From Monolingualism to

Bilingualism and
Multilingualism

Prepared by Karmen Piorn

Watch and then discuss

with the partner.
Why is bilingualism
important?

Bilingual brains (bottom) react to

words differently than monolingual
brains (top).
T. Muente

What is Bilingualism?
native like control
Bloomfield 1935: 55-56)

of two languages

something that someone says

the

practice of alternatively
languages (Uriel Weinreich 1953: 3)

(Leonard

using

two

the

point where the speaker of one language

can produce complete meaningful utterances
in the other language (Einar Haugen 1969: 6-7)
possession

of at least one of the four

language skills, even to a minimal degree (John
Macnamara 1969:82)
[when a child is ] able

to understand and make

himself understood within his limited linguistic
and social environment (that is, as is consistent with
his age and the situation in which he is expressing himself)
(Wilga Rivers 1969: 35-36)

bilingual speaker is someone who is able

to function in two (or more) languages,

either

in

monolingual

communities,

in

or

accordance

bilingual
with

sociocultural

demands

individuals

communicative

cognitive

competence

made
by

the

of

an
and

these

communities or by the individual herself, at

the same level as native speakers, and who
is able positively to identify with both (or

BILINGUALISM

Langaug
e
proficien
cy

high ...
low

Language
skills:
rdg, list,
wtg, spk

sociocultural
environment

Bilingualism is
fluid
dynamic
constantly changing.
Speakers go through stages in
their acquisition of additional
languages.
Depending on exposure, they may
see their proficiency in each
language ebb
and
flow.
becomes
less
strong

Ways of becoming bilingual

Living in a bilingual community
Being brought up by bilingual parents, or parents
with different language from wider community, or
parents with different languages
Moving to a different country
Personal study/School/University
Marrying someone with a different language
Political (e.g. black South Africans learning
Afrikaans to speak to police, speaking Mandarin in
Taiwan public spheres)
Religious (Hebrew/Judaism, Church
Slavic/Orthodox, Arabic/Islam)

Etc. But all in language contact

Is bilingualism special?
Bilingualism

is the norm in many places

international mobility leads to more

bilingual/multilingual families

More

Many

people are ready to believe that

handling two languages (or more) at the
same time is too much of a burden for the
infants brain, or that the languages
compete for resources in the brain at the
expense of general cognitive development(a
misconception!).

Negative attitudes towards minorities and

immigrants in U.S.

MISUNDERSTANDING
S

Monolingual Perspectives on Bilingualism

Learning

two languages confuses a child and lowers his

intelligence.
Old, poorly designed studies claimed that bilinguals had lower
intelligence than monolinguals. The bilingual children were
recent immigrants, with poorer knowledge of English and
more stressful life situations than their monolingual
counterparts.

child should learn one language properly first; then

you can start teaching the other.
Children who learn two languages in a loving, supportive
environment learn them both well. Children who learn two
languages in a stressful environment may have language
development problems.

child who learns two languages won't feel at home in

either of them. She'll always feel caught between two
cultures.
Children who feel accepted by both their cultures will identify
with both.

MISUNDERSTANDING
S

"Bilinguals

have to translate from their

weaker to their stronger language."
The overwhelming majority of bilinguals can think in
either of their two languages. They do not think in one
language only and immediately translate into the other
language when necessary.

"Real

bilinguals never mix their languages.

Those who do are confused 'semi-linguals '."
Bilinguals sometimes "mix" their languages. Usually,
the problem is not genuine confusion but the
interference, when words or grammar from one
language "leak" into the other language - or "codeswitching", when the speaker more or less intentionally
switches languages for effect (as e.g. mixing jargon or
slang with standard speech).
Many bilingual children will use both languages at once
during the early stages of their language development.

MISUNDERSTANDING
S

"Bilinguals have split personalities."

Some bilinguals report feeling that they have
a different "personality" for each language.
However, this may be because they are acting
according to different cultural norms when
speaking each of their languages.
"Bilingualism

is a charming
exception, but monolingualism is of
course the rule."
No accurate survey of the number of
bilinguals in the world has ever been taken.
But it is very reasonable to guess that over
half the world's population is bilingual.

