oral fluency by spending extended time in situations where they are required to speak the language that they theretofore understood only passively. Until both generations achieve oral fluency, not all definitions of bilingualism accurately characterize the family as a whole, but the linguistic differences between the family's generations often constitute little or no impairment to the family's functionality.[citation needed]

 

Receptive bilingualism in one language as exhibited by a speaker of another language, or even as exhibited by most speakers of that language, is not the same as mutual intelligibility of languages: The latter is a property of a pair of languages, namely a consequence of objectively high lexical and grammatical similarities between the languages themselves (e.g., Iberian Spanish and Iberian Portuguese), whereas the former is a property of one or more persons and is determined by subjective or intersubjective factors such as the respective languages' prevalence in the life history (including family upbringing, educational setting, and ambient culture) of the individual person or persons in question.[10]

Personality[edit source]

 

Because it is difficult or impossible to master many of the high-level semantic aspects of a language (including but not limited to its idioms and eponyms) without first understanding the culture and history of the region in which that language evolved, as a practical matter an in-depth familiarity with multiple cultures is a prerequisite for high-level multilingualism. This knowledge of cultures individually and comparatively, or indeed the mere fact of one's having that knowledge, often forms an important part of both what one considers one's own personal identity to be and what others consider that identity to be.[11] Some studies have found that groups of multilingual individuals get higher average scores on tests for certain personality traits such as cultural empathy, openmindedness and social initiative.[12][13]

 

The idea of linguistic relativity, which claims that the language people speak influences the way they see the world, can be interpreted to mean that individuals who speak multiple languages have a broader, more diverse view of the world, even when speaking only one language at a time.[14]

 

Some bilinguals feel that their personality changes depending on which language they are speaking;[15][16] thus multilingualism is said to create multiple personalities. Xiao-lei Wang states in her book Growing up with Three Languages: Birth to Eleven: “Languages used by speakers with one or more than one language are used not just to represent a unitary self, but to enact different kinds of selves, and different linguistic contexts create different kinds of self-expression and experiences for the same person.” However, there has been little rigorous research done on this topic and it is difficult to define “personality” in this context. Francois Grosjean writes: “What is seen as a change in personality is most probably simply a shift in attitudes and behaviors that correspond to a shift in situation or context, independent of language.”[17]

Learning language[edit source]

Main article: Language education

 

One view is that of the linguist Noam Chomsky in what he calls the human 'language acquisition device '— a mechanism which enables an individual to recreate correctly the rules (grammar) and certain other characteristics of language used by speakers around the learner.[18] This device, according to Chomsky, wears out over time, and is not normally available by puberty, which he uses to explain the poor results some adolescents and adults have when learning aspects of a second language (L2).

 

If language learning is a cognitive process, rather than a language acquisition device, as the school led by Stephen Krashen suggests, there would only be relative, not categorical, differences between the two types of language learning.

 

Rod Ellis quotes research finding that the earlier children learn a second language, the better off they are, in terms of pronunciation. See Critical period hypothesis. European schools generally offer secondary language classes for their students early on, due to the interconnectedness with neighbour countries with different languages. Most European students now study at least two foreign languages, a process strongly encouraged by the European Union.[19]

 

Based on the research in Ann Fathman’s The Relationship between age and second language productive ability,[20][21] there is a difference in the rate of learning of English morphology, syntax and phonology based upon differences in age, but that the order of acquisition in second language learning does not change with age.

 

People who have Multilanguage background will find out their native language would influence their second language in any other ages.

 

In second language class, students will commonly face the difficulties on thinking in the target language because they are influenced by their native language and culture patterns. Robert B. Kaplan thinks that in second language classes, the foreign-student paper is out of focus because the foreign student is employing rhetoric and a sequence of thought which violate the expectations of the native reader.[22] Foreign students who have mastered syntactic structures have still demonstrated inability to compose adequate themes, term papers, theses, and dissertations. Robert B. Kaplan describes two key words that affect people when they learn a second language. Logic in the popular, rather than the logician's sense of the word, which is the basis of rhetoric, is evolved out of a culture; it is not universal. Rhetoric, then, is not universal either, but varies, from culture to culture and even from time to time within a given culture.[22] Language teachers know how to predict the differences between pronunciations or constructions in different languages, but they might be less clear about the differences between rhetoric, that is, in the way they use language to accomplish various purposes, particularly in writing.[23]

Neuroscience[edit source]

Main article: Neuroscience of multilingualism

 

Various aspects of multilingualism have been studied in the field of neuroscience. These include the representation of different language systems in the brain, the effects of multilingualism on the brain's structural plasticity, aphasia in multilingual individuals, and bimodal bilingualisms (people who can speak one sign language and one oral language). Neuroscientific studies of multilingualism are carried out with functional neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and through observation of people who have suffered brain damage.

