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Stella Werkman 29th of November 2012
Bilingualism Advantage or disadvantage?
Study on how bilingual and monolingual children acquire a language and what differences can be
distinguished in this process. Shows based on both literature study and practical study what
advantages and disadvantages bilinguals experience.
2
Table of content
1 Introduction 4
2 How does a child acquire a language from birth till the age of five?
2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 Pre-lingual phase 7
2.3 One word phase 9
2.4 Two to more words phase 10
2.5 More words to full expression phase 11
2.6 Conclusion 12
3 How does the bilingual language acquisition of a child from birth till the age of
five differ from the monolingual language acquisition?
3.1 Introduction 13
3.2 From birth to the comprehension of words 13
3.3 Saying words and starting to combine them 14
3.4 Making sentences 15
3.5 Conclusion 16
4 What important advantages and disadvantages do bilingual children have
compared to monolingual children based on studies by different scientists?
4.1 Introduction 17
4.2 Cognitive control 17
4.3 Problem-Solving 18
4.4 Literacy 19
4.5 Acquiring a new language 20
4.6 Metalinguistic awareness
4.6.1 Introduction 20
4.6.2 Word awareness 20
4.6.3 Syntactic awareness 21
4.6.4 Phonological awareness 22
4.7 Conclusion 23
5 To what extent do individual bilinguals or multilinguals experience advantages
or disadvantages?
5.1 Introduction 24
5.2 Outcome of the interviews 25
5.3 Conclusion 31
3
6 Finally
6.1 Conclusion 32
6.2 Suggestion for further research
6.2.1 Introduction 35
6.2.2 Expanding the qualitative research 35
6.2.3 Bilingualism and neurology 35
6.2.4 Bicultural 36
6.3 Reflection 37
6.4 Bibliography 40
7 Attachments
7.1 Logboek 43
7.2 Interviews 46
4
Introduction
Cultures all over the world are more and more connecting and intertwining with one
another. This leads to the mixing of different nationalities, cultures, religions and languages.
These mixes in turn lead to more and more bilingual children all over the world.
Subsequently, a lot of discussions have evolved about bilingualism. These discussions
mostly concern whether or not bilingual upbringing is a good thing or not. Some people
state that bilingual upbringing slows down the process of a child learning a language. Others
state that bilingual upbringing stimulates a child’s capability to learn a language and helps to
improve other cognitive abilities. Some researches even state that bilingualism delays the
process of Alzheimer.
Looking at the examples above it becomes clear that there are a lot of different subjects and
categories that can be considered while researching bilingualism. However, it is impossible
to research all these different areas in one research project and because there is still a lot of
new research going on, it is sometimes not possible to give full and complete conclusions to
certain questions. An example can be found in bilingualism and the relation to neuroscience;
not a lot of research has been conducted yet in this area and, therefore, little knowledge is
available. Therefore, I chose to look at the aspect of bilingualism from a broader view and
compare it to monolingualism to see what the advantages or disadvantages are in being
bilingual.
I am going to investigate the following:
How do monolingual and bilingual children acquire language(s) and what advantages or
disadvantages for bilinguals can be found?
As previously said, there is a lot of research conducted by a lot of different people and
universities on this subject. I am going to use some of this research to form a theoretical
answer to the question. But because only theoretical research does not give a complete
picture I am going to interview bilinguals and multilinguals and see if their experiences with
bilingualism reconcile with the theoretical part. By combing my own research results with
those from others I hope to find a complete and accurate answer to my question.
In order to keep a clear overview and to be able to explain the different aspects concerning
(bilingual) first language acquisition and the later development of the language, I divided
the research into different smaller aspects. For each of these aspects I formulated sub
questions, which are discussed in separate chapters and of which the answers will
eventually help me find the answer to the main question. These sub questions are stated as
follows:
How does a child acquire a language from birth till the age of five?
How does the bilingual language acquisition from a child from birth till the age of five
differ from the monolingual language acquisition?
5
What important advantages and disadvantages do bilingual children have compared
to monolingual children based on studies by different scientists?
To what extent do individual bilinguals or multilinguals experience advantages or
disadvantages?
