lecture 2:

Bilingualism, Multilingualism and Multiculturalism

Douglas Fleming PhD Associate Professor

Faculty of EducationUniversity of Ottawa

Bilingualism has long been associated with trade, migration, language contact, intermarriage, colonization and education.

It has been argued, in fact, that bilingualism has historically been (and is) far more common than monolingualism (Lewis, 1977).

The need to be bilingual is gaining greater importance throughout the world in both individual and national contexts (Bhatia & Ritchie, 2004; Cleveland, Laroche & Papadopoulos, 2015).

This can be attributed to: globalization of business, labor and commerce;an explosion in electronic communication;voluntary and involuntary migration at

unprecedented levels;increased tensions between powerful lingua

francas and less powerful local languages.

Often, bilingualism has been viewed as a problem.

This is especially true in the current political climate in the United States, where politicians such as Sarah Palin argue for the need of new immigrants to “speak American”.

Critics of this position argue that an insistence on monolingualism represents a jingoistic attitude towards immigrants that serves unequal power relations (Crawford, 2000).

Moreover, the “English Only” movement has been criticized for ignoring the significant political, individual and social benefits associated with learning additional languages (Cummins, 1991).

As Genesee (2008) notes, at the political level, many countries fund bilingual education in order to promote:national policies of bilingualism (French immersion in Canada);national languages in countries with one official language but

students who speak a variety of other languages (Estonian immersion for Russian-speaking students in Estonia);

proficiency in important regional and/or world languages (English immersion in Japan);

proficiency in heritage languages (Hungarian immersion in Slovakia);

indigenous languages that are at-risk (Mohawk immersion in Canada);

foreign language learning for educational enrichment (French immersion in the U.S.).

At the individual level, bilingualism strengthens cognitive ability and increased brain activity (Lytle & Botel, 1988).  

This results in greater flexibility, creativity and problem solving skills.

This leads bilinguals to “academically outperform and score statistically higher on standardized college entrance exams than those who only speak one language.” (Lytle, 2015).

The grey matter within the brain is actually increased

Bilingualism helps:increase environmental awareness (Pompea

Fabra, 2014); develop better literacy skills (York, 2013), and prevents the memory loss associated with

Alzheimer’s and dementia (University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 2014).

At the social level, bilingualism strengthens the validation of minority language communities.

This decreases interethnic conflict

Validated bilingualism also promotes:intergenerational family ties, overall social cohesion, education advancement and equity (Thomas & Collier, 2002; Cornish, 2015).

Multilingualism vs. Bilingualism

As Valpe (2015) notes, research has traditionally defined bilingualism as being the competency to use two languages at the level of full fluency (the “native speaker”).

In other words, “only those individuals who are very close to two monolinguals in one should be considered bilingual”.

However, in recent years the notion of the native speaker has been challenged (Liu, 2002; Marx, 2002; Medgyes, 1994) as an antiquated hold over from structural linguistics.

Some theorists, such as Pennycook (2007), have even argued that the notion of a discrete language is a fiction.

The bilingual is better thought of as a person who is actualizing the human capacity to utilize multiple forms of language in a particular context in which two standardized forms of language are recognized.

Everyone has the ability to be multilingual to greater or lesser degrees in various modes.

As Valpe (2015) puts it, “persons able to read in a second language (e.g. French) but unable to function in the spoken language are considered to be bilinguals of a certain type and placed at one end of the continuum”.

In view of the variety of human experiences and abilities, one might be more competent at communicating in terms of: accent, pronunciation, oral skills, aural understanding, writing or reading comprehension.

One might have some abilities in one language in certain situations and lesser abilities in another. One might be better at strategic use of the language or in various socio-cultural contexts. Bilinguals are also more adapt at understanding different cultures and at intercultural communication (May, 2011).

Bilinguals are also more adapt at understanding multiple cultures and at intercultural communication (May, 2011).

What is the value of bilingualism?

Is there a place for English Only? What are the political or ideological dimensions of this debate?

How do you view the first language in the classroom?

How do you view the concept of the “native speaker”?

What are the roles of the native speaking teacher of English and the non-native speaking teacher of English (NNEST)?