5.

Bilingualism and Bilinguals

5.1. Bilingualism in the World

Contrary to what is often believed, most of the world's population is bilingual or
multilingual. Monolingualism is characteristic only of a minority of the world's peoples.
According to the book Life with Two Languages by François Grosjean, “Bilingualism is
present in practically every country of 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”. The linguist
also continues by arguing that to the average person in Europe or the USA bilingualism,
which is the regular use of two or more languages, is a rather special language
phenomenon restricted to a few countries such as Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, in
which every citizen is bilingual. This average person would claim that very few people
in the world are bilingual or multilingual, the majority being monolingual. However, if
a citizen of an African or Asian state is asked, the answer will be that bilingualism is the
norm – most people speak two or more languages, and the greatest part of the world’s
population is bilingual or multilingual.
Bilingualism provides a set of varied patterns. In regions which are on the border
of two language groups (the Spanish-speaking Mexico and the English-speaking USA),
economic factors lead many people to speak both languages regularly. Bilingualism is
also present in specific areas of some countries where linguistic minorities are
concentrated (most users of Welsh speak English).
Bilingualism is also typical of some occupations. For example, most workers
employed in constructions in Switzerland have come from Italy and, in addition to their
mother tongue, they also speak French or German. The same can be said about the aged-
care system in Italy, in which Romanian and Russian speakers are mostly employed.
However, the host country does very little to help these immigrants integrate into the
society. In fact, the authorities carry out an official policy of discouraging them from
settling down. There is a saying that perfectly describes the problem of these immigrant
workers: “They called for labour, but human beings arrived.”
Bilingualism may also depend on the social class, as it was described by Tolstoy
in War and Peace – the aristocracy of Russia used to be bilingual in Russian and French.
Five to eight thousand different ethnic groups reside in approximately 160 nation
states. Moreover, scholars estimate that there are over 5 000 distinct languages spoken
in that same small number of nation states. What is evident from these figures is that
few nations are either monolingual or mono-ethnic. Each of the world's nations has
groups of individuals living within its borders who use other languages in addition to
the national language to function in their everyday lives. Furthermore, even so-called
monolinguals also routinely switch from one language variety – a regional dialect, the
standard language, a specialised technical register, a formal or informal style, - to
another in the course of their daily interactions. According to some influential linguists,
a multilingual’s ability to move from one language to another as the occasion demands
is but an extension of the monolingual’s capacity to shift registers and styles.
Although not all the languages are equal numerically or equally distributed
geographically, most countries house more than one language. So, for example,
Switzerland houses Swiss German, French, Italian and Romansh, India is the home of
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200 languages, Russia – of about 130 languages. This kind of language concentration
will eventually lead to bilingualism.
People may become bilingual either by acquiring two languages at the same time
in childhood or by learning a second language sometime after acquiring their first
language.
Many bilingual people grow up speaking two languages. Such people are often
the children of immigrants; these children grow up speaking their parents' native
language in their childhood home while speaking English at school. Many bilinguals,
however, are not immigrants; it is not uncommon for people born in the USA to speak
English at school or work and another language at home. Children can also become
bilingual if their parents speak more than one language to them, or if some other
significant person in their life (such as a grandparent or nanny) speaks to them
consistently in another language. Sometimes a child will grow up in a household in
which each parent speaks a different language; in that case, the child may learn to speak
to each parent in that parent's language. In short, a young child who is regularly exposed
to two languages from an early age will most likely become a fluent native speaker of
both languages. The exposure must involve interaction. In some countries, nearly
everybody is bilingual or multilingual. In parts of India, for example, a small child
usually knows several languages. In many European countries, children are encouraged
to learn a second language — typically English. In fact, the USA is quite unusual among
the countries of the world in that many of its citizens speak only English, and they are
rarely encouraged to become fluent in any other language.
The terms bilingualism and multilingualism have been used interchangeably in
the literature to refer to the knowledge or use of more than one language by an individual
or a community. Bilingualism and multilingualism can be, and have been, studied both
as individual and societal phenomena. When they are viewed as individual phenomena,
issues such as how one acquires two or more languages in childhood or later, how these
languages are represented in the mind, and how they are accessed for speaking and
writing and for comprehension become central. When they are viewed as societal
phenomena, one is concerned with their institutional dimensions, that is, with issues
such as the status and the roles of the languages in a given society, attitudes towards
languages, determinants of language choice, the symbolic and practical uses of
languages, and the correlations between language use and social factors such as
ethnicity, religion, and class.
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing
two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all
correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said
languages. It is distinct from personal bilingualism, the capacity of a person to speak
two languages.