MISUNDERSTANDING
S

"Be

very careful; if you don't follow the rules

exactly, your children will never manage to
learn both languages!"
Some people maintain that "the only way" to raise
bilingual children is to follow one specific pattern,
usually by speaking both languages in the home.
Children learn both languages regardless of the
pattern of exposure, as long as that pattern is
reasonably consistent.

"You'll

never manage to make him bilingual now.

People really can't learn a language after age X."
Language learning is easier the younger you are when
you start, and there are biological reasons why very
few adults can learn to speak a new language with a
native accent. However, people can learn valuable
language skills at any age.

WHAT ABOUT THE

BRAIN?

People worry that the brains of bilingual

children are somehow negatively impacted
by early experience with two languages.
The present findings show that the brains of
bilinguals and monolinguals are similar, and
both process their individual languages in
fundamentally similar ways. The only

exception is that bilinguals appear to

engage more of their brains for language
processing than monolinguals.
It is the monolingual that is not taking full

advantage of the neural landscape for

language and cognitive processing than
nature could have potentially made

The Brain's Language Centers

a group of connected cells in an animal or plant that

are similar to each other, have the same purpose and
form the stated part of the animal or plant (tkivo)

Bilingual Brains Do Better

The brain has two types of tissue visible to eye,
termed gray and white matter. Gray matter makes
up the bulk of nerve cells within the brain. Studies
have shown an association with gray matter density,
especially in areas of language, memory, and
attention.
Brain imaging showed that bilingual speakers
had denser gray matter compared with
monolingual participants. The difference was
especially significant in the brain's left side - an
area known to control language and
communication skills. The right hemisphere of
bilingual speakers also showed a similar trend .
The researchers say that being bilingual
structurally changes the brain. Their study
shows the effect was strongest in people who

 researchers studied 22 native Italian

speakers who had learned English as a
second language between ages 2 and 34.
Those who had learned English at a young
age had greater proficiency in reading,
writing, talking, and understanding English
speech.
"Our

findings suggest that the structure

of the human brain is altered by the
experience of acquiring a second
language," write the researchers in the October
issue of the journal Nature.
SOURCE: Mechelli, A. Nature, October 2004; vol 431: p 757.

Watch and answer the questions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAPyoHERyfQ&feat
ure=related

1.
2.

3.
4.

5.
6.

7.

What did the speaker experience in an

Alzheimers unit?
Which are the three components that
delay the negative effects of the brain
ageing?
Which component has been added to the
three above?
If you speak two or more languages on a
daily basis you cause the of
by .. years.
How can bilingualism help?
How much do you have to use the two
languages to help you stop the memory
loss?
Where can you find the info on the study?

ANSWERS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.

Two marriage proposals which were forgotten

the next day.
Exercise, social interaction, education
Bilingualism
Delay/ the onset of dementia/4
Active juggling of 2 lang. On a daily basis,
makes the brain into a muscle, and allows
you to process the info better, more
efficiently, and store more info; the bilinguals
can handle the distractions better;
Every day
2007 Edition of Psychologia, an international
Journal of Neuroscience and Cognitive
behaviour

Bilingualism and Multilingualsim Normal in many countries

Multi-ethnic country
Immigrants maintain mother
tongue
Education for elite in language
of elite (Greek, Latin, French,
classical Arabic, English)

Language of religion
Occupational reasons

Function of bilingual school

programs
Additive

- add language to

mother ttongue
Enrichment
foreign language
instruction
Maintenance add host language to
native
Subtractive - replace native

language with
host language
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juz3bQyMqBw&feature
=related
Compensatory (exchanging)

Comparison of child to adult

Childs

advantage clear in regard to accent

The

human brain has highest receptivity for

language in early infancy and childhood. It

can acquire more than one language

spontaneously without any effort.
Childs

apparent ease is probably related to:

Difference in degree of competence expected

Less embarrassment if making mistakes
Likely to receive more feedback
In more situations where forced to speak

To raise a bilingual child

Important

to be consistent

One parent, one language

Holiday language and year language
Weekday language and Sunday language
1st one to speak chooses language
Each person speaks preferred language

Child

distinguishes sound, vocabulary and

grammar of two systems. Interference
minimal if domains are separated.