Centralization of Language areas in the Brain[edit source]

 

Language acquisition in multilingual individuals is contingent on two factors: age of the language acquisition and proficiency.[24][25] Specialization is centered in the Perisylvian cortex of the left hemisphere. Various regions of both the right and left hemisphere activate during language production. Multilingual individuals consistently demonstrate similar activation patterns in the brain when using either one of the two or more languages they fluently know. [26] Age of acquiring the second-or-higher language, and proficiency of use determine what specific brain regions and pathways activate when using (thinking or speaking) the language. Contrast to those who acquired their multiple languages at different points in their life, those who acquire multiple languages when young, and at virtually the same time, show similar activations in parts of Broca’s area and left inferior frontal lobe. If the second-or-higher language is acquired later in life, specifically after the critical period, the language becomes centralized in a different part of Broca’s area than the native language and other languages learned when young.[26]

Brain plasticity in multilingualism[edit source]

 

A greater density of grey matter in the inferior parietal cortex is present in multilingual individuals. It has been found that multilingualism affects the structure, and essentially, the cytoarchitecture of the brain. Learning multiple languages re-structures the brain and some researchers argue that it increases the brain’s capacity for plasticity.[27] Most of these differences in brain structures in multilinguals may be genetic at the core. Consensus is still muddled; it may be a mixture of both—experiential (acquiring languages during life) and genetic (predisposition to brain plasticity).[28][29]

Aphasia in multilingualism[edit source]

 

An abundance of insight about language storage in the brain comes from studying bilingual/ mulilingual individuals afflicted with a form of aphasia. The symptoms and severity of aphasia in bilinguals/ mulitlinguals depend on how many languages the individual knows, what order they have them stored in the brain, how frequently they use each one, and how proficient they are in using those languages.[30] Two primary theoretical approaches to studying and viewing bilingual/ multilingual aphasics exist—the localizationalist approach and the dynamic approach. The localizationalist approach views different languages as stored in different regions of the brain; and therefore, is the reason why bilingual/ multilingual aphasics may lose one language they know, but not the other(s).[31] The dynamical theory approach suggests that the language system is supervised by a dynamic equilibrium between the existing language capabilities and the constant alteration and adaptation to the communicative requirements of the environment.[32][33] The dynamic approach views the representation and control aspects of the language system as compromised as a result of brain damage to the brain’s language regions.[34][35][36] The dynamic approach offers a satisfactory explanation for the various recovery times of each of the languages the aphasic has had impaired or lost because of the brain damage. Recovery of languages varies across aphasic patients. Some may recover all lost or impaired languages simultaneously. For some, one language is recovered before the others. In others, an involuntary mix of languages occurs in the recovery process; the aphasic would intermix words from the various languages he/she knows when speaking.[36]

PET scan studies on Bimodal Individuals[edit source]

 

Neuroscientific research on Bimodal individuals—those who speak one oral language and one sign language—has been carried out. Pet scans from these studies show that there is a separate region in the brain for working memory related to sign language production and use. These studies also find that Bimodal individuals use different areas of the right hemisphere depending on whether if they are speaking using verbal language or gesticulating using sign-language.[37] Studies with bimodal bilinguals have also provided insight into the tip of the tongue phenomenon and into patterns of neural activity when recognizing facial expressions.[38][39]

The Executive Control System’s Role in Preventing Cross Talk[edit source]

 

