BILINGUALISM IN TODAYS GLOBAL LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

By Cleopatra Karoussou

A.Introduction -Geographic distribution of living languages B.How to define bilingualism C.L2 acquisition of a bilingual child -Early reviews D.Types of bilingualism -Sequential bilingualism and L2 acquisition -Simultaneous bilingualism -Codeswitching E.Linguistic competence and bilingualism -The threshold hypothesis -The container view of competence F.Linguistic behaviour of minority speakers

A.Introduction

The purpose of this essay is informative. It attempts an approach to the concept of bilingualism, its social, educational and cultural aspects. It begins with the multilingual global environment in which we all live, and the influence it has on individuals ,who in their majority are bilinguals or multilinguals .A brief reference is made on how linguists define bilingualism, along with an experiential definition based on some real life testimonies from immigrants in Perth-Australia. Some early reviews on the language acquisition of bilingual children,illustrate the complexity and fascination which characterize the process of language development. Another concern in this paper is how different acquisition situations and affective factors create various types of bilinguals,along with how bilingualism relates to linguistic competence. Finally, the linguistic future of minority languages in multicultural and multilingual environments will be discussed.

Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone. Ralph Waldo Emerson And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speechAnd they said, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heavenAnd the Lord said, Behold the people is one, and they all have one language.Let us go down and there confound their language, that they may not understand one anothers speech..Therefore is the name of it called Babel. (from Genesis 11:1-9) The Tower of Babel, this tiny piece of ancient history symbolizes the linguistic diversity of the world. Our planet has over six billion people who speak between 6,000 and 7,000 different languages .A few of them are spoken by hundreds of million of speakers such as English of Chinese, but most is spoken by only a few thousands or handful of speakers. Geographic Distribution of living languages The Americas Africa Europe Asia The Pacific Number of languages 1,013 2,058 230 2,197 1,311 Percentage 15% 30% 3% 32% 19%

(Elt News issue March 2004) Contrary, to what is often believed , between half and two thirds of the global population is bilingual or multilingual to some degree. Psycholinguist Francois Grosjean says bilingualism is present in practical every country in the world, in all

classes of society, and in all age groups. In fact it is difficult to find a society that is genuinely monolingual. Not only is bilingualism worldwide, it is a phenomenon that has existed since the beginning of language in human history.

B.The definition of bilingualism The question of how to define bilingualism has been an elusive and vague concept for researchers. According to Mackey(1970:554) Bilingualism is not a phenomenon of language;it is a characteristic of its use.If language is the property of the group bilingualism is the property of the individual. An individuals use of two languages supposes the existence of two different language communities. It does not suppose the existence of a bilingual community. Fantini (1985:14)commented that Boomfields(1953) specified bilingualism as native-like control of two languages while Haugen (1953)argues that bilingualism begins when the speaker of one language can produce complete meaningful utterances in the other language. Analysing their definitions one could note, that they have all concluded in a prerequisite for someone to be a bilingual: The expertise in handling both languages in all modes. Here is worth quoting an experiential definition of bilingualism given by the Community of bilingual families in Perth-Australia, based on their real life experiences, which from my perspective is considered to be very interesting , as being parents of bilingual children, most probably guest workers ,have encountered the problem of migration along with social communication, surrounded by a language other than their mother tongue. According to their testimony,they feel they have to be bilingual for a dual reason. First in order to communicate in their new country, and second in order to preserve their heritage. They define bilingualism as the ability to communicate naturally and fluently in more than one language in all areas of life.

They addin this definition lie words. Somewhere in between them we want to see our children. Its clear that their experiential definition conveys a rather different set of meanings from what linguists intend to, simply because they have added the simplicity and originality of the human feeling.

