1.
Language
“Humans’ distinctive ability of communication
is called a language.”
Wikipedia says “Language is the ability to
acquire and use complex system of communication.”
Communication is the purposeful activity of
information exchange between two or more participants in order to convey or receive
the intended meanings through a shared system of signs and semiotic rules.
Humans and animals both communicate to each
other but humans are most sophisticated in this process because they have the
shared system of communication of “language”. Language could be written and
oral.
1.
Linguistics
“It is the scientific study of language.”
In linguistics, language is studied from
different perspectives.
How did it come into existence?
How does it vary?
What are its dialects? Why do people speak its
different dialects?
How did it change over the time?
Why do people speak differently in different
situations?
Like this and many more questions regarding
language are answer by linguistics.
2.
Branches of
Linguistics
Linguistics, broadly, has following three
branches.
I.
Historical
Linguistics
II.
Descriptive
Linguistics
III.
Sociolinguistics
3.1.Historical Linguistics
“It is the study of how languages change over the
time”.
Examples:
1:
In chronicles it is used “Thee and Thy” but we simply say “You and Me”.
2:
In old English it is said Father and mother and we say “Mom and Dad”.
It
is very difficult field because it is not only restricted to find changes in written
language but it goes way back in time “seeking to understand language before
the time of writing”.
3.2.Descriptive Linguistics
It
is also called the “Structural Linguistics”. “It is the study of how languages
are constructed”. It describes the differing structures within languages.
Examples:
An
American will say “Jessica” a Dutch will call it “Yessica”.
American
will say “Merijam” as “Merijam” but Dutch will say it “Merriam”
3.3.Sociolinguists
“Study of language in relation to society”
“Study
of cultural pattern of speaking in different social contexts”.
Why
do we speak differently depending on the culture or even situation we are in?
Why
do we call our doctors “Doctor” even we see them out of their clinics but don’t
call our lawyer “Lawyer?”
Sociolinguistics
studies the our concerned phenomenon “Monolingualism and Multilingualism”
3.
Monolingualism
It
is the situation in which one can speak and understand only on language. He/she
has no “how know” of the any other language. There is possibility that whole
society could be monolingual.
4.
Multilingualism
It
is the situation in which an individual or a society can speak and understand
more than one language.
This
situation has not been clearly defined yet. It needs to be work on. Many
linguists are studying this phenomenon and trying to find a clear understanding
of this. Here are few definitions of Multilingualism by different linguists.
“Native
like control of two languages” Bloomfield
“Speaker
of one language becomes able to produce complete, meaningful utterance in other
language” Haugen
“Ability to
produce complete and meaningful utterances in two languages” McLaughlin
As we can see
a clear difference between the definitions of the “Multilingualism”, this
phenomenon needs special attention to be clear. One thing that is clear in all
definitions that this is ability to speak more than one language. Different
“sociolinguists” has different pint of views on this “Ability of speaking”.
Some says it is native like control and some says it is ability to produce
meaningful utterance only.
Multilingualism
could be bi, try and so on.
5.
Bilingualism
“It is the
situation in which a person can speak/ understand two languages”.
It is
accepted, generally, that every society is bilingual today. Why is every
society bilingual? What are the causes for bilingualism? These questions have
been addressed in the last portions.
6.
Types of Bilingualism
There are the
following three types of bilingualism
1. Additive
Bilingualism
2. Subtractive Bilingualism
3. Receptive
Bilingualism
6.1.Additive
Bilingualism
“It is the
situation in which one individual or a group learns a language without
detracting the native language.”
In this type of
bilingualism, one individual or group of individuals learn the second language
without affecting the first language. Both languages are used and no one takes
control to the other one. Both languages take get stringer day by day.
6.2.Subtractive
Bilingualism
“It is the
situation in which one individual or group of individuals learns the second
language on the risk of losing the first.”
In this type of
bilingualism, one individual or group of individuals try to learn the second
language but the second language affects the first (may be native) language of
the speaker. Second language gets stronger and the first gets week. This may
lead to the death of the first language. Second language takes charge over the
first language.
6.3.Receptive
Bilingualism
“In this situation
one cannot speak but understand the second language.”
This happens
when a person is able to understand the second language but don’t have ability
to speak it. A Spanish, who can understand Portuguese but cannot speak, is the
example of Receptive Bilingualism.
7.
Approaches to be Bilingual
There are
three approaches to be bilingual. An individual or a group goes through any of
the following approaches to learn the second language. Every approach had its
unique process of learning the second language.
These
approaches are
1. Sequential
Bilingualism
2. Simultaneous
Bilingualism
3. Coordinate
Bilingualism
7.1.Sequential
Bilingualism
“It occurs
when someone first learns one language and then other”.
In this
approach, fist, we learn a complete language and then gets instructions in this
language to learn the other. This first language if our native language.