These four chapters can be divided up into two bigger parts. The first part concerns the first
two chapters and therefore the first two sub questions, which tell something about how a
child acquires a language and what different stages are passed during the process. Also it
focuses on the difference in language acquisition between monolinguals and bilinguals.
The second part concerns the last two chapters and therefore the last two sub questions.
These questions look into the consequences of bilingualism and to what extent it is an
advantage or a disadvantage. Both literature research and my own practical research are
included in this element.
In order to make the research successful it is important to clearly define the term
bilingualism and bilinguals because there is a big range on how this is interpreted in general
by scientists. Monolinguals are children who have only known one language (language A)
from birth. They undergo the process of Monolingual First Language Acquisition (MFLA)1.
Bilinguals are children who have known two languages (language A and language Alpha)
from birth. They undergo the process of Bilingual First Language Acquisition (BFLA)2. The
first language(s) are the language(s) the children have heard from birth. Thus, speaking a
‘second language’ means a language that was acquired later in life and does not refer to one
of the two languages of a bilingual. Sometimes, also mulitinguals are mentioned, which are
children who fit within the same context as bilinguals, with the only difference that they
have known three or more languages from birth. Finally, monolinguals & MFLA children, and
bilinguals & BFLA children, are used in this research as terms with an identical meaning.
1 Houwer, A. de (2009), “Bilingual first language acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Textbook. Chapter 1,
page 4 2 Houwer, A. de (2009), “Bilingual first language acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Textbook. Chapter 1,
page 2
6
How does a child acquire a language from birth till the age of five?
2.1 Introduction
The language acquisition of a child can be divided into different stages. These stages
have a time span from birth till around the age of five or six. It is around that age that most
children have fully developed their first language and are considered to have mastered the
fundament of a language. This includes correct pronunciation and correct understanding of
the grammar rules such as word order in a sentence.
There is a lot of research on first language acquisition and new research is still going on,
bringing us new conclusions and insights. Therefore, a lot of different theories and studies
have chosen their own division of stages and categories in the process of first language
acquisition. By reading those studies and comparing their categories and stages I have
managed to formulate my own system. This system is very similar to the system described
in Bensien, F.van (1985)3, but I have adjusted it in some places according to information I
found in other studies4. Also, the age classifications I chose to use for the different stages
are very close to Bensien’s work “Kindertaal”. However, this is Dutch literature and because
I needed all the terminology in English I also often turned to “An introduction to Bilingualism
in Development” by Houwer, A. de (2009)5, which was a very useful addition to the
information in “Kindertaal”.
The first stage in the development of a language is the pre-lingual phase (0 till 12 months)6.
During this stage the infant produces sounds and uses movements to express itself, but
there is no ‘real’ form of communication or language and that is why it is called the pre-
lingual phase. Within this phase a lot of development takes place and to be able to explain
distinctly what happens this phase is often divided into different smaller stages. The second
phase is the one word phase (12 till 18 months)7. During this phase the child starts to
produce, for the first time, sounds that can be considered as actual words. Also, the child
starts to use fewer gestures to explain what it wants because it now is aware of the function
of language to express itself. The third phase is called the two and more words phase (19 till
3 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal (de verwerving van het Nederlands als moedertaal)”, Amersfoort: Acco. This
source will from now on be referred to as: Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” 4 - Gray, P. (1999) “Psychology (third edition)” New York: Worth Publishers. Chapter 11, page 427 – 439
- Gillis, S. en Schaerlaekens A. (2000), “Kindertaalverwerving (een handboek voor het Nederlands)” Groningen:
Martinus Nijhoff. Chapter 1, page 12 – 33
- Goorhuis-Brouwer, S.M. (1997), “Het wonder van de taalverwering (basisboek voor opvoeders van jonge
kinderen)” Utrecht: de Tijdstroom. Chapter 2, page 29 – 40
- Kompier, R. en Wagenaar, E. (1997), “Handboek taalbeleid (voor mensen die werkem met [meertalige] jonge
kinderen)”, Utrecht: SWP. Chapter 8, page 67-70 and chapter 9, 71-76 5 Houwer, A. de (2009), “An introduction to Bilingual Development”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Textbook. Source
will from now on be referred to as: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” 6 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 2 7 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 3
7
30 months)8. During this phase a lot of development takes place. The child starts to produce
actual sentences; first consisting of only two words, but later also using three or more
words. Also, the vocabulary of a child shows an immense growth during this stage. The last
stage is the more words to full expression phase (2,5 years till 6 years)9. During this last
phase the language develops itself till it is considered complete. The sentences grow longer
and more complicated, and all grammar rules are applied correctly. At the end of this phase,
which is often when the child is the age of five or six, we consider the child to have almost
completed the learning of its first language. However, after this age the child still learns new
things, for example, the vocabulary continues to grow and develop.