There are sophisticated mechanisms to prevent cross talk in brains where more than one language is stored.[25] The executive control system might be implicated to prevent one language from interfering with another in multilinguals.The executive control system is responsible for processes that are sometimes referred to as executive functions, and among others includes supervisory attentional system, or cognitive control. Despite the fact that most research on the executive control system pertains to nonverbal tasks, there is some evidence that the system might be involved in resolving and ordering the conflict generated by the competing languages stored in the mulitlingual’s brain.[40] During speech production there is a constant need to channel attention to the appropriate word associated with the concept, congruent with the language being used. The word must be placed in the appropriate phonological and morphological context.[41] Multilinguals constantly utilize the general executive control system to resolve interference/conflicts among the known languages, enhancing the system’s functional performance, even on nonverbal tasks. In studies, multilingual subjects of all ages, showed overall enhanced executive control abilities. This may indicate that the multilingual experience leads to a transfer of skill from the verbal to the nonverbal.[40] There is no one specific domain of language modulation in the general executive control system, as far as studies reveal. Studies show that the speed with which multilingual subjects perform tasks, with-and-without mediation required to resolve language-use conflict, is better in bilingual than monolingual subjects.[41]

Health Benefits of Multilingualism and Bilingualism[edit source]

 

Researcher Ellen Bialystok examined the effect of multilingualism on Alzheimer’s disease and found that it delays its onset by about 4 years. The researcher’s study found that those who spoke more than two languages acquired Alzheimer’s disease at a later time than speakers of a single language.[40] Interestingly, the study found that the more languages the multilingual knows, the later the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Both bilingualism and multilingualism aid in the building up of cognitive reserves in the brain; these cognitive reserves force the brain to work harder—they themselves, restructure the brain.[42] Multilingualism and bilingualism lead to greater efficiency of use in the brain, and organize the brain to be more efficient and conservative in using energy. More research is required to determine whether if learning another language later in life has the same protective effects; nonetheless, it is evident from the variety of studies performed on the effects of multilingualism and bilingualism on the brain, that learning and knowing multiple languages sets the stage for a cognitive healthy life.

Multilingualism within communities[edit source]

Further information: List of multilingual countries and regions

 

A multilingual sign at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier in the Macau SAR, China. At the top are Portuguese and Chinese, which are the official languages of the region, while at the bottom are Japanese and English, which are common languages used by tourists (English is also one of Hong Kong's two official languages).

 

A caution message in English, Kannada and Hindi found in Bangalore, India

 

The three-language (Tamil, English and Hindi) name board at the Tirusulam suburban railway station in Chennai, South India. Almost all railway stations in India have signs like these in three or more languages (English, Hindi and the local language).

 

Multilingual sign at Vancouver International Airport, international arrivals area. Text in English, French, and Chinese is a permanent feature of this sign, while the right panel of the sign is a video screen that rotates through additional languages.

 

Multilingual sign at an exit of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Philippines. Three or four languages are shown: Japanese/Mandarin ("deguchi" or "chūkǒu", respectively), English ("exit") and Korean ("chulgu"). While Filipinos themselves are anglophone, such signs cater to the growing number of Koreans and other foreigners in the country.

 

A Train name found in South India written in four languages: Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and English. Boards like this are common on trains which pass through two or more states where the languages spoken are different.

 

Widespread multilingualism is one form of language contact. Multilingualism was more common in the past than is usually supposed[weasel words]: in early times, when most people were members of small language communities, it was necessary to know two or more languages for trade or any other dealings outside one's own town or village, and this holds good today in places of high linguistic diversity such as Sub-Saharan Africa and India. Linguist Ekkehard Wolff estimates that 50% of the population of Africa is multilingual.[43]

 

In multilingual societies, not all speakers need to be multilingual. Some states can have multilingual policies and recognise several official languages, such as Canada (English and French). In some states, particular languages may be associated with particular regions in the state (e.g., Canada) or with particular ethnicities (Malaysia/Singapore). When all speakers are multilingual, linguists classify the community according to the functional distribution of the languages involved:

diglossia: if there is a structural functional distribution of the languages involved, the society is termed 'diglossic'. Typical diglossic areas are those areas in Europe where a regional language is used in informal, usually oral, contexts, while the state language is used in more formal situations. Frisia (with Frisian and German or Dutch) and Lusatia (with Sorbian and German) are well-known examples. Some writers limit diglossia to situations where the languages are closely related, and could be considered dialects of each other. This can also be observed in Scotland where in formal situations, English is used. However, in informal situations in many areas, Scots is the preferred language of choice. Similar phenomenon is also observed in Arabic spoken region. The effects of diglossia could be seen if you look at the difference between Written Arabic(Modern Standard Arabic) and Colloquial Arabic. However, as time goes, the Arabic language somewhere between the two have been created which we would like to call Middle Arabic or Common Arabic. Because of this diversification of the language, the concept of spectroglossia[44] have been suggested.

