 The Effects of bilingualism will have felt

negative effects from being bilingual, seems

to reflect a widespread attitude towards
bilingualism in the Western world.
 First, The subject that a person who is
permanently In contact with two tongues
does not speak either of them correctly.
 Second, there is interference with
concentrated and able use of one language.
 E.g. French is not the only languages in
French ( they are also speakers of Breton,
Basque, Dutch, German, Arabic etc)
 According to Vildomec’s sample there were
also subjects who reported possitive effects
of bilingualism e,g, widening of horizon,
increase of mental alertness and improved
grasp of the relative of all things. Both
positive and negative view on the
consequences of bilingualism for the
individual have been supported by research.
Language Contact
 A situation that arises when
 two or more languages are spoken in the same or
adjoining regions
 And
 when there is a high degree of communication
between the people speaking them
 Can result in
 Language loss or even language death
 Bi- / multilingualism
 Language change
 Bilingualism
(Multilingualism)
 Individual Bilingualism – the use of two (or more)
languages by an individual
 E.g., an individual who speaks both English and Spanish
as described by many of the informants in the Hinton
article
 Societal Bilingualism – the use of two (or more)
languages within a given community
 E.g., the bilingual setting in India, Canada, Switzerland,
Malaysia, etc.
Societal Bilingualism

 Identify a community here in California that

you are familiar with.

 From your impressions, what languages are

used? In what domains?
Describing Individual
Bilingualism & Multilingualism
 The term ‘bilingualism’ may mean different
things to different people.
 To the average person, bilingualism can be loosely
defined as:
 the use of two languages or
 the native-like control of two languages.
What it means to be bilingual …
 75% of the world’s population speak two or more
languages.
 Not all bilinguals speak two languages at the same
level.
 By the age of 2.5, a bilingual child begins to make
choices in language use, usually the majority language.
 Parents who want their children to retain their heritage
language must work at it.
 In the U.S. immigrants are strongly urged to assimilate
and discourages from retaining their heritage
language.
 That is a national loss.
Describing Individual
Bilingualism
 Bilingualism has often been defined in terms of
language competence. But a definition of
bilingualism must also account for the impact of
social, psychological and cultural variables on
the bilingual individual.
 How did you (or someone you know) become
bilingual?
 What is your (their) proficiency in each language?
 When do you (they) use each language?
 Describing Bilingualism &
Multilingualism

 Is someone bilingual who:

 has a slight non-native accent in one or both
languages?
 makes occasional errors of syntax in one or both
languages?
 doesn’t always know the right word to use in one or
both languages?
 speaks both languages fluently but is culturally
comfortable in only one language?
Describing Bilingualism &
Multilingualism
 Five important variables in relation to
bilingualism:
1] degree of bilingualism
2] context of bilingual language acquisition
3] age of acquisition
4] domain of use of each language
5] social orientation
Degree of Bilingualism -
Definitions
 Bloomfield (1933): native-like control of two languages
(maximalist)
 Mackey (1962): the ability to use more than one language
(minimalist)
 Weinriech (1953): the practice of alternately using two
languages (minimalist)
 Haugen (1953): the point where a speaker can first produce
complete meaningful utterances in the other language
(minimalist)
 Maximalist approach: describes the ideal bilingual (not
reality)
 Macnamara (1969): need to discuss the degree of
bilingualism / competence in sub-components (LSRW)
 Degree of Bilingualism –
Balanced Bilinguals
 Individuals fully competent in both languages
(Lambert et al. 1959)
 Almost impossible to achieve (Baetens
Beardsmore 1982)
 Sociolinguistic forces demand that bilinguals
organize their languages in functionally
complementary spheres. No society needs two
languages to perform the same set of functions.
Balanced bilingualism entails the death of
bilingualism. (Fishman 1972)
Degree of Bilingualism –
Dominant Bilinguals
 Individuals who are dominant in one
language.
 Less dominant language = ‘subordinate.’
 Dominance does not apply to all domains.
 One may be dominant in the subordinate
language in some domains.
Degree of Bilingualism –
Passive / Recessive
Bilinguals
 Individuals who are gradually losing
competence in one language, usually because
of disuse.
 common among immigrant groups
 often loose productive skills while retaining
receptive skills
Degree of Bilingualism –
Semilinguals / Limited Bilinguals
 Individuals who appear to have limited proficiency
in both languages. Deficit in six language
competencies:
 size of vocabulary
 correctness of language
 unconscious processing of language (automation)
 language creation
 mastery of the functions of language (e.g., emotive,
cognitive)
 meanings and imagery
 Context of Bilingual Language
Acquisition