Example: In Pakistan,
fist we learn our native language that could be Punjabi, Urdu or any other.
After having a grip on that language we start to lean our second language
(Mostly Urdu or English).
7.2.Simultaneous
Bilingualism
“It occurs when
someone learns the two languages at the same time”.
In this
approach both language are learn at the same time and in the same environment. As
in the schools of Pakistan, it happens to learn Urdu and English
simultaneously.
7.3.Coordinate Bilingualism
“It occurs when someone learns two
languages at the same time but in different environments”.
In this approach an individual learns
two languages at the same time but in different environments. Suppose a kid
learns English in his school but their parents are Urdu speaking. He will learn
and speak English in his classroom but he will have to learn and speak Urdu at
home. This is the coordinate approach of Bilingualism.
8.
Causes of
Bilingualism
There are many causes of Bilingualism
but I’ll discuss only few here. These are
1. Migration
2. Educating and Culture
3. Border Areas
4. Religion
Migration
The movement of
people from one country to another is one of the strongest causes of
bilingualism. As Fasold (1987) illustrates, when immigrants arrive to another
country speaking their native language, thus they add their NL to the language
situation in the host country fostering bilingualism or even multilingualism.
At the same time, they learn the language of the host country, rendering
themselves into bilinguals who usually communicate with each other in their NL,
and with citizens of the host country in the language of that country.
Education and
Culture
One of the
reasons people learn or acquire a foreign language is their need for another
language that helps them in the field of education and culture. For example, if an Urdu-monolingual person
wants to know or study the culture of an English-speaking country, that person
will have to learn English first. Many students travel to other countries to
pursue their studies and thus they need to learn the languages of these
countries. For example, France ,
Germany , Britain and the United States of America
Border Areas
Every country has
geographical boundaries which are often shared by another country or countries.
The usual situation in border areas, especially if there is a direct contact
between citizens from two neighboring countries, is the creation of a group of
bilingual people from both countries. The other important point to be mentioned
here is that in locations near border areas, it is common to find people who
are citizens of one country, but they are members of a sociocultural group
based in the other. Fasold (1987) explains the reason for this by indicating
that sociocultural groups do not always select their residence area, but
sometimes it is just imposed on them. One good example among many of this
phenomenon is the presence of French-speaking people in the northeastern states
who live in the USA , but are
ethnically closer to the Canadian province
of Quebec
Religion
Another important
motive for bilingualism is religion. As pointed out by researchers, religion
may be tied to a specific language, and the spread of the religion will make
its new followers learn the language of that religion, thus enhancing
bilingualism. For instance, a lot of Muslim inhabitants from non-Arabic
speaking countries such as Iran ,
India , Pakistan , and Turkey
9.
Benefits of
Bilingualism
Scientists and researchers in
bilingualism agreed that the benefits of bilingualism can be grouped into 4
major categories: personal, cognitive, academic and societal.
Personal
Benefit
The
personal benefit of bilingualism is embodied in these two important points:
1-
The
bilingual person has an access to two different languages and cultures, and
hence to more people and resources. This definitely enriches the life
experience of the bilingual person simply because he or she will be more able
to communicate with different people than the monolingual person.
2-
As
indicated in the Bilingual Family website, when the bilingual's parents are
from two different languages and cultures, knowing the language of each parent
will give the bilingual child a sense of identity and belonging toward both
parents and members of the extended family.
The
Cognitive Benefits
The
cognitive benefit of bilingualism is represented in these two points:
1-
As
illustrated earlier in Ben-Zeev's study (1977), bilingualism in children
fosters metalinguistic awareness; children using two languages understand that
one idea can be expressed in different ways. This provides young children with
an insight into the construction and function of language. The metalinguistic
awareness is an important element in the development of the children's intellectual
abilities because when children shift from one language to another, they
compare the two languages, which helps them to see how language as a
communication system really works. This enhances conceptualization as well as
analytical and creative thinking on the part of the young children.
2-
As
suggested by many researchers and educators, bilinguals are more sensitive to
non-verbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures and tone of
voice.
Academic
Benefit
1-
As
mentioned earlier, young children who received foreign language instruction
outperformed their monolingual peers who did not receive any language teaching.
2-
As
Bialystok
3-
There
is no 'critical period' for language acquisition, as had been believed; there
is an advantageous period to learn a new language (Bialystok & Hakuta,
1999). It is easier and quicker for a three-year old child to reach an age of
appropriate command of a new language than it is for a 13-year old
teenager.
The Societal
Benefit
We
live in the age of globalization where the whole world is just like a small
village. To make this globalization possible, people should be able to speak
languages other than their native ones. Here comes the value of bilingualism
because bilingual people in a society are the ones who connect it better to the
international market. Thus bilingual knowledge is a strong asset to the
society.
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