THE CONCEPT OF BILINGUALISM

RIJS Volume 2, Issue 9 (Sept. 2013) ISSN: 2250 – 3994

Journal of Radix International Educational and Research Consortium

1 | P a g e www.rierc.org

EXPORT INSTABILITY: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

THE CONCEPT OF BILINGUALISM

Moghgan Saiiad Mollashahi Mohammad Reza Ghaznavi

Master of Linguistics Master of Educational Technology

Farhangian University Farhangian University

Faculty of Resalat Zahedan, Iran Faculty of Motahary Zahedan, Iran

Hosseinali danesh Khaled kord

Phd Surgan Master Geography

Assistent of Professor Aligarh Muslim University

Medical Science of Zahedan, Iran Aligarh. India

ABSTRACT

Bilingualism is one of the important issues in the field of sociology of language which is dealt with by most

linguists, sociologists and policy makers. Bilingualism is a reality that is occurred in most countries at it

comprises a state which a person is trained other than his native language. The spread of globalization and

in increasing global interdependence and mass communication often requires the ability to function in more

than one language. Bilingualism, whether in civilized or in traditional form, raised issues for educational

system which a scrutinized and comprehensive study is requires to be responded to. The advocates of

educating bilingualism believe that literacy in the local language must be occurred before learning a second

language. They think it makes children become literate in basic subjects in the own language and they

should learn their native language before being taught in English.

The ways to become a bilingual one is in the following ways: natural methods, educational methods,

gaining in everyday life and academic learning. Bilingualism is classified into different types by many

linguists based on starting with bilingualism and the ability and the amount of language proficiency

(Bateni, 1990).

A Journal of Radix International Educational and

Research Consortium

RIJS

RADIX INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCE




According to the study performed by Cummins, the progress in second language education depends on the

progress in native language education. Those of the native language literacy skills that one learns is

transmitted to other languages. In other words, other literacy skills and strategies of thinking is

unconsciously transmitted to the second language (Arefi, 2003).

Linguistic and cultural differences should not be considered as “ the problems which should be resolved”;

instead, all the aspects must be comprehensively paid attention to and the intellectual, cultural and

linguistic resources must be considered that how they are brought in our school and the community we are

living in. if so, then our intellectual, linguistic and cultural capitals in our community will be increasingly

developed.

Since the native language education is the most basic right of every ethnic and minority, then the issue of

accreditation for its education system, feelings of deprivation and discrimination among ethnics and

minorities will be reduced.

Keywords: bilingualism, native language, interdependence, threshold hypothesis

INTRODUCTION

The phenomenon of bilingualism or multilingualism is one of the critical issues in the field of the sociology

of language which is often dealt with by most linguists, sociologists and policy makers. Bilingualism is a

broad term indicating to provide two languages in the educational system. The term refers to a simple

label for a complex phenomenon (Cazden and Snow, P. 9) in which many variables including students’

native language, the language of formal education, the linguistics of aiming program to determine the type

of training bilingualism is used. The term bilingualism can be interpreted in different ways. On the one

hand, bilingualism simply means some functions in two languages, and on the other hand, it means a high

level of proficiency in the two languages (Modares, 2004).

Students may be from the majority or minority of their native language. Student’s native language may be

used for teaching material contents, or this is not be the case. Bilingualism education programs can be

considered as increasing or decreasing depending on the students are encouraged to add it to their records

and or educate it as an alternate language to their native language as the majority one (Fanaie, 2005).

PLANNING THE PROBLEM

Today, few countries can be traced back in which at least a small portion of the population do not speak to

two or more languages. It has been estimated that there are now about four thousands different

languages. Languages are not equally distributed, some areas are virtually monolingual, while many

languages may be spoken in some other areas. Figures are indicative of conditions in which languages can

be co-existed and yet indicate that the need for bilingual education is very high and yet very complex. The

development of technology sciences, increasing rapid mobility of population, constant changes in




economic and political conditions, changing cultural horizons, hopes in humans and occurring disasters

such as war, famine and unemployment causes large groups of people are constantly changing their

habitats and choose another place to live. This requires learning another language. Alongside this type of

bilingualism which is resulted from rapid population in our time, there is another type of bilingualism

which can be called “classic” bilingualism compared with the first one, as many groups of people who

speak in different languages for historical reasons are living together for centuries. The economic and

cultural factors in these countries are has been arranged in such a way that one of the common languages

is known as the official language. However, there has been issues raised by bilingualism for educational

system, whether in the modern form or in traditional one which accurate and comprehensive studies are

need to be responded.