 Individual who are labeled as ‘limited bilinguals’

are usually from lower SES groups. Their
language proficiency is the result of their SES and
not some cognitive deficit.

 Can you think of individuals you know who might

fit into some of the categories listed above?
Context of Bilingual Language
Acquisition
 Primary context / natural bilingualism:
situations in which a child acquires both
languages in a naturalistic setting without
any structured instruction
 Secondary context / school bilingualism:
situations in which a child acquires one of the
languages in a structured setting, usually
school.
Context of Bilingual Language
Acquisition
 Naturalistic fused setting: no separation of
context for both languages; child is exposed
to both languages in the same context.
 Naturalistic separate setting: one parent, one
language model; but also applies to other
interlocutors, i.e., siblings, peers,
grandparents, etc.
Context of Bilingual Language
Acquisition
 Elective bilinguals: individuals who have
some element of choice about learning a
second language.
 Circumstantial bilinguals: individuals who
have no choice about learning a second
language; indigenous colonized or minority
groups.
 Distinction is important especially with
respect to how bilinguals are measured.
 Age of Acquisition
 Sensitive age for language learning (from Lenneberg’s 1967
‘critical period’): We have a superior language learning
capacity early in life which will disappear or decline with
maturation.
 evidence for exceptions
 no clear cut-off age
 Important references on age & acquisition:
 Birdsong, D. 1992. Ultimate attainment in second language
acquisition. Language 684: 706-755
 Birdsong, D. 2005. Interpreting age effects in second language
acquisition, In J. Kroll & A De Groot, eds., Handbook of
bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Age of Acquisition

 Possible factors:
 neurological
 aptitudes
 attitude
 identity and motivation
 nature of exposure
 What is a ‘native speaker’?
 Age of Acquisition

 Rate your competence in your first language in the

four macro skills (LSRW). Are you equally competent
in all skills? What would be considered ‘native-like’
proficiency for a learner of that language? What levels
of competence do you expect native speakers to
have?
 Who would you rule out as a native speaker? What
standards of norms do you use in your assessment?
(Consider someone brought up in India or the
Philippines who speaks English as a first language.
Would you consider that person a native speaker?)
 Domains of Use

 Domains: the different spheres of influence in a

speaker’s life –
 Family
 Friendship
 Religion
 Education
 Employment
 etc.
Domains of Use

 Interlocutors: a language relationship tends

to evolve naturally. And once established, it is
usually not easy to alter
 Place or Location: work vs. home; physical
location like neighborhoods
 Topic: language of technical discourse or
cooking, gardening, etc.
Social Orientation

 Attitudes of bilinguals toward their bilingual

status;

 Attitudes toward the larger community;

