10 Bilingualism/Multilingualism and the Disadvantaged Learner

Dr. Neeru Tandon

Learning outcome:

This module deals with the Bilingualism /multilingualism and the disadvantaged learner. It also examines difference between monolingual and bilingual method of teaching. On completion of this module, students should have increased knowledge and understanding of evolving views of language and learners in the field of language learning and teaching. Multiple-choice exercises will help students in assessing their knowledge and understanding of the work. Bibliography, list of websites and You Tube videos will help them in their in-depth study and further reading. Critical quotes and quotes from the books will also help them in understanding various aspects of the module.

 What is Bilingualism?

Definition of bilingualism

The ability to speak two languages

The frequent use (as by a community) of two languages The political or institutional recognition of two languages

( Mariam Webster Dictionary)

‘Language is the medium through which the child acquires the cultural, moral, religious and other values of society’

(Klein, 1986:6).

Bilingualism is closely related to the phenomenon of language acquisition – the particular way in which we all learn our native language as children. In the most common sense, bilingualism refers to a situation when a child grows up and is confronted with two distinct languages. Bilingual education is an umbrella term for many types of programs in which two languages are used for instruction.

Bilingual child either grows up speaking two different languages or in order to learn the local language of another land acquires the second language. Children have ability to quickly pick up new words and phrases and so they usually do it by simply communicating with others in their day-to-day life.

What is Multilingualism?

‘’Multilingualism is the ability of an individual speaker or a community of speakers to communicate effectively in three or more languages. A person who can speak multiple languages is known as a polyglot or a multilingual.’’

‘’The  importance  of  linguistic   diversity and   multilingualism   in   an  increasingly globalized world is vital to achieve meaningful communication between nations and strengthen the unity and cohesion of societies. Today, there are around 7,000 languages in the world, and an increasing number of situations in which two or more languages co-exist and are indispensable in everyday communication. UNESCO’s decision to celebrate International Mother Language Day derives from the   importance   of   linguistic   diversity   and   the   need   to   maintain    and  revive minority languages.’’-wiki

Thus Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages. A multilingual person is one who can communicate in more than one language either actively (through speaking, singing, or writing) or passively( through understanding, reading or perceiving). The terms Bilingual and Trilingual are also used to describe the situation where the use of two or three lnguages are involved.The multilingual situation is a result of :

Migration

Movement of people

Spread of colonial power

The volunteer programs

Travel and tourism

Problems faced by non-English speaking students in the classroom :

• Communication related problems
• Interaction related problems
• Comprehension related problems
• Structural organization related problems
• Content delivery related problems

Individual multilingualism and societal multilingualism

Who is a disadvantaged learner: Monolingual or Bilingual/Multilingual?

Do adults have a disadvantage when compared to children in learning a second language? Are children far more receptive to language acquisition than adults?

A young child who has a pretty good grasp of the English language may not put together a grammatically correct written sentence/ a paragraph or an article. Research has shown that an adult holds an advantage over a child because of the skills that he had already developed in his first language. This same skill can be transferred to a new language without prior training.

‘’There is sometimes a perception, particularly among monolingual speakers, that a bilingual speaker is a disadvantaged learner. This view is often characterised by the ideas of ‘cognitive overload’ and language interference, and by the still widely held belief that language learning is best suited to ‘academically able’ students.’’

A bilingual learner is a disadvantaged learner or not and how bilingualism/ multilingualism affect the learners are the questions to consider for English Language Teaching.

Early research on bilingualism, conducted primarily between 1920 and 1960 broadly concluded that bilingualism resulted in cognitive deficiencies, lower IQ scores, and even mental retardation. Indeed, these studies often associated bilingual children with terms such as ‘mental confusion’ and ‘language handicap’. General indications from these early studies were that monolingual children were up to 3 years ahead of bilingual children in various skills relating to verbal and non-verbal intelligence.