This system of language acquisition can be applied to almost every child acquiring its first
language. In general, bilingual children undergo the same process of first language
acquisition and most of the system explained further on is also applicable with bilinguals.
Nonetheless, there are differences and therefore the bilingual first language acquisition will
be discussed further in the next chapter.
2.2 Pre-lingual phase (0 till 12 months)
Because the pre-lingual phase is very complex and a lot of development takes place
it is often divided into smaller stages. Discussing each of these stages, a complete picture of
the pre-lingual phase is given.
The first stage lasts from the birth of the infant till it is about eight weeks old. During this
phase, the infant only produces sounds like crying and vegetative grunts (e.g. burping).
During this first stage it is not possible yet to distinguish a difference in the crying sounds of
the infant. For example, later a mother is often able to tell by the way her baby is crying
whether it needs food or is tired or wants something else. However, during these first few
weeks all crying sounds are expressions of discontent without any variation. Also, the crying
of the infant has physiological functions. By producing these sounds the infant can train its
articulatory organs10 and explore their capabilities. An example of this is already found right
after the birth; the neonate gives a loud cry also sometimes called the birth cry. This tells us
that lungs (respiratory system) and everything else are working correctly.
During the next stage, which lasts from the eighth till around the twentieth week, the infant
starts to coo, goo and smile. Midst this stage the crying becomes more diverse and from
around the age of twelve weeks the crying gradually becomes less. Also from now on the
infant is not only able to express discontent by crying, but can also depict pleasure by
cooing and smiling. A continuous smile can be distinguished by the time the infant reaches
the sixteenth week. At first the cooing consists mostly out of one segment but later the
infant starts to produce series consisting of three to ten segments.
8 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 4 9 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5 10 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 22
8
During the third stage the cooing starts to vanish and is replaced by more concrete and
recognizable sounds. This stage lasts from around the sixteenth week till the thirtieth week
and mostly involves the vocalisation of the infant. By now the face skeleton of the infant is
changing and developing and, therefore, allowing the infant to produce more and clearer
sounds. Because of this, it is often stated that the infant does not have any communicative
intentions yet when producing these sounds. This is based on the fact that infants
sometimes babble when they are alone in their box playing and, therefore, are not
particularly producing the sound to communicate with someone 11. Later during this stage
the infant starts to repeat certain sounds because it seems to evoke a certain reaction or
leads to interesting results. This is a very important aspect in the development of the
language because through this process the infant becomes aware of the fact that certain
sounds extract certain reactions or actions. This is a major step in learning that words and
language are used to communicate with others.
The fourth stage lasts from the twenty-fifth week till the fiftieth week. This is the stage of
reduplicated babbling 12. By this time the infant babbles a combination of both consonants
and vowels. These sounds are produced in series of repeating the same sound combination
over and over (i.e. ababababa). Also from now on a difference in pitch can be distinguished
between the series of sounds produced. Bensien, F. van (1985)13 argues that even in this
stage the infant still does not have any communicative intentions; he states that the
babbling is still an exploration of the speech organs and babbling is determined by biological
maturation. An argument for this is that deaf children also babble even though they are not
able to understand that producing sound is used as a form of communication. It is
interesting to know that up until this stage deaf children do not fall behind on the other
children; their language acquirement runs synchronous with the other children. It is only
later, when the child starts to produce actual words and sentences, that deaf children start
to fall behind.
