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Introduction, Definitions and Foundations of Bilingualism in Society. Definitions. Individual bilingualism vs. societal bilingualism Language skills – highly specific, observable, clearly defined components (handwriting)
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Introduction, Definitions and Foundations of Bilingualism in Society
Definitions • Individual bilingualism vs. societal bilingualism • Language skills – highly specific, observable, clearly defined components (handwriting) • Language competence – broad general term, inner, mental representation of language, latent rather than overt-underlying system inferred from language performance
Definitions • Language performance – outward evidence for language competence • Language ability/Language proficiency – latent disposition, a determinant of eventual language success or the outcome less specific than skills, ambiguous term • Language achievement – outcome of formal instruction.
Four Language Skills • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing
Skills within Skills • Pronunciation • Vocabulary • Grammar • Pragmatics • Etc, etc, etc • Maybe 64 separate components to language proficiency (Hernandez-Chavez)
Labels • ESL • LEP • ELL
Fifth Language Competence • Language used for thinking may be a fifth area of language competence (Skutnabb-Kangas) • Inner speech • Cognitive competence of language (Cummins)
Minimal vs. Maximal Bilingualism • What is the competence necessary to be considered bilingual? • Maximal definition – native like control of two or more languages (Bloomfield) • Incipient bilingualism (Diebold) – minimal competence (tourist language)
Other Definitions • Ambilingualism • Equilingualism • Functional Bilingualism • Receptive/Passive Bilingualism • Productive/Active Bilingualism • Natural/Primary Bilingualism • Academic/Secondary Bilingualism • Incipient Bilingualism These are not mutually exclusive, you can have two classifications
Balanced Bilinguals • Idealized concept –equal competence in two languages in a reasonable competency • Problems • Balance may exist at a low level of competence in two languages – two relatively undeveloped languages • Should monolinguals and bilinguals be compared?
Semilingualism • The concept of dominance • Semilinguals are distinct from balanced and dominant bilinguals. • Definition – a person with quantitative and qualitative deficiencies in both their languages when compared with monolinguals
Semilingualism • Characteristics • Size of vocabulary • Correctness of language • Unconscious processing of language (automatism) • Language creation (neologization) • Mastery of the functions of language (emotive, cognitive) • Meanings and imagery
Semilingualism • May occur when there is a language loss and is still acquiring English, the student may appear to be low-functioning in both languages (Roseberry-McKibbin) L1 At Risk Zone L2
Conversation Fluency and Academic Language Competence • Academic related language competence – curriculum based language competence – five to seven years • Conversational competence or surface fluency – simple conversation, acquired fairly quickly • (Kangas and Toukomaa)
Use of Bilingualism • Functional bilingualism • Moves into language production across an encyclopedia of everyday events. • Concerns when, where, and with whom people use their two languages (Fishman) • See page 12 and 13
Foundations of Bilingualism in Society • Language Communities • An analysis of how groups of language speakers behave and change • It is important to examine the contact between language communities
Change and movement • With every minority and majority language there is constant change and movement • Language contact • Language communities • Language change • Language shift
Sociolinguistics Perspective • Diglossia • Language Shift • Language Maintenance • Language death • Language Spread • Language Revivial
Diglossia • Two languages in society • Each language serves a different function
Distinctions • Majority language (high) vs. minority language (low) • Prestigious Language
Language situations with the relationship to bilingualism and diglossia • Page 37 • Diglossia with and without bilingualism tends to provide a relatively stable, enduring language arrangement. But with global world language, shift is more than norm than stability.