C.Early studies on Second Language acquisition of a bilingual child. There are many different ways in which children become bilingual as well as different combinations and results. Many researchers throughout history have been really not only fascinated but also bewildered with the procedure of child language acquisition, especially in the cases of bilingualism. Among the early studies on the subject of child language acquisition very few dealt with the simultaneous acquisition of the two languages. According to Fantini(1985:11),Vildomecs book on Multilingualism (1963) refers to only three important works on pre-school such cases.-those by Ronjat (1913),Pavlovitch (1920) and Leopold(1939). Ronjat studied his sons, Louis, language development based on the method-one person-one language. Louis learnt German from his mother and French from his father while they lived in France. According to Ronjat, in the beginning, Louis borrowing from one language remained isolated and there was parallel development of phonetics, morphology and syntax in both languages (French and German). Louis soon became aware of his bilingualism and translated messages from one language to the other. Ronjat, noted that as his son grew older he was able to use both languages with equal facility. His case study stopped when Louis reached the age of 4 years and ten months. Pavlovitch reported the simultaneous speech development of his son, Douchan, in both Serbian and French. His study went up to his sons second year. Fantini(1985:11), argues that one of the best classic studies in the area of simultaneous bilingualism is that of Leopold. Werner Leopold in his work , Speech development of a bilingual child, which was published in four volumes (1939-1949), recorded his daughters, Hildegard speech from her birth to age 15,7. Hildegard learnt German and English, but her English was more

developed that her German. Furthermore, her vocabulary seemed to be very important for her speech ,up to the age of two. After that period, Leopold noted that she

distinguished two separate systems in accordance to her interlocutor. Then influence of one language over the other followed mostly on lexicon, idiomatic phrases and syntax, while less in sounds, morphology and word formation. Hildegard throughout her bilinguality didnt seem to have the same easiness in using English and German. And although in the beginning she was supposed to become a bilingual she became a monolingual as her German fell into disuse. As Fantini mentions in his same work , another linguist Geissler(1938) who lived among Germans in Yugoslavia, published his study on the bilingual development of German children in Belgrade in 1938...however ,Geissler was not a linguist and his work was criticized by Leopold (1971) for poor recording and too many vague generalizations. It is obvious that the criteria and the outcomes of second language acquisition in the cases of bilingualism are not always the same,indeed they are rather relative and vague, as is the concept of bilingualism in general which constitutes a very complex phenomenon and users may vary in their ability and skills in the two or more languages involved.

D. Types of bilingualism Language is a wonderful thing.It can be used to express thoughts,to conceal thoughts, but more often to replace thinking. Kelly Fordyce Much effort in the study of bilingualism has gone into developing categories in order to describe or measure the kind and degree of bilingualism or muntilingualism.

Researchers have focused on different aspects and key dimensions ,for example , age of acquisition of

bilingualism, circumstances in which the two or more languages are used, patterns of use in the surrounding community, level and format of education received in each language as well as degrees of proficiency. Age of acquisition. Steinberg(2000:230)argues that there are two conditions under which a person may become bilingual. The sequential learning of the two languages and the simultaneous one. The first case refers both to children and adults and can occur when the second language is being learnt at school or later, after the L1 is acquired. This seems to be a familiar procedure as most of us are exposed to L2 after L1 acquisition. Referring to child sequential bilingualism Steinberg (2000:228) gives an example of an immigrant couple from China who have come to America with their 4-year old daughter. Their daughter attends an English-speaking preschool but at home they continue to speak only Chinese. By the age of 5 the child is fluent in both languages, although there is a four-year gap before the introduction of the second language. In general bilingual parents, who want to provide their children with the benefit of dual language exposure, use their language environment to the childs advantage, providing alternative communication strategies to improve communication and understanding. In the case of child sequential bilingualism, the stages of Second language acquisition can be applied. According to Tabors&Snow (1994) :(1)Children attempt to use the language learnt at home when they communicate of play with the other kids.Soon they feel that others dont understand them .(2)They stop using their home language and try to communicate through gestures and body language. At this stage they can comprehend same of the L2.(3)At this stage they use telegraphic speech, unable to produce meaningful sentences, and (4) finally, they

begin to produce correct grammatical utterances.

Simultaneous bilingualism cant refer to adults but applies only to children who develop both languages within an equal time through exposure and opportunities to use both languages. According to Steinberg (:230)there are two basic situations in which a child may learn two (or more) languages at the same time. (1) Each person speaks one language, only to the child: One person-One language, or (2) Each person speaks the same two languages to the child:One person-two languages. Most researchers agree that a child, who is exposed to two languages simultaneously at an ealy age, will naturally learn to use both languages. Language proceeds in basically the same way in all languages: children hear sounds and imitate them. This pattern is devided in 3 specific age ranges. The early phrase (birth to three years) Children make progress in all the components of language acquisition including phonology, morphology, syntax.They combine elements of one language to the other.By the age of three they understand much of the spoken language. The middle phase (three to four years) Both languages are sentences increases. well established, the length of

Later phase (five to six years) Bilingual children have mastered most of the sounds of their languages. Vocabulary continue to develop. Bilingual children go though some periods of codeswitching and borrowing vocabulary between the two languages to express ideas, sometimes even within the same sentence. I dont speak Spanish .I just only speak English with Spanish words. This phrase is a quotation of a Spanish

eight-year old boy, brought up in the U.S, with a Spanish language heritage.