SIGNIFICANCE AND NECESSITY OF EDUCATING BILINGUALISM

By the advent of twenty-first century for economic, social and educational successes, having proficiency

and skill in educating just one language is not sufficient. The spread of globalization and an increasing

global interdependence and mass communication often requires the ability to function in more than one

language. One aspect of globalization which is so important in terms of education experts is the increasing

migration from one country to another.

There are many causes that people are forced to migrate: to achieve better economic conditions, the need

for labor force in countries with lower birth rates, conflicts and mass repression or local disasters, as well

as European Union independence causes economically to workers and their families are easily moved

between member countries (Amirghasemi, 2005).

The fact that the rapid movement between countries made more easier the population movement,

linguistic, cultural, religious and “ racial” diversity is the consequences of population displacement. This

requires a lot of adjustments, including linguistic adjustment, that is learning another language. According

to a census reported in 2000, there are more than 7.9 million children ages 5-17 years old in the Unites

States that speak a language other than English at home. The language of these children is in minority

which the fastest growing was occurred in the part of population in school ages. The population of

language minority in children has been increased between 1990 and 2000, while the children live in homes

only English was spoken and the growth rate was only 11 percent (Esfandabad, Emamipour, 2003).

THE CONCEPT OF BILINGUALISM EDUCATION

What does exactly mean by bilingualism? The term bilingualism has different meaning for different people.

Therefore, the definition of bilingualism is not so simple and while various definitions are made by

linguists, not easily one of them can be selected as a complete and comprehensive definition(Modares,

2004).




Bilingualism is a phenomenon existed in most countries and it is a state which a person is trained in a

language other than their native language. According to the definition of free encyclopedia of Wikipedia,

bilingualism education comprises teaching most subjects in schools through two different languages.

According to the definition of Heidi Mease, bilingualism education is a form of education in which

information is offered to students in two ( or more than two) languages. Technically, any educational

system in which more than one language is used is called bilingual. This meabs that many (not often)

school curricula are bilingual; at least in the literal sense of the word, different school curricula is rated

differently in terms of being “ bilingual”. Opponents of bilingualism education argue that this type of

training is costly and ineffective. While, the advocates of bilingualism education maintain that education

other language (e.g. English, Arabic, etc) along the native language and learning English language in a more

organic and effective manner causes improving skills in both languages in students. A children who is not

taught in different language in an academic environment will feel ashamed of using his native language

and will consequently be more mentally passive and receptive.

THE HISTORY OF BILINGUALISM EDUCATION IN AMERICA:

In America, beginning in 1839, adopting bilingualism education rule was introduced in Ohio state and

parents requested German language be taught alongside teaching English language.

It was enacted in Louisiana an identical provision for French and English education was applied in 1874

and the New Mexico territory did so for Spanish and English in 1850.

By the of the 19th century, about a dozen states had passed similar laws. Elsewhere, many localities

provided bilingual instruction without state sanction in languages as diverse as Norwegian, Italian, polish,

Czech, and Cherokee.

According to an enrollment surveys at the turn of the 20th century, it was reported that at least 600,000

primary school students (public and parochial) were registered in schools which bilingualism was taught.

Almost 40% of American children registered in elementary grades were received all or part of their

instruction in the German language which was larger than the percentage of students enrolled in Spanish-

English programs today.(until recently, Germany was the dominant minority language). However, it was

transferred to later eras during world war.

Fears about the loyalty of non-English speakers in general, and of German American in particular ,

prompted a majority of states to enact English-only instruction laws designed to "Americanize" these

groups. Some went so far as to ban the study of foreign languages in the early grades – a restriction that

was struck down as unconstitutional in 1923. Nonetheless, in the midst of 1920s, bilingual schooling was

dismantled throughout the country.

Peal and Lambert released the results of their studies in the United States in 1962 in which bilingual and

monolingual children were compared with different sizes of IQ and academic success. They found




surprising results in the field of psychology: in a community whose people speak the language of the

majority have a linguistically and mentally better performance compared to those who speak in minority

language. They claimed that bilingual children have lower intelligence. Even in many cases, the

performance of bilingual children was lower than the average group performance compared to

monolingual children. The result obtained on North America was especially in contrast to that of many

psychologists who considered it as something vulgar (Bateni, 1990).

In March 1969, the Ministry of Health, Education, and Welfare of the United States published its final

report on the interpretation of bilingual education in action. Their findings were as follows:

The results of the research indicate that bilingual children's intelligence and their grades in many cases is

lower than those of the monolingual group and bilingual people have two different cultures oriented to

being experienced in confusion and repression which attributes them to move from the local cultural

environment to the educational one with a lack of facilities and areas of particular value. The findings

achieved by Pill and Lambert was in contradiction and conflict with the recommended studies and they

maintained that there is no detrimental effects on bilingualism and even in some cases was also associated

with learning. This study causes an interest to examine bilingualism among psychologist and mentors and

also a beginning to establish bilingual educational curricula in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Another oppressor of the government concerning bilingualism education were the white people. According

to the opinions of Bobo James and Kleugal Awrence, actual theories indicate that Actual theories that

white Americans are trying to protect their interests and groups and it is consequently likely unlikely that

they support policies that are not benefitted from and may actually cost to them, even if it is an affirmation

of racial and ethnic equality.