ambilingualism: a region is called ambilingual if this functional distribution is not observed. In a typical ambilingual area it is nearly impossible to predict which language will be used in a given setting. True ambilingualism is rare. Ambilingual tendencies can be found in small states with multiple heritages like Luxembourg, which has a combined Franco-Germanic heritage, or Malaysia and Singapore, which fuses the cultures of Malays, China, and India. Ambilingualism also can manifest in specific regions of larger states that have both a clearly dominant state language (be it de jure or de facto) and a protected minority language that is limited in terms of distribution of speakers within the country. This tendency is especially pronounced when, even though the local language is widely spoken, there is a reasonable assumption that all citizens speak the predominant state tongue (E.g., English in Quebec vs. Canada; Spanish in Catalonia vs. Spain). This phenomenon can also occur in border regions with many cross-border contacts.

bipart-lingualism: if more than one language can be heard in a small area, but the large majority of speakers are monolinguals, who have little contact with speakers from neighbouring ethnic groups, an area is called 'bipart-lingual'. An example of this is the Balkans.

 

N.B. the terms given above all refer to situations describing only two languages. In cases of an unspecified number of languages, the terms polyglossia, omnilingualism, and multipart-lingualism are more appropriate.

Multilingualism between different language speakers[edit source]

 

Whenever two people meet, negotiations take place. If they want to express solidarity and sympathy, they tend to seek common features in their behavior. If speakers wish to express distance towards or even dislike of the person they are speaking to, the reverse is true, and differences are sought. This mechanism also extends to language, as described in the Communication Accommodation Theory.

 

Some multilinguals use code-switching, a term that describes the process of 'swapping' between languages. In many cases, code-switching is motivated by the wish to express loyalty to more than one cultural group[citation needed], as holds for many immigrant communities in the New World. Code-switching may also function as a strategy where proficiency is lacking. Such strategies are common if the vocabulary of one of the languages is not very elaborated for certain fields, or if the speakers have not developed proficiency in certain lexical domains, as in the case of immigrant languages.

 

This code-switching appears in many forms. If a speaker has a positive attitude towards both languages and towards code-switching, many switches can be found, even within the same sentence.[45] If, however, the speaker is reluctant to use code-switching, as in the case of a lack of proficiency, he might knowingly or unknowingly try to camouflage his attempt by converting elements of one language into elements of the other language through calquing. This results in speakers using words like courrier noir (literally mail that is black) in French, instead of the proper word for blackmail, chantage.

 

Sometimes a pidgin language may develop. A pidgin language is basically a fusion of two languages, which is mutually understandable for both speakers. Some pidgin languages develop into real languages (such as papiamento at Curaçao) while other remain as slangs or jargons (such as Helsinki slang, which is more or less mutually intelligible both in Finnish and Swedish). In other cases, prolonged influence of languages on each other may have the effect of changing one or both to the point where it may be considered that a new language is born. For example, many linguists believe that the Occitan language and the Catalan language were formed because a population speaking a single Occitano-Romance language was divided into political spheres of influence of France and Spain, respectively. Yiddish language is a complex blend of Middle High German with Hebrew and borrowings from Slavic languages.

 

Bilingual interaction can even take place without the speakers switching. In certain areas, it is not uncommon for speakers each to use a different language within the same conversation. This phenomenon is found, amongst other places, in Scandinavia. Most speakers of Swedish and Norwegian, and Norwegian and Danish, can communicate with each other speaking their respective languages, while few can speak both (people used to these situations often adjust their language, avoiding words that are not found in the other language or that can be misunderstood). Using different languages is usually called non-convergent discourse, a term introduced by the Dutch linguist Reitze Jonkman. To a certain extent this situation also exists between Dutch and Afrikaans, although everyday contact is fairly rare because of the distance between the two respective communities. The phenomenon is also found in Argentina, where Spanish and Italian are both widely spoken, even leading to cases where a child with a Spanish and an Italian parent grows up fully bilingual, with both parents speaking only their own language yet knowing the other. Another example is the former state of Czechoslovakia, where two languages (Czech and Slovak) were in common use. Most Czechs and Slovaks understand both languages, although they would use only one of them (their respective mother tongue) when speaking. For example, in Czechoslovakia it was common to hear two people talking on television each speaking a different language without any difficulty understanding each other. This bilinguality still exists nowadays, although it has started to deteriorate after Czechoslovakia split up[citation needed].