Baker and Prys Jones (1998) describe SUP as viewing the mind as if two languages are housed separately within it, like two balloons or a set of scales. In this model, the two language compartments also have a limited storage capacity – in effect, half the capacity of a monolingual mind. This ’container’ view of the mind continues to lead some people to think that learning more of one language creates an imbalance, ‘pushing out’ the other language and thus making bilingual learners as disadvantaged.

Baker (2006) summarizes the CUP model of bilingualism in six points: 

Irrespective of the language in which a person is operating, there is one integrated source of thought. Bilingualism and multilingualism are possible because people have the capacity to easily store two or more languages. People can also function in two or more languages with relative ease.

Information processing skills and educational attainment may be developed through two languages as well as through one language. Both channels feed the same central processor.

The language a student uses in the classroom needs to be sufficiently well developed for them to be able to process the cognitive challenges that are presented.

Speaking, listening, reading, or writing in the first (L1) and second languages (L2) helps the whole cognitive system to develop. However, if students are made to operate in an insufficiently developed L2 without recourse to their L1 (as is often the case in mainstream education), the system will not function at its best.

When one or both languages are not functioning fully (for example, because of an unfavorable attitude to learning through L1 or pressure to replace L1 with English, students’ cognitive functioning and academic performance may be negatively affected.

But later some other scholars along with Jim Cummins, a prominent bilingual and second language researcher, developed a model that much more accurately depicts the workings of the mind in relation to bilingual acquisition. It is called the common underlying proficiency (CUP) model or ‘iceberg analogy’. The CUP model is presented in the form of two icebergs. The icebergs are separate above the surface – that is, the two languages are obviously different in outward conversation. Underneath the surface, however, they are fused, and the two languages function together. This is where a person stores their two languages. Both languages operate through a single central processing system, which both languages can contribute to, access, and use.

Bilingualism has also been found to enhance a child’s working memory. Bilinguals are better at multi-tasking. The “working memory includes the structures and processes associated with the storage and processing of information over short periods of time.” Children who grow up learning to speak two languages are better at switching between tasks than are children who learn to speak only one language”.

Bilingual/Multilingual vs Bidialectical/Multidialectical

Sometimes multilingual and multidialectal become confusing. Multidialectal is such a situation in which a person understands (speaks) more than two varieties of the same language. For example, in North India, a Hindi language speaker may be called multidialectal if s/he can understand or speak in Bhojpuri, Bihari, Khariboli, Braj bhasha, Awadhi etc. variety of Hindi language. Sometimes socio-cultural practices invite multilingual situations like the marriage system where the husband and wife should speak the separate languages of their own. In that situation a newly born child becomes a multilingual by being exposed to father’s language, mother’s language and other’s language spoken around them. Therefore, multilingualism is closely related to multiculturalism. The cultural richness of different ethnic groups may lead to multilingualism. This necessarily involves a shift in the discourse of language rights, from a monolingual agenda revolving around the primacy of the mother tongue, to a recognition of the pervasive multilingualism that exists in India, the utility of local, regional, national and international languages. The allowance of local languages in the government offices and in the educational institutions is further strengthening multilingualism.

Learning a second language can also develop mother tongue skills. Generally, not much attention is paid to the grammatical structures of our native tongue, but once we start to focus on the mechanics of a second language: grammar, conjugations and sentence structure, our awareness of our L1 improves. These transferable skills give bilingual students a greater insight into their mother tongue, thus making them more effective communicators as well as better writers.

Bi- or multilingual education is mostly practiced in two ways: simultaneous, in which a child learns more than one language from birth successive, in which a child learns a second language when he gets mature

Code Switching

Code switching describes the process of ‘swapping’ between languages. It appears in many forms, even in pidgin (a fusion of two languages). “Bilingual switching between different sounds, words, concepts, grammatical structures and social norms constituted a form of natural brain training, which was likely to be more effective than any artificial brain training programme”

Moving from one language to another in the course of a single conversation is very common; sometimes people may not know consciously when they move from one language to another. Wardhaugh (2000) regards monolingualism as a misfit. Therefore, it is obvious that in many of the countries multilingualism is a normal phenomenon for daily living and it is a requirement in this modern world. A speaker is forced to use different languages in different situations; for example s/he has to use one language at home, another at school or sometimes another in trade or other daily professional situations (organizations). In the place where such situation is present, the individuals learn (acquire) language naturally or unconsciously, and we can sometimes observe the language shift. This is why a child growing up or brought up in a bilingual/ multilingual society automatically becomes multilingual.