Firstly, the Anglo-Saxon fears that they are being threatened to raise more property on tax and secondly

the Anglo-Saxon are threatened that their students are taught in public schools and maintained that

bilingualism education takes their initiatives away from English language students.

The first state in which bilingual education was Massachusetts started in 1971. Alba Ambert and Sarah, two

bilingual education experts, have said that under the new rules it is necessary that the time when the

number of students with similar language are twenty or more than it, the school should establish a

bilingual education program. This program is designed for bilingual students as a transfer to English

classroom. The students are involved in the law that are went into the mainstream of education. Also, the

students with special needs are justified to continue in this program for a longer period of time. According

to The Supreme Court ruling in 1974, children who cannot speak English should be provided with special

helps by schools including the minority children who are rejected for being limited in fluent English

speaking.

The process of bilingual education is continued in most states including learning the local language until

the child gain English language speaking with difficulty to the time of full mastery of the English language.




The advocates of bilingualism education maintain that literacy in the local language must be occurred

before learning a second language. They believe that these programs cause children become so literate in

basic subjects in their own language and learn them before being taught in English (Heidi Mease, 1998).

THE WAYS TO BECOME A BILINGUAL PERSON

1. Natural method: in this case, the person lives in a bilingual community or family from puberty or

during their growth and benefitted from the two languages without any formal education and as a result,

achieves the ability to understand and communication functions in both languages.

Based on the theoretical perspectives and research findings, if a person is placed in an environment who is

simultaneously exposed to two different languages, he is able to learn the language without any apparent

effort and the way of learning is exactly the same as learning method in a single language.

Not only is the person learnt the two systems, but makes them distinct and is able to change his speaking

from one language to another whenever it is required to and even learn so soon that there are two distinct

systems and hence becomes aware his bilingualism.

The two languages acquired in this way is so vast and this is due to the fact that the child is

comprehensively fluent in both languages. For he fully attracted the two systems and is able to think

through both of them. This provision of being bilingual is often resulted to “ similar” bilingualism. In such

cases, both languages may be treated as the native language for the person.

2. Educational method: educating second language or foreign language in national level is often led to

one’s bilingualism. This type of formal education causes some people are willingly or unwillingly become

familiar to a different language in a country and so-called becomes “bilingual”.

The communication role and function of second language in the process of bilingualism may be firstly

difficult for the learner; however, its application may be developed and specialized by the role the person

takes in the community and by developing the education level and plays a main role in the person’s social

life (Zandi, 2007).

3. Self-actualization: the third method to become a bilingual person is through self-actualization in the

second language after the childhood.

4. Academic learning: the fourth method in acquiring the second language is through academic learning

in one’s own country. This the most common way of learning a foreign language.

To distinguish between the native language and the second language, it is said that the first or native

language is the one a person’s identity is formed and he/she believes that this is one’s own, this is the

language that plays the main role in one’s personal relationships and the person makes use it to his

thinking and imaginations. Hence the first conceptions are formed in one’s mind through this language.




BILINGUALISM CLASSIFICATION

According to the attitudes of many people, bilingualism means the ability to speak and understand in two

separate languages; however, various types of bilingualism are paid attention by many linguists according

to the time when it is initiated and also language ability and fluency.

Bilingualism Classification Based on the Time of Education Initiation

1. Premature bilingualism: according to studies performed by the linguist Catherine Kohnert and studying

English-Spanish bilingual children, it seems that the lower the acquisition of the two languages, the more

better conditions for learning language.

1.1. Simultaneous Bilingualism: the child is acquired the two languages simultaneously. Kohnert says that

the problems related to language speaking will be highly decreased if the child is taught simultaneously.

1.2. Consecutive Bilingualism: teaching the second language starts after teaching the first language. It

seems that education process is more powerful in the children who are learnt the two languages

consecutively and there are scarcely seen exceptions.

2. Belated Bilingualism: in this case, the person tries to learn the second language in adulthood or after

puberty. The bilingual people are all able to speak in two different languages (Modares, 2005).

Bilingualism Classification based on Language Proficiency

Bilingualism can be classified according to various features into different rates and types. One of the main

features is the type or extent one’s skill in each two languages which is called as “ Equal Bilingualism or

Pure Bilingualism”. If the person’s amount of skill is unequal in the two languages, it will be called “Unequal

Bilingualism or Contradictory Bilingualism”.