 Attitudes of the larger community toward

them and their bilingual status.
Additive vs. Subtractive
Bilingualism
 Subtractive bilingualism / differential bilingualism:
Without first language support, the learning of a
new language may entail the loss of that first
language.
 Additive bilingualism: an environment conducive
to the development of the first language as well
as the development of the second language
results in the maintenance of both.
1. LINGUISTICS AND EDUCATIONAL
ASPECTS
 To know the dealing of the influences of
bilingualism. it can be seen from the aim in
the assessment of bilingualism
 1. compare the skills bilinguals with those
monolinguals for both languages
 2. Establish the stronger and the weaker
language or the dominant or non – dominant
language of bilinguals.
The aim techniques can be
used
 First.
 - Test for different levels of language are
administrated both languages
 - Recordings of spontaneous speech are
analyzed for different linguistics variable
 - recordings of spontaneous speech are rated
by judges
Establish with bilingual’s two
languages is dominant.
 Second
 - translation tests in two languages
 - giving instructions to the bilingual in both languages and
measuring the sped of response
 - word associations (the number of associations to
translated stimulus words in both language)
 - presenting statements in two languages and asking for
true or false responses
 Presenting cognates in the two languages and recording
pronunciation
 Asking bilinguals to rate their proficiency in both
languages.
The simultaneous acquisition of two
languages

 Children raised bilingually were as proficient

in both of their languages as monolingual
children. And it can make the child
bilingualism had detrimental effects on
linguistics skill.
 The effect are :
 A. Social situation
 B. academic home environment
Degree of Linguistics & education
aspects
 Smith (1939) : bilingual children exhibited
more deviant from their speech
 Carrow (1957) : on Spanish – English children in
Texas primary schools who were compared
with the group of monolingual English
speaking students. Both groups were test in
silent reading, oral reading accuracy and
comprehension, spelling, hearing, articulatory
skills , vocabularies, and arithmetic reasoning.
 Two points must be noted in connection with
Carrow’s study ;
 1. comparisons were made only for one of
bilingual’s two languages. E.g. English considered
the main language, the language it is all about
making social prejudices regarding minority
languages quite transparent
 2. the result is negative because it simply takes
time to learn a language, and the bilingual
subjects in the studies with negative result might
not have had enough time to learn the language
well.
 Macnamara, (1966) : Bilingualism has a
detrimental effect on linguistics skills was
formulated as the balance hypothesis.
 From these data, it can be learn that ; the
development interdependent hypothesis
states that children can attain high levels of
competence in their second language of their
first language development, especially the
usage of certain functions of language
relevant to schooling and development of
vocabulary and concepts, is strongly promoted
by their environment outside of school.
2. Cognitive effects

 In review on cognitive effects of bilingualism ;

 1. Darcy (1953) ; bilinguals suffer from
language handicap when measured by verbal
test of intelligence.
 2. Peal and lambert ( 1962) ; heralded a major
shift in the academic consensus about the
relation between bilingualism and
intelligence.
 According to Peal and Lambert that the
negative findings of many of the older studies
can be explained from their methodological
weakness. The test result can be seen from
often not or insufficiently controlled for socio
economic status, sex, degree of bilingualism,
age, and the actual test used.
Developmental Theory
 The knowledge of two languages is greater than
the sum of its parts.
 Different structures in languages force more
complicated thinking
 More complicated thinking leads to more cognitive
development
 Executive Processing:
 ability to attend to or inhibit responses to stimuli
 last cognitive ability to develop in children (~5
years)
Attend Hunger Inhibit

Eat Starve
 Bilingual children have multiple ways to
express the same idea
 Depends on environment, context, etc.
 More need for executive processing
 “Is this the right way to express this?”
 Improves executive processing
 Monolingual
Example of monolingual

 .

Soccer
Bilingual

Fußball

Family
Home

Who’s
Where here? They know
am I? Friends German?

School

English Soccer
3. Effects on personality development
 Speaking two languages is a negative factor in
personality or identity development. Bilinguals are
often expected to experience a conflict of values,
identities and world views because these are probably
strongly related to the two different languages.
Bilingualism in this views can cause emotional lability
and even alienation or anomie (cf. Diebold;1986)
 Bilingualism may have detrimental effects on
personality development, but only when social
conditions are unfavorable.
 Bilingualism is not a casual , but only an intervening
variable, mediating the influence of social factors.