This type of condition leads them to code shifting while presenting their details of the topic. The teachers also frequently translate and shift into another language. A few number of teachers tried to search for addressing the multilingual needs of the students. They claimed that though they could make reforms in classroom teaching methods, because of the setting of classrooms, varied or mixed ability students they had not been able to implement them further. The teachers suggested the following actions that could be used to address the students’ multilingual needs. They were-

• Discussion of problems with other fellow teachers
• Formation of peer group of students with the same language background
• Preparation of multilingual materials
• Using examples from many languages
• Providing translation type of home assignment for the students.

Different techniques to encourage the students to use foreign/ second language in the classroom:

• Inviting students for group discussion
• Formation of language groups (if possible) in the large classes
• inviting them to translation activities
• Asking simple questions about their casual activities
• suggesting them with instrumental motivation.

RECEPTIVE BILINGUALISM: Receptive bilinguals are those who have the ability to understand a second language, but cannot speak it properly. Receptive bilinguals may soon achieve oral fluency when placed in appropriate situations.

Dual Language Education: Bi-Multilingualism: Variety of same language and differentlanguages

Dual Language education is an effective approach to developing language proficiency and literacy in English and a partner language. Bilingual and Dual Language programs promote bilingualism and biliteracy, grade-level academic achievement and cross-cultural competence in all students. Students maintain their native language while adding another language, and they develop pride in their own culture while developing an understanding of others.

There may be silent conflict between the students of different languages. Similarly, even in the same classroom, the students may use different varieties of the same language when they speak in the presence or absence of their teachers. Deirdre Martin’s report showed that the students use English as a language of interaction in the classroom in the presence of their teachers and they use their mother tongue in the playground or when they are away from their teachers. They use cultural-specific interaction styles while addressing their individual friends. When children are educated exclusively in a non-mother-tongue language, they are prevented access to education because of the linguistic, pedagogical, and psychological barriers created.

Bilingual child vs. monolingual child

Monolingual teaching method or multilingual teaching method: A question was asked whether monolingual teaching method was to be used in the University level classes or multilingual teaching methods should be used there.

Some suggested the use of monolingual because very few teachers are available who could speak at least three languages. Since in the brain of a bilingual person there are two languages that are constantly active and involve an additional processing cost, it might lead to verbal skills of a bilingual person to be generally weaker that those noted in monolingual speakers of the language.

Another study showed how bilinguals know fewer words of any semantic category in comparison to people that speak fluently only one language – their vocabularies seemed to be somewhat smaller than those of monolingual speakers.

That’s not the end of it – this study found out that bilinguals suffer more from ‘tip of the tongue’ moments than monolingual speakers. Moreover, the costs in vocabulary were found out to be just as applicable to syntax. The teachers responded that the use of mother tongue and translation is also necessary for the successful delivery of the content. They felt that the students always try to understand the new concepts through their mother tongue. A virtual type of translation already takes place in their mind. Similarly many of the students replied that they wanted the type of teacher who speaks many languages and could translate the words or the content meaning into their own language. In this regard they thought that this condition will encourage them to learn further and their linguistic diversity will be maintained.

According to various researches there should be multilingual teaching methods because only when the students get exposure in their own language then they will be able to grasp the real meaning of the concepts or information. The teachers felt comfortable in mother tongue and the students also felt comfortable in their own language but the goal of teaching is to make them competent in English.

Many research studies cite the cognitive-linguistic benefits of being a fluent bilingual speaker. Experts have found that children who are fluent bilinguals actually outperform monolingual speakers on tests of metalinguistic skill. There’s nothing better for maintaining high cognitive function that participating in stimulating physical or mental activity. The onsets of dementia symptoms are delayed significantly in bilinguals..