5.2. Theories on Bilingualism. Bilingual Competence

The question of how to define bilingualism or multilingualism has engaged
researchers for a very long time. Some researchers have favoured a narrow definition of
bilingualism and argued that only those individuals who are very close to two
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monolinguals in one should be considered bilingual. More recently, however,
researchers who study bilingual and multilingual communities around the world have
argued for a broad definition that views bilingualism as a common human condition that
makes it possible for an individual to function, at some level, in more than one language.
The key to this very broad and inclusive definition of bilingualism is 'more than one'.
People used to be considered bilingual if they were fluent speakers of both
languages, with equal abilities in each; however, in reality this is hardly ever the case.
A more current definition encompasses the following:
• the ability to produce meaningful utterances in two (or more) languages,
• the command of at least one language skill (reading, writing, speaking, listening)
in another language,
• the alternate use of several languages.
Bilinguals acquire and use their languages for different purposes, in different
domains in life, with different people. It is precisely because the needs and uses of the
languages are usually quite different that bilinguals rarely develop equal fluencies in
their language. Previously bilinguals were evaluated in terms of the fluency and balance
they had in each of their two languages; i.e. they were appraised in terms of monolingual
standards (proficiency measures).
According to Francois Grosjean, researchers currently view the bilingual not as
the sum of two complete or incomplete monolinguals, but rather as a specific and fully
competent speaker‐hearer who has developed a communicative competence that is
equal, but different in nature, to that of the monolingual. From the perspective of this
framework, a bilingual individual is not necessarily an individual with native
competence in two languages. Some bilinguals possess very high levels of proficiency
in both languages in the written and the oral modes. Others display varying proficiencies
in comprehension and/or speaking skills depending on the immediate area of experience
in which they are called upon to use their two languages.
According to this perspective, one admits into the company of bilingual’s
individuals who can, to whatever degree, comprehend or produce written or spoken
utterances in more than one language. Thus, persons able to read in a second language
but unable to function in the spoken language are considered to be bilinguals of a certain
type and placed at one end of the continuum. Such persons are said to have receptive
competence in a second language and to be 'more bilingual' than monolinguals who have
neither receptive nor productive abilities in a language other than their first. The
judgment here is comparative: total monolingualism versus a minor degree of ability to
comprehend a second language.
The reasons that bring languages into contact and hence foster bilingualism are
many: migrations of various kinds (economic, educational, political, religious),
nationalism and federalism, education and culture, trade and commerce, intermarriage,
etc. These factors create various linguistic needs in people who are in contact with two
or more languages and who develop competencies in their languages to the extent
required by these needs. In contact situations it is rare that all facets of life require the
same language (people would not be bilingual if that were so) or that they always
demand two languages (language A and B at work, at home, with friends, etc.). This
leads to the complementary principle which Francois Grosjean defined as follows:
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"Bilinguals usually acquire and use their languages for different purposes, in different
domains of life, with different people. Different aspects of life normally require different
languages." It is precisely because the needs and uses of the languages are usually quite
different that bilinguals rarely develop equal and total fluency in their languages. The
level of fluency attained in a language (more precisely, in a language skill) will depend
on the need for that language and will be domain specific.
In describing the bilingualism of an individual, one should take into consideration
the internal functions. Bilinguals usually prefer one language for functions such as
counting, doing mathematics, dreaming, praying silently. Another useful way to
describe bilinguals is by considering the external functions that is what a person can do
– read, carry on an informal conversation, give a lecture, translate.
Researchers concerned about the age of acquisition of bilingualism classify
bilingual individuals as either early or late bilinguals and further subdivide early
bilinguals into simultaneous bilinguals (those who acquired two languages
simultaneously as a first language) or sequential bilinguals (those who acquired the
second language (L2) after the first language (L1) was acquired). Researchers, on the
other hand, concerned about the differences between persons who choose to study a
second language and those who grow up in communities where several languages are
spoken have used the terms elite, academic, and elective bilinguals for the former and
natural, folk, and circumstantial bilinguals for the latter.
Given the existence of different languages in the repertoire of a society or of a
multilingual individual, the answer to the question concerning how and when the
languages are used becomes of major importance for a sociolinguist. A useful approach
is by domains (location, a set of relationships, and a set of topics) rather than functions.
A domain is an empirically determined cluster consisting of a location, a set of relations
and a set of topics. Just as this notion was useful for identifying the use of registers, so
it is useful for considering bilingualism. For each of the domains a bilingual is likely to
have a preferred language. Domains, according to J. A. Fishman, explore who speaks
what language to whom and when in those speech communities that are characterised
by widespread and relatively stable multilingualism. Language choice is discussed in
terms of the following domains: the family, the playground and street, the school, the
church, literature, the press, the army, the courts and governmental administration.
Bilinguals have a set of domain-related rules of language choice. The home-
school or the home-work switch is probably the most common, with one language
learned at home from parents and the second learned at school and used at work. When
there is a language shift in progress, certain traditional domains can be preferred in the
use of one language. In his study of Puerto Ricans in New Jersey, Fishman noted strong