Does learning the two languages make linguistic and verbal problems? There are not current evidences

regarding the undesirable effects of premature bilingualism on language acquisition (whether first

language or second language).

Recently performed studies indicate that premature bilingualism has some benefits. If two languages are

generally simultaneously are used in childhood, linguistic-verbal problems will probably not be occurred.

But if children are faced with the second language in pre-school years, that is when they fully acquire their

first language, there will be more probabilities to problems being occurred. Some linguists believe that if

children are faced with the second language before their first language proficiency, the first language

development will be decreased within them or may be conversed.




Some others believe that the level of second language skill is only developed the same amount of that of

the first language skill (internet).

I a child is faced with a communication problem, it will be better for him to consult with their parents who

feels comfortable with them, even this language is different from the one children use in school. However,

it must be taken into account that in there should not be change occurred in children’s natural process,

because it may cause stress to the child. Parents who are concerned about speech and language

development of their children should consult with speech therapist to have him assess their children’s

language skills.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BILINGUALISM EDUCATION

Bilingualism education is based on common sense, experiment and experience. According to what is

maintained in common sense, children will not learn their learning subjects and materials unless they

understand language structure. The documentary records of the students from language minorities

throughout centuries indicate that they have lower achievement scores and higher rates of academic

failure, and finally there is a basis for bilingual education that show how to learn language.

The research conducted by Jim Cummins of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University

of Toronto supports the basic principles of bilingual education.

He sought to explain the theoretical matrix for conceptualizing the emerging inner issues within the

bilingual education. He involved different variables such as the problems related to second language

acquisition, real differentiating learning disorder, assessment of intellectual and language skills, the effects

of bilingualism in the interaction between home and school, proper teaching forms, being encountered

with risks of students and disabled people in the nature of intellectual and linguistic skills development.

He maintains that the children whose first language skills are well-developed, second language skills are

reduced to a minimum. Cummins’s developmental interdependence theory indicate that second language

development depends on first language development. The types of literacy skills ones learn in one’s own

native language can be passed to other languages. In other words, literacy skills and strategic thinking is

unconsciously transferred to the second language (Cummins, 1984).

The students who are literate in their native language are more skilful in detecting words and this skill

makes them enabled in reading to the English language. They can understand the concepts of alphabetic

and phonetic relationships (and many of English and Spanish language speakers are the same).

They know how to read from left to right and from top to down. They are familiar with parts of speech and

words distances and know how to read and understand new words with the help of the context in which it

is used. However, it is required before anything else to be taught learning in a language to better




understand the material with. Otherwise, they do nothing except a handful of nonsense words, therefore,

bilingualism is led to better mental and linguistic performance of bilingual people.

Cummins’s threshold hypothesis indicate that in order to a child be benefitted from bilingualism, he/she

should be achieved at least to a certain level of proficiency in both local language and second language. In

addition, the concept of shared underlying proficiency is also introduced (Cummins, 1984).

Shared underlying proficiency refers to the interdependence of linguistic concepts, skills and knowledge

involved in the central processing system.

Cummins states that cognitive and linguistic skills are as floating ice in water which is established in the

native language and is transferred in other person’s language learning skills.

According to Cummins’s theoretical framework, the majority groups in Sweden, Canada and America have

a positive impact on school performances with exerting influences due to having power and family

relationships, while the minority and immigrant groups are living under educational problems.

As a result, the Finnish in Sweden, Spanish, The blacks and native groups in the United States, Franco-

Antario and the natives in Canada feel insecurity and disappointment to the value of their cultural identity

as a consequence of equilibrium with the dominant groups (Krashen, 1996).

CONCLUSION

Being bilingual has a positive effect on language and educational development in children. If children’s

bilingual or multi-lingual abilities are grown in the early periods of their life, their linguistic understanding

will be deeper and learn how to apply these abilities. They will be required with more experiences,

especially if they learn the written form of these languages. They can recognize using conflicting

comparison that how their different languages organize reality. Children’s language proficiency to second

language can be predicted according to their knowledge and proficiency in their native language. Children

who come to school with a strong linguistic foundation and native language knowledge show higher

abilities and talents in terms of common language education and school’s educational process.

If parents and close relatives of children such as grandparents can spend times with their children and

grandchildren, tell them stories and speak with them about their problems in such a way that children can

expand their vocabulary and concepts in the native language, they will be better prepared in their school

and learn the educational language more better and faster and have more better development and

position.

Children’s information and abilities can be transferred as moved in different languages, that is what they

are learnt in their native language at home and outside school pass to their educational language and from

educational language to their mother language.




REFERENCES

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THE CONCEPT OF BILINGUALISM