There are several major factors one must take into account when dealing with multilingual and monolingual classes. Students attending multi-lingual classes have come from different cultures, speak a different language and usually have no common language between them. Students attending a monolingual class are usually from the same background and speak the same language, allowing them to communicate amongst themselves in the classroom. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of attending multilingual classes are that students will be forced to speak English between themselves and with the teacher. Students speaking different languages will work at different speeds and can create divisions in the class. Hopefully the teacher is skilled enough to deal with these problems but if not, it can limit the more able students and/ or make the less able students feel stupid and cumbersome. This means an unskilled teacher in the multilingual classrooms will rather hamper than facilitate learning.

The advantages of teaching monolingual classes are that the students are all on the same playing field, as they speak the same language, most would have similar cultures and most would experience similar problems when learning English. This gives the teacher an advantage as they generally don’t have to deal with individual problems, any problem raised by one student would likely help the other students too. Students are able to intercommunicate using their mother tongue that can be a huge advantage in the classroom when the teacher sets an exercise for group work or pair work; the students are able to organize themselves together to carry out the tasks. It allows the lesson to run more efficiently.

The disadvantages of teaching monolingual classes are almost the opposite to that of teaching multilingual classes. In the native country, students may often be in the class out of compulsion not out of want, which produces an environment of contempt, resulting in slow learning. Students communicating in their mother tongue can act as a hindrance as they are not practicing English in the classroom and very rarely outside the class, greatly reducing their exposure and practice of the language.

 Bilingual Method of Teaching Many linguists define bilingualism/ multilingualism as ‘mastery over two/more languages…’, but they are not clear on what level of mastery makes competence in grammar, vocabulary, communicative function, etc. There is no denying the fact that interpretative skills are transferable across languages and an exposure to the stylistic analysis of a literary text in the first language helps in the analysis of the same text written in a second language. Adult learners who are already familiar with a systematic interpretative study of a text in their first language can easily grasp the stylistic features of the same text written in a second language. By using what the learners already know of a text written in their first language, they can explore the text written in a second language without any inhibition. By comparing the way language is used in the text written in the first language as well as in the second, adult bilingual learners acquire a mastery of the second       language       unavailable       to        the        monolingual        learners.    L1 and L2 do not reside in two separate compartments in the mind of the bilingual learners. L1 and L2 are interwoven in the L2 user’s mind in vocabulary (Beauvillain & Grainger, 1987), in syntax (Cook, 1994), in phonology (Obler,1982), and in pragmatics (Locastr,1987). Therefore, ‘learning an L2 is not just the adding of rooms to your house by building an extension at the back: it is the rebuilding of all internal walls ( Cook, 200:407). The use of parallel texts written in L1 and L2, therefore reinforces a learner’s repertoire in both the languages.

Multilingual Adult vs. Multilingual Child

Multilingual children learning more than one language gain in flexibility because they can understand and analyze concepts using more than one language system. A lot of research work has been done to find out the correlation between bilingualism and cognitive ability (Peal and Lambert 1962; Cummins, 1984;Hakuta and Diaz 1985), but all these isolated studies were done with reference to the bilingual education of young children. How does cross language transfer of skills help multilingual adult learners in developing their language awareness in a target language?

Disadvantages of Bilingualism/Multilingualism.

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Extra Cognitive Strain: Learning a new language puts extra cognitive strain on children. According to Psychology Professor Erika Hoff, author of the book “Language Development,” learning multiple languages simultaneously limits the number of words that a child can learn in a set amount of time. For example, toddlers have the cognitive capacity to learn approximately 20 new words a month, but this number is for total words. When a toddler’s language input comes in the form of two languages, she might only learn 10 words in her native language a month, learning the other 10 words in her foreign language, which puts her behind in her native language.