This occurs because vocabulary may exist in one language but not in the other, or words from one language may convey a message not easily translated into the other. The separation of the two languages occurs gradually. Sometimes Ill start a sentence in English y termino en espanol.(title of Poplack,1980). Romaine (1995:206)commented that according to Arnberg and Arngerg(1985)the child is considered to be bilingual only at the stage where is separation of the two systems. According to bilinguals testimonies, sometimes bilinguals mix their languages. Thus its a myth to say that real bilinguals never mix their languages. Those who do are confused semi-linguals. Bilinguals sometimes mix their languages, leading monolinguals to wonder if they are really able to tell them apart. Usually, the problem is not genuine confusionwords leak into the other language without the speaker being aware of it , analogous to a slip of the tongue. Romaine(1995:2)seems to agree with that and calls into doubt Weinreichs (1968) view of the ideal bilinguals behaviour. He says that The ideal bilingual switches from one language to another according to appropriate changes in the speech situation (Interlocutors, topics etc),but not in an unchanged speech situation. All in all, Griffler B,Varghese M (2004:45)present their own aspect on the matter:Its now well-established among researchers in linguistics that intrasential codeswithing is not a random mixture of two flawed systems;rather, it is rule-governed and systematic, demonstrating the operation of underlying grammatical restrictions.

Apart from age there are many other factors which contribute to form the figure of a bilingual .Among them researchers have focused on social, psychological, and educational elements. Alvino Fantini is his book language Acquisition of a bilingual child argues that the concept of bilingualism forms a complexity of linguistic, sociological and psychological elements, closely connected with each other. Fantini (1985:15) commented that according to Fishman we can label two kinds of bilingual speakers.one type of bilingual thinks only in one of his two languages usually in that which is his mother tongue. This type is the compound bilingual. The other typeis an individual who keeps each of his languages quite separate. He thinks in X when producing messages (to himself or to the others), in Y when producing messages in Y.Fishman calls this type of bilingual the co-ordinate bilingual and characterizes one with the following words: not only does a bilingual master two different codes, but he masters two different selves, two difference modes of relating to reality, two different orders of sensitivity to the wonders of the world. E. Linguistic competence and bilingualism. Cummins (1979:230),claims that different kinds of bilingualism reflect differences in cognitive development according to the threshold of competence . Additive bilingual handles both languages in high levels and results in positive cognitive effect. Dominant bilingual performs with a native-like level in one of the languages and this results in neither positive nor negative cognitive effect and finally,

Semilinguals use both languages in low levels , with a negative cognitive effect in both.

The threshold hypothesis Type of bilingualism

A.Additive bilingualism high levels in both Languages

Cognitive effect
Positive cognitive effect

_____________________________________________ B.Dominant bilingualism Native-like level in One of the languages Neither positive nor negative cognitive effects

Higher threshold Level of bilingual Competence

_____________________________________________ C.Semilingualism Low level in both Languages Negative cognitive effect

Lower threshold level of bilingual competence

____________________________________________________________________

Adopted from Cummins (1979:230)

Romaine(1995:264) commented , that according to SkutnabbKangas we can conceptualize the linguistc competence in terms of an implicit container metaphor :a container which can be either full or partially full
____ L1 ____ (a)Ideal monolingual adult _ _ _ _ _______ L1 L2 _ _ _ _____ L1 _____ (b)Ideal monolingual child _ _ _ _ ____ ____ L1 L2 _______ L1 L2 _______ (c)Ideal bilingual adult

_______ (d)Ideal Bilingual Child

________ (e)Semilingual adult Adopted from Skutnabb-Kangas (1981:26)

In this container metaphor the ideal monolingual adult is depicted by a full container, while the ideal monolingual child has a partially full container, due to its lesser competence. The ideal bilingual has two full containers, while for the same previously mentioned reason the ideal bilingual child has two partially equally full ones, showing that the child has the same linguistic competence in both languages. Last, the semi lingual adult has unequally full containers as he may havent acquired high competence levels neither in L1 nor in L2. All the previously mentioned factors, influence the bilinguals status categorizing them within certain types with different labels. Not all bilinguals display the same mode and level of proficiency .Some possesses very high levels of competence in both languages in the written and oral modes. Some sound like native like speakers in both languages, others have a strong foreign accent in one. Others display varying proficiency in speaking or comprehension
skills; depending on the circumstances they are called to use their two languages.