Spanish maintenance at home, in the neighbourhood and church, and strong English
usage at school and at work.
Because domains are composite concepts (made up of distinct domains), there is
a possibility of conflict and therefore marked choice between languages. Thus, two
people who normally speak the standard language at work might use their home
language to signal either a change of role-relations (family members or friends rather
than co-workers) or topic (a home or neighbourhood topic) while still being in the same
location.
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 We have described the performance or the language use of a bilingual. The
description makes clear why it is rare to find equal ability in both languages. Imagine a
bilingual immigrant who grew up speaking Language A, but was educated formally in
Language B. Such a person might well have all the conversational skills in Language A,
but be quite weak at dealing with academic matters in it. Misunderstanding of this
possible difference in competence often leads to educational problems: teachers might
assume, for instance, that a child who has reasonable conversational ability also has the
full basis for academic work in the language.
The nature of bilingual competence is a topic of considerable interest and
importance for the psycholinguist as well as the sociolinguist. How are the two
languages organized in the bilingual brain? To answer this question, The New
Encyclopaedia Britannica identifies two main types of bilinguals:
a) Coordinate bilinguals: 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 bilinguals: 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.
Oversimplifying, coordinate bilinguals were assumed to have two meaning
systems each with its own set of words, while compounds had a single system with two
sets of words. For compound bilinguals, words and phrases in different languages are
the same concepts. That means, a 'chien' and a 'dog' are two words for the same concept
for a French-English speaker of this type. These speakers are usually fluent in both
languages. For coordinate bilinguals, words and phrases in the speaker's mind are all
related to their own unique concepts. That means, a bilingual speaker of this type has
different associations for ‘chien’ and for 'dog'. In these individuals, one language,
usually the first language, is more dominant than the other, and the first language may
be used to think through the second language. These speakers are known to use very
different intonation and pronunciation features, and not seldom assert the feeling of
having different personalities attached to each of their languages.
The problem that a compound bilingual would face is that the two words in fact
refer to a different set of concepts. Underlying this is the question of whether for the
bilingual the knowledge of the two languages develops independently or together. The
notion of domain difference suggests the different kinds of experiences most bilinguals
have in each of the two languages, implying a common core of knowledge with
subsequent differentiation.
The phenomenon of linguistic interference, especially when it involves using the
two languages together, has led to the study of code switching.
5.3. Bilingual Behaviour
The phenomenon of bilingualism is the prime example of language contact, for
the two languages are in contact in the bilingual. This contact can lead to interference,
which occurs in a case where a speaker consciously or unintentionally brings in
pronunciation, sentence formation and vocabulary of the source language while using a
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target language. A compound bilingual who has learned the meaning of words in another
language by attaching them to the words of his or her first language demonstrates
semantic interference. There can be interference in all aspects of languages from sound
systems (having an accent) to conversational rules (interrupting or saying please –
poftim), especially when the two languages are closer in their phonological, syntactic
and morphological features.
Code-switching means moving from one code (language, dialect, or style) to
another during speech for a number of reasons such as signalling solidarity, reflecting
one's ethnic identity, showing off, hiding some information from a third party, achieving
better explanation of a certain concept, converging or reducing social distance with the
hearer, diverging or increasing social distance or impressing and persuading the
audience (metaphorical code-switching)
Bilinguals often switch between their two languages in the middle of a
conversation. These code-switches can take place between or even within sentences,
involving phrases or words or even parts of the words. The switching of words is the
beginning of borrowing, which occurs when the new word becomes more or less
integrated into the second language. One bilingual individual using a word from
language A in language B is a case of switching, but when many people do, even
speakers of language B who do not know language A are likely to pick it up. At this
stage, especially if the pronunciation and morphology have been adapted, we can say
the word has been borrowed.
There are various kinds of code switching. Immigrants often use many words from
their new language in their old language, because many of the people they speak to know
both languages. In situations like this, bilinguals often develop a mixed code. In such a
case, we should distinguish between code switching of the two languages and the mixed
variety. The history of the English language shows many such mixed codes, at first
Danish and later Norman words were added by bilinguals. The various contemporary
Englishes, such as Jamaican English and New Zealand English, can be seen as mixed
codes, with the addition of local lexicon as their most obvious feature.
For a bilingual, switching for convenience is commonly related to topic. Thus,
speakers of a language who have received advanced education in a professional field in
a second language will usually not have the terms in their native language. Scientists
trained in an English-speaking country giving university lectures in their own language
often mix English words or even switch to English phrases and sentences.
It is important to note that each of a bilingual’s language is likely to be associated
not just with topics and places, but also with identities and roles associated with them.
In the middle of speaking about work matters in language A sentence or two in language
B will be able to show that the two speakers are not just fellow-employees but also
fellow-members of an ethnic group. The use of tags and expressions from language B
while speaking language A enables a speaker to make this kind of identity claim easily.
This kind of shift, called metaphorical switching, is a powerful mechanism for signalling
social attitudes or solidarity.