1.  Cultural Discrepancies

For many older adults, the choice to learn a foreign language is one of interest, for reasons of business or as per school requirements. But when children learn a foreign language, the reasoning tends to stem from a parent’s desire. Due to the intimate link between language and culture, child will get a taste of a foreign culture. This can result in cultural confusion in some cases, especially when a child is of a multi-ethnic background.

2.  Scarcity of Good Bilingual Teachers

It can be difficult to staff bilingual schools with enough teachers that are native speakers of the second language and the upfront cost can be greater because all materials have to be purchased in both languages. Primary school teachers may not have the necessary language skills or they are not well trained for that particular language. If any language specialist is called then the flexibility of sessions is diminished. Primary language teaching needs to be standardized, so that secondary schools do not face problems in their intake. In some situations, it would become very stressful to the child when he has to learn three languages i.e. native languages and foreign languages. Some researchers have shown from their studies that such children have difficulties in deciding which language to speak and may end up learning nothing.

3. Language proficiency vs. Academic proficiency

Language acquisition research shows that students often acquire basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) in 2-3 years. Because these students can converse well in English, teachers often assume that they can learn academic content in English. However in order for students to reach a level of proficiency in which they can learn content in English, they must develop cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). A disadvantage is that students often fall behind academically while they are developing the language proficiency to learn academics in their second language.

• Delay in Speaking. While there’s no scientific evidence that proves multilinguals begin speaking later, many parents estimate that there is a three to six month delay compared to monolingual children the same age. If you think about it, it makes sense that a child learning two or more language systems might take more time, since they are actually learning twice as many words. Even so, six months is a small price to pay for the ability to speak two or three languages!
•  Mixing languages. Mixing words is very common in children learning more than one language at a time. But this is a temporary phenomenon. At the age of four or five it has mostly disappeared. Don’t forget that children who are learning only one language often use the wrong word until they learn the right one, and adults often say “umm” when the right word doesn’t come quickly.
• Additional effort for the parents. This is probably the biggest issue. Raising a multilingual child is a commitment and It will require extra effort on the part of the parents to provide enough language exposure, extra encouragement, keeping native language consistent, and in some cases even change the previous language pattern in the family. Incidentally, it’s easier to raise a multilingual second child if your first child was raised that way. Your first will end up doing a lot of the work for you by simply being a natural chatterbox. Parents of multilingual children agree overwhelmingly that the benefits for their children are well worth the effort.
• Reading and writing. Yes, teaching a multilingual child to read and write adds to the academic load, especially if the aim is full literacy in all of your chosen languages. For many parents, it’s enough if the child can speak in a particular language. Others want to go the extra mile and add reading and writing abilities.
• Distractive bilingualism or Semilingualism: when acquisition of the first language is interrupted while learning the second, the speaker can end up with two languages both mastered below the monolingual standards.

Advantages of Bilingualism/Multilingualism.

There’s no doubt that multilingual children have more advantages. This extra effort will give them a valuable skill they’ll use in numerous ways for the rest of their lives.

Many of the problems associated with learning a second language either disappear or are minor for most purposes. For example, the language learning delay that causes a child to be weaker in both his native and second language dissipates as she approaches her preteens. The foreign accent that characterizes a child who begins learning his second language in late childhood does not bar him from working as a translator or integrating into a new culture; accent training can help older children lessen the severity of their accents. In addition, learning a foreign language brings children more cognitive challenges that result in better skills. For example, the addition of a new grammar predisposes children to seeking out rules, making them stronger in logic and math. Additionally, the learned ability of switching from one language to another helps children build concentration skills. Overall, learning a foreign language isn’t a disadvantage but a set of trade-offs with both good and bad. Research has shown that the brains of children who grew up speaking two different languages develop better cognitive functions. Scientists who examined the phenomenon gave it a specific name – the bilingual advantage. Here’s a selection of some of the most important benefits brought by bilingualism.

1. Importance of Mother Tongue: Mother Language Day has been celebrated every year since    February    2000    to    promote linguistic and    cultural     diversity and multilingualism.
2. Metalinguistic awareness: knowing about and being able to talk about how language is structured and how it functions is a special advantage of multilingualism ( Cook,1995; Jessner, 2006, Svalberg,2007).
3. Improved cognitive skills: The brain of a bilingual speaker quickly gets used to managing two languages at the same time. This helps to develop skills for functions ranging from inhibition (a cognitive mechanism responsible for discarding irrelevant stimuli), working memory and switching attention. Since bilingual people constantly switch between their two languages, they’re likely to be also better at switching between different tasks. This happens even if the tasks in question aren’t of linguistic nature.
4.  More Exposure Our native language shapes the ways in which we see the world, demarcating the boundary between what we can name, and what is beyond our experience. Logically, the more words we know, the more things we know about the world. Now think about a child that grows up speaking two or more different languages the world of meanings available to this child will be much wider. In addition, as our world shrinks and business becomes increasingly international, children who are fluent bilingual speakers are potentially a tremendously valuable resource for their country’s economy.

More Open Minded and Sensitive:

Bilingualism makes you more open-minded and sensitive to others: “bilinguals have an enhanced awareness of other people’s points of view, born from their deeper understanding, from an early age, that some people have a different perspective.” Bilingualism enhances your listening ability. It showed that in a noisy environment bilinguals are “better at detecting the different sounds, therefore enhancing attention.” Bilingual children are less easily distracted. Judy Willis MD, a neurologist, teacher and author states that “compared to monolinguals, the bilingual children develop greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making judgment and responsiveness  to  feedback”.  If  one  grows  up  as  a  bilingual   you   are  often also bicultural.

SUMMING UP: There is still a widespread view that bilingualism is disadvantageous to learning. Early research into bilingualism tended to reinforce this negative view, suggesting that monolingual students performed better than bilingual students in a range of cognitive and learning tasks.

A ‘container’ view of the brain, where it was thought that learning another language impacted negatively on or ‘pushed out’ the existing language, reinforced the perception of bilingualism as a problem. It has since been found that this is not the way the brain works; rather, languages are linked in the brain by a central processing unit, meaning that people can easily learn two (or more) languages.

Subsequent bilingual research has also discredited the early bilingual research, consistently demonstrating that bilingual people have clear cognitive advantages over monolinguals.

But aside from the positive effects on our cognitive process, learning a second language opens the door into a particular culture, broadening our understanding of a race and culture, and making us more appreciative of other perspectives.

 It’s fair to say that the improved linguistic skills are present already in bilingual speakers. Some of these advantages might include:

Ability to learn new words easily

Spotting rhymes and other associations between words

Ability to use possessed information in new ways Word

categorization

Coming up with solutions to problems

Good listening skills

Improved communication

skills Some related terms:

Reference

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• Agnihotri, R. K. 1997. Multilingualism, colonialism and translation. In S. Ramakrishna (ed.), Translation and multilingualism: Post-colonial contexts, 34–46. Delhi, India: Pencraft International.
• Agnihotri, R. K. 2005. Sustaining local languages in a global political economy. Keynote address at the 25th South Asian Language Analysis (SALA 25) Roundtable, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. September 16–18, 2005.
• Agnihotri, R. K. 2007. Identity and multilinguality: The case of India. In A. B. M. Tsui & J. W. Tollefson (eds.), Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts (pp. 185–204).
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• Agnihotri, R. K., & Khanna, A. L. 1997. Problematizing English in India. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications.
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• Cummins, J., & Swain, M. 1986. Bilingualism in education: Aspects of theory, research and practice. London: Longman.
• Edwards, V. 1998. The power of Babel: Teaching and learning in multilingual classrooms. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books.
• In L.G. Kelly (ed.), Description and measurement of bilingualism, 255-256. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Pandit, P. B. 1988. Towards a grammar of variation. In L. M. Khubchandani (ed.), Language in a plural society, 40–49. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarasidass & Shimla IIAS.
• Pennycook, A. 1994. The cultural politics of English as an international language. London: Longman.