Dominance

is dynamic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87tPOor-28Y

http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVYhpCprtzQ

Early and Late Bilingualism

moving countries,
bilingual parents or multilingual
community before 12
(roughly)

Early:

Late:

e.g. at school, moving

countries after the age of
12

Early bilingualism: children are aware of two

language systems very early on. E.g. bilingual
children know they are learning two languages
when they are 2, and they will communicate the
right language to the right person very early
Language systems develop as *two*
languages, not a welded together version the
development of particular structures in both
languages is identical to monolingual speakers of
both languages

Late bilingualism: tends to be less complete,

L1 accent tends to remain in L2, interference
and transfer of pragmatic and syntactic norms
from L1 > L2, or L2 monolingualism causes
fossilisation of L1

Critical period hypothesis: younger children

learn a L2 as if it was L1, even if not exposed to it
from birth. Adults seem to find it hard to get rid of old

Bilingual Language
Development
1.

Simultaneous Bilingualism- when

two languages are learnt before
the age of 3 years. The stages of
development are the same as for
monolingual speakers.
Successive Bilingualism - when a
child learns to become bilingual by
adding a language to their first
language/s.

Three
is
the
Magic
Age
Dual language
acquisition that begins
before the age of three
creates two first
languages.

Simultaneous Language Acquisition

Temporary

language
delays may occur in both
languages as the child
creates the linguistic
foundations for both
languages.

Simultaneous

language
acquisition allows the
child to see the world
through multiple lenses
as they have two first
languages.

Acquisition
Successive
When dualLanguage
language
is

introduced after the age of

three it is considered to be
a second language because
the child already has a
strong linguistic foundation
of their first language.
Successive

language
acquisition is seen as
putting less unnecessary
stress on the child.

Children

at the age of three

are still in the critical age
range for language
learning.

Attitudes to Bilingualism
Elite bilingualismFolk Bilingualism
Individual activity Group activity
No group threat Group can mobilize
Prestigious
Denied prestige
Standard Language Vernacular

the form of a language that a

regional or other group of speakers
use naturally, especially in informal
situations

Bilingual school programs

Transitional Bilingualism
. use Mother tongue in early grades
until sufficient skill in English can
be used as the only medium of
instruction
I.

Monoliterate Bilingualism
.
development of oral skills in
both languages but literary skills
only in English

II.

III. Partial Biliterate

Bilingualism
literacy

in Mother tongue but

limited to certain subjects related
to heritage

IV. Full Biliterate Bilingualism

both

languages used in all

domains

Benefits of bilingualism for learning

Advantages

in verbal and non-verbal

skills, more flexible thinking

Conceptual

understanding through
thinking about ideas in both languages

Increased

knowledge about how

language works

Ease

in learning further languages

Bilingual

young people will have

global employment opportunities

They

feel accepted in their

communities and the wider society,

and are well-placed to facilitate
community cohesion

Benefits for identity and

inter-cultural understanding
Children who develop their bilingual
skills also develop positive
multilingual identities
They understand cultural difference
and become skilled inter-cultural
communicators

Bilingual teaching approaches

Students use all their resources to learn, in

English and mother tongue
Translanguaging (presenting and discussing
material in more than one language) requires
students to think about meanings in both
languages and deepens understanding

Bilingual Spanish-English programme in Madrid

Beginning

in 2004 with 26 state schools (BC

scheme 1996)

Currently

180 schools

Main

objective: improvement of students

Communicative Competence in English and
Spanish

Daily

lessons in English (at least one third of the

school curricula)

Apart

from Spanish Language and Mathematics,

the remaining subjects can be taught in English
(Science, Art, Music, Physical Education)

British Council Bilingual

Project
http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=utxeA_NRasI&feature=re
lmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCbEfEkFpPE