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Language and the Mind Prof. R. Hickey SS 06 The Bilingual Speech Community

Language and the Mind Prof. R. Hickey SS 06 The Bilingual Speech Community. Kai Sauer (LN, GS). Structure. Introduction Bilingualism: societal and individual phenomenon Language differences in Europe Bill 101 vs. APEC: a dispute De facto vs. De jure bilingualism

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Language and the Mind Prof. R. Hickey SS 06 The Bilingual Speech Community

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  1. Language and the Mind Prof. R. Hickey SS 06 The Bilingual Speech Community Kai Sauer (LN, GS)

  2. Structure • Introduction • Bilingualism: societal and individual phenomenon • Language differences in Europe • Bill 101 vs. APEC: a dispute • De facto vs. De jure bilingualism • Bilingual children and their societal circumstances

  3. Bilingualism: - Popular opinion: someone who knows 2 languages fluently - we have seen, it is a relative notation - Factors other than proficiency (relative too) have to be taken into account Introduction

  4. 2. Bilingualism: societal and individual phenomenon • No separation between this bilingual terms possible • Usually more powerful groups in society force their language upon the less powerful • Example: Sami (Lapps), Romanies, Swedes have to learn Finnish but Finns do not have to learn one of these languages • Britain: British child do not have to learn Panjabi or Welch, but both these groups are expected to learn English

  5. 3. Language differences in Europe • Differences associated with distinguishable territories • Identification of national entities with linguistic integrity> heterogeneity limited to frontiers> local and peripheral Example: • Basques in Spain and France “Celtic fringe” ( British Isles and France)

  6. 25 of 36 of European countries are officially monolingualMarginalization of the languages and cultures of minority peoples> form of “internal colonialism” Political scientists+ linguists used the term “ Fourth World” to label indigenous dispossessed minority peoples who have been encapsulated within or divided across, e.g. Sami and Inuit peoples of the Arctic region

  7. Further examples- Romanies: - Equality before the law in Sweden but that means to choose between alternatives which are acceptable to Swedes- Swedes in Finland have the best legal protection of any minority group in the world- Canada: -Certain provinces are officially declared bilingual, others (like Ontario) are not

  8. 4. Quebecs Bill 101 (Canada) • Bill 101: Made French the only official language in the province - prohibits English language signs, advertisements, posters, publications to be in French - made French language of the workplace

  9. APEC (Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada • Founded by Ronald Leitch in the late 1970s • Aim: pursuading municipalities to declare themselves monolingual ( English) • Motto: ``one language units, two divide´´ • Ran advertisement in newspaper > attention to Quebec`s Bill 101 • Says: bill curtails, restricts, takes away the long-standing rights of English-speaking Quebecers • Makes non-francophones secondclass citizens (francophones 5% of population)

  10. 5. De facto vs. De jure bilingualism • Mackey (1967): ``There are fewer bilingual people in the bilingual countries than there are in the so-called unilingual countries. For it is not always realized that bilingual countries were created not to promote bilingualism, but to guarantee the maintenance and use of two or more languages in the same nation´´

  11. 6. Bilingual children and their societal circumstances • Skutnapp-Kangas (1984) • 4 groups: • elite bilinguals • children from linguistic majorities • children from bilingual families • children from linguistic minorities

  12. Elite bilinguals • In most cases had the choice to be bilingual; or avoid it • Few internal/external pressures - middle-class anglophone parents in Canada who send children to a French immersion school are under no obligation to do so - In parts of Wales parents have to send children to an English-medium school

  13. Children from linguistic majorities • Taken for granted that children will be educated in language, that is spoken at home

  14. Children from bilingual families • Similar to elite bilingualism in many instances • Children may learn both languages ( in a monolingual society) • Child experiences pressure to aquire the dominant language of society

  15. Children from linguistic minorities - external pressure (society) - also internal pressure (family), to keep the home language

  16. References Bilingualism, Susan Romaine

  17. Thank you!

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