The last and fifth stage of the pre-lingual phase lasts from around the ninth month till the
eighteenth month. During this stage the reduplicated babbling is replaced by more diverse
babbling. Where first only one consonant and one vocal were present, now more different
combinations are possible. Also the “intonation pattern”14 of the babbles becomes more
diverse and varied, which leads to the infant seeming to ‘speak’ a foreign language the
environment does not understand. The child now also starts to imitate the intonation of the
people in its surroundings; sometimes we can even recognize that the child adapts its
intonation to the person it is communicating with. For example, it was found that some
11 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 22 12 Houwer, A. de (2009), “Bilingual first language acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Textbook. Chapter 5,
page 168 13 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 2, page 22 14 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 17
9
children used a higher pitched voice when communicating with their mothers than with their
fathers. 15
As the fifth stage continues to develop the first words are produced. Often these are not
actual words yet, but for example the repetition of the same sounds and vocals in a
consequent matter. This means that either the child uses the same sounds in a consequent
way or the child uses the same sound for the same object in a consistent way. These words
are what scientists often call “proto-word” 16;they are not actual acknowledged words, but
they are the pre phase of them. Reasons why they are not considered actual words yet is
because even though the child uses them in an often consistent way, it is not always the
same sound and sometimes there is still some variation in the tone. Besides using the
proto-words, the child still uses certain gestures to appoint things or to express something.
2.3 One word phase (12 till 18 months)
At the beginning of this phase we see an overlap between two communicating
systems. On the one hand the child still uses gestures and sounds to express itself, and on
the other hand the use of words and language to communicate gradually becomes more
important. Therefore, over time the gestures become less and language starts to be the
most important form of communication between the child and its environment. During this
phase the child also starts to really acquire its first words and starts to build a vocabulary.
At first the use of words is still very closely related to the daily routine of a child, something
that is referred to as ‘rotational use of language’. But as the language acquisition starts to
develop the child starts to let go of this rotation and begins to explicitly name objects. Often
the child forgets letters or mingles and replaces letters. Apart from this something that is
seen often is that the child repeats the same consonants in a word (e.g. elelant instead of
elephant)17.
As said before, the vocabulary becomes more and more important as the development of
the language continues. At the end of this phase the child has an approximated active
vocabulary of fifty words. However, the passive vocabulary is already a lot larger. The child
starts to use the words it knows to express itself, which leads to what we call the
‘holophrases’ 18. Because the child does not know enough words yet, and has not yet
completely understood the concept of a sentence, it uses one word. Normally one word is
not considered to be a phrase, but because the child uses the word with the intention of it
being a sentence, that is how we define it. During this phase the child also starts to develop
the ability to point out existence and non-existence. This means that it can indicate and
appoint a present object or person, but is also able to indicate that a certain object or
person is missing. Besides these two factors the child is also able to specify the
reappearance of something; for example an object or a person.
15 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 2, page 23 16 Houwer, A. de (2009), “Bilingual first language acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Textbook. Chapter 6,
page 213 17 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 3, page 34 18 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3, page 28
10
A new aspect that occurs with the learning of new words and the expanding of the
vocabulary is the concept of “overextension” and “underextension” 19. When referring to
overextension, the child sees a certain word or concept bigger than it is. An example of this
is when a child not only calls its father ‘dad’, but every man it sees. This is because it links
the concept of a man and the word ‘dad’ together. The opposite of overextension is
underextension. This means that the child thinks that a word has a smaller range than it
actually has. For example, it thinks that ‘woof’ only applies to the dog of the family and not
to other dogs. This has to do with the fact that the child connects ‘woof’ with its own dog,
but is not able to make the connection that animals that look like ‘woof’ have the same
name20. As the vocabulary continues to grow, we see that these processes slowly disappear.
This is due to the fact that the expanding vocabulary helps the child understand the concept
of language better and therefore the concept of words and their semantics. Additionally,
during this phase the child begins to understand the different concepts and functions of a
language (i.e. to identify things, to repeat, to answer, to greet and