The selection of a language by a bilingual, especially when speaking to another
bilingual, carries much social meaning. Code mixing and code switching serve the same
functions, the most prominent one being identity marking. A speaker may use a
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particular code to signal a specific type of identity, for example, English or French for
modernity, sophistication or authority in many parts of the world; Sanskrit for
nationalistic and traditionalistic image in India; Arabic and Persian for Islamic identity.
Mixing can be employed as a strategy of neutrality, for stylistic function etc.
Code mixing has been regarded negatively by teachers and even by speakers
themselves. It is viewed as a sign of laziness or mental sloppiness and inadequate
command of language. It has been claimed to be detrimental to the health of the
language. These attitudes distort and devalue many aspects of multilingual behaviour.
Recent research has demonstrated that code mixing is quite common in multilingual
societies around the world and is often used by speakers who are highly proficient in all
the languages being mixed.
Language shift occurs when the language of the wider society (majority)
displaces the minority mother tongue language over time in migrant communities or in
communities under military occupation. Therefore, when language shift occurs, it shifts
towards the language of the dominant group, and the result could be the eradication of
the local language. Shifting can be the result of various factors:
a) Economic, social and political factor
✓ The dominant language is associated with social status and prestige;
✓ Obtaining work is the obvious economic reason for learning another
language;
✓ The pressure of institutional domains such as schools and the media;
b) Demographic factors
✓ Language shift is faster in urban areas than rural;
✓ The size of the group is sometimes a critical factor;
✓ Intermarriage between groups can accelerate language shift.
Language shift is slower among communities where the minority language is
highly valued, therefore when the language is seen as an important symbol of ethnic
identity it is generally maintained longer, and vice versa.
When all the people who speak a language die, the language dies with them.
With the spread of a majority group language into more and more domains, the
number of contexts in which individuals use the ethnic language diminishes. The
language usually retreats until it is used only in the home, and finally it is restricted to
such personal activities as counting, praying and dreaming.
Linguists have noticed that languages are in danger of becoming extinct and for
some time have been studying language loyalty, the ability or lack of it of speakers of a
language to stand up to the pressure of more powerful languages. They have expressed
distress at the threatened fate of endangered languages, languages that are no longer
passed on to children as native languages, but are spoken by aging groups of adults.
One early major study looked at what happened to the immigrant and native
languages of the USA when faced with the powerful English. Most immigrant American
languages slowly began to disappear as younger speakers shifted to English not just in
the public domains, but also in their community and home. Some factors appeared to
speed up the process or to slow it down. The greatest resistance to language shift was
found in groups that chose to isolate themselves both linguistically and culturally from
the mainstream. In these cases, the isolation was self-imposed.
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 A second group that maintained their languages were those who were segregated
and isolated by the outside society. The most eloquent cases were the Native Americans
and the various Spanish speaking native and immigrant groups. When they were denied
access to jobs, housing and education, they were at the same time cut off from the easy
access to the English that was assumed to be the way to assimilation.
Language shift has been studied in many parts of the world. There are groups that
have worked to reverse the seemingly inevitable language shift that occurs when small
weak languages come into contact with large powerful languages used and favoured by
the majority or dominant group. There have been many attempts to correct this loss of
linguistic diversity. A commonly cited case is the national effort to revive the use of
Irish in Ireland, a nationalistically inspired and state-supported initiative to preserve Irish
in the western areas where it was still spoken, and to teach it through the schools in the
other areas where there were few speakers left. In the English-speaking areas students
continue to learn Irish at school, but to use it very little outside school or afterwards.
Even in the western areas, there has been a continued loss, largely because of the failure
to combine social and economic planning with linguistic planning. At first, the
continuing poverty of the area led Irish speakers to move away to the cities or emigrate,
in both cases switching to English; later economic development plans brought in English
speakers looking for jobs. More successful was the revitalisation of Hebrew, a strong
ideologically based process realised between 1890 and 1914, mainly in the Ottoman
Palestine, by returning Zionists who were looking to build a new nation using an old
language. In agricultural settlements, in new towns like Tel Aviv, and in communal
settlements, Hebrew was revitalised. It had the component of vitality or natural
intergenerational transmission restored after some 1700 years during which it had only
been learned as an additional language. There was a success in establishing Modern
Hebrew as the language used for all purposes in Israel today because of a well-planned
combination of social, economic and linguistic approach.
Activities aimed at reversing language shift are sometimes private and small but
often public and political. The efforts to save the French language, the culture and
identity in Quebec threaten to divide the province from the rest of Canada. In Spain, the
post-Franco policy of granting semi-autonomy to the regions has led to strong-
government-supported campaigns for Basque and Catalan. In the Baltic States, the
collapse of the Soviet Union has permitted the restoration of the power of Estonian,
Latvian and Lithuanian.
Why does multilingualism and language contact entail so much emotional
reaction? The answer lies not in the practical communicative realm, but in the symbolic
function of languages and varieties. One of the most common ways of identifying a
person is by his or her language.
There are a number of ways by which a language can be maintained and
preserved:
✓ When a language is highly valued as an important symbol of ethnic identity
for the minority group;
✓ If families from a minority group live near each other and see each other
frequently, thus interacting;