In my perspective, we should label one, bilingual as two native speakers in one.

truly

F. Linguistic behaviour of minority speakers But which is the degree of extinction or faint which minority communities experience when embodied in another linguistic environment? Usually immigrants have close ties with their homeland, and try to maintain not always successfully-their own territories, keeping their mother tongue. Over the years numerous studies have addressed the relationship between minority languages in multilingual settings. There are a number of factors that form the

linguistic behaviour of minority speakers .For example, the reason that they want to learn L2. On one hand they may be executives running companies or banks, who live in the new country temporarily, but need to communicate in a higher level and to interact with native speakers sharing their culture, or they may be wealthy intermarried couples who have chosen for many reasons to have a new country, or students who study abroad.

One the other hand, there are the poor immigrants who pressed from situational fiscal difficulties of their own country, search a better future for themselves and their families. The difference seems to be clear. The latter feel that they have to be bilingual for two reasons. First in order to survive in the new linguistic environment and second in order to preserve their own heritage. The attitude of the majority towards the minority can also play a crucial role. Cultures are difficult to be integrated and assimilated simultaneously. Pavlenko A,Blackledge A. (2004:1)quote: In her memoir My life ,Golda Meir (1975) recalls how, during her say in Moscow in 1948,a well-known Russian writer of Jewish origin, Ilya Ehrenburg, approached her at a party and started speaking Russian to her:Im sorry, but I cant speak Russian, I said. Do you speak English?He lookd at me nastily and replied, I have Russian-born Jews who speak English. And I am sorry for Jews who dont speak Hebrew of at least Yiddish!I answered. This dialogue depicts the ideological conflicts which may arise in multicultural and multilingual contexts, according to what languages of varieties of them must be spoken by certain people in such contexts. Due to the influx of immigrants and refugees from all over the world Europe has become increasingly multilingual. These multilingual contexts in the education level mean that may students that are acquiring and performing L2 in school-oriented curriculum , are linguistic minority speakers. The role of the school in supporting minority languages is another very decisive factor for the mode of bilingualism minority children adopt. Sometimes schools in the new country fail to support the home language. As a consequence these children feel trapped in their bilingualism. At the same time they may not progress in the new language at school

either, due to poor income or social discrimination practices. Thus , they end up labeled as semilinguals . Jeniffer Miller (2004:290) says that Over 25% of children in Australia are from non-English speaking backgrounds, with percentages over 90% in some schools.

Recent surveys have shown that students using English as a second language have lower literacy levels than English speaking students and also that many immigrant students encounter racism and social isolation in schools. The problem operates in a dual direction. Sometimes minority speakers become increasingly proficient in their L2 and tend to become less proficient in their L1.This anxiety is widely shared by members of many minority language speakers. Romaine (1995;5) expressed this anxiety ..It has often been said that bilingualism is a step along the road to linguistic extinction. In her same work she quotes ORahillys (1932) statement about Manx, which has not died out: from the beginning of its career English influence played havoc with its syntax, and it could be said without Some exaggeration that Manx is merely English disguised in Manx vocabulary, Manx hardly deserved to live. When a language surrenders itself to foreign idiom and when all its speakers become bilingual, the penalty is death. Language and literacy of dominant languages should not be used to that extend as to marginalize and disempower individuals of minority groups. As language is part of culture, Bilingualism develops a broader cultural understanding, sensitivity and linguistic tolerance along with social harmony. Bilingualism should be considered rather an asset in global communication and cooperation rather than an obstacle. All in all bilingualism needs a healthy social context to be developed. Real bilinguals, children or adults, who have been brought up bilingually, in proper linguistic and social environment fell accepted by both their cultures and identify with both.

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