Bilingualism

1. Bilingualism • Everybody knows what bilingual means; yet…as soon as we start trying to define the concept precisely, things get very complicated. This is not just hair splitting: if bilingualism is complex, it is because it is directly related to complex issues (Riley, 1986: 31).

2. Four Questions • What is a bilingual society? • Where are they found? • What are the functions of and attitudes toward languages in bilingual societies? • What are some bilingual strategies?

3. What is bilingualism?

4. No one speaks the whole of a language • ‘Stubs to can wall penetration welds’ are? • ‘Injury and tort’ • A ‘treble top’

5. The fact that we cannot compare the same individual’s abilities in two different languages is central to our discussion of bilingualism • Recognizing languages as different tools • There are many definitions • None is satisfactory

6. One • The mastery of two or more languages—bilingualism or multilingualism—is a special skill. Bilingualism and multilingualism are relative terms since individuals vary greatly in types and degrees of language proficiency (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1965).

7. Two • Bilingualism is native-like control of two languages…Of course, one cannot define a degree of perfection at which a good foreign speaker becomes a bilingual: the distinction is relative (L. Bloomfield, 1933).

8. Three • Bilingualism is understood…to begin at the point where the speaker of one language can produce complete, meaningful utterances in the other language (E. Haugen, 1953)

9. Two Issues • Bilingual individuals are part of a society--contact between speakers • The relative nature of bilingualism--degrees of bilingualism

10. Relative competence versusrelative use. • He speaks Swedish and Italian equally well. Versus • He speaks Swedish and Italian everyday.

11. Where can we find bilingual societies? • Where there is contact between linguistic groups: ---political, economic (Examples: Mexico, USA) • Historical and political changes:---changing borders, (example: Alsace, France) • Widespread bilingualism: Swahili, Tanzania

12. Monolingual and bilingual countries • Half the population • Contradicts unilingualism absolute link to national and individual identity • Official bilingualism does not indicate high percentage of bilinguals and vise versa. • Examples: France and Tanzania versus Canada and Belgian

13. What are the functions of and attitudes toward languages in bilingual societies? • Diaglossia: (Ferguson , 1959) Refers to circumstances where each language is systematically employed in certain domains and events. --- high form and low form ----urban (Madina, Ghana) or rural (New Guinea) ---trades and occupations

14. Example of Diaglossia: Paraguay • Two languages spoken: Spanish and Guarani • Choice of language determined by context

15. Joan Rubin’s four contextual factors: 1. Location of interaction 2. Degree of formality 3. Degree of intimacy 4. Seriousness of discourse

16. Decline of Indigenous languages in bilingual communities Chorti Maya (Mexico) • Proximity to dominant language • Political and economic factors • Upward social mobility

17. Language and historical events: • Which historical events have contributed to the disappearance of north American Indigenous languages? • Language transformation, changes in attitudes and practices, adjusting to other languages, overtime language shifts

18. Power struggles and language death • Equally in multicultural as well as in small-scale societies (Australia versus Yimas village) • Example one: Hungarian language in Austria ---peasant life versus modern life ---positive versus negative social meanings

19. Strategies utilized by Bilinguals • Code switching and code mixing • Code switching:When bilinguals integrate linguistic resources from two languages within the same discourse segment, this strategy has a number of linguistic and interactional functions

20. Code Switching: integration of linguistic resources from two languages within the same segment • to express a more precise meaning--i.e.Mohawk:“Then I woke up Sunday Morning.”“She turned sixty-five in July.” • to compensate for memory lapses. I.e. Necesito un string para la kite (I need a string for the kite)

21. As an attention-getting deviceNow let me do it. Put your feet down. MiraTo express social valueSociety hii aisii hai“The society is like that.”

22. Code Mixing • Is a linguistic process that incorporates material from a second language in a base language: morphological markers. To watch TV: Watchando Television

23. Language Death • Typically based on economic and political imperatives • Historical reasons: overwhelming forces • Central American case: colonialism and conquest • Assimilative policies: North America and Australia

24. Language death among the Arapaho • English associated with power • Bilingualism becomes an asset • Bilingualism gives way to monolingualism • Indigenous language loses prestige

25. Other reasons for language death • Being outnumbered: Normandy, Hungarian speakers of Austria • Negative attitudes towards local languages Tiwa opposite example • Immigration • Cultural imperialism; mass media, Hollywood

26. Summary • Bilingualism is difficult to define ----depending of the purpose of the particular language use • More than half of the population is bilingual ---monolingualism versus bilingualism • The functions of and attitudes of languages in depend on social contexts ---diaglossia: High and low form: depend on context

27. Discussion Question • What do you think is the future of most languages in the world? What can we do to prevent the death of these languages.