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 ✓ For emigrate individuals from a minority group, the degree and frequency
of contact with the homeland can contribute to language maintenance;
✓ Ensuring that the minority group language is used at formal settings such
as schools or worship places will increase language maintenance;
✓ Institutional support from domains such as education, law, administration,
religion and the media can make a difference between the success and failure of
maintaining a minority group language.
Language revival occurs when a community becomes aware that its language is
in danger of disappearing and takes steps to revitalises it.
In 1840, two thirds of the Welsh people spoke Welsh, but by 1980, only 20% of
the population spoke Welsh, therefore the Welsh people began a revival process of
Welsh language by using a Welsh-language TV channel and bilingual education
programs that used Welsh as medium of instruction at schools.

Questions for Discussion:

5.1.
5.1.1. Describe the situation of bilingualism in the world.
5.1.2 Classify the bilinguals according to age and differences between people who
study a second language.
5.1.3 Suggest arguments in favour of becoming a bilingual.

5.2.
5.2.1 Define the bilingual’s competence. Describe the nature of bilingual
competence in accordance with the New Encyclopaedia Britannica.
5.2.2 Determine the reasons that bring languages into contact and foster
bilingualism.
5.2.3
a) Specify the connection between domains and bilingualism. Give examples.
b) Appreciate the role of linguistic interference in bilingualism.

5.3.
5.3.1
a) Define the concept of linguistic interference. Give examples of Romanian
interference in English.
b) Describe the processes of code switching and code mixing.
5.3.2 Comment on the concept of identity marking as the most prominent function
of code mixing and code switching.
5.3.3
a) Evaluate your colleagues’ code mixing and comment on your teachers’ attitude
towards this.
b) Express your attitude towards the process of language shift analysing the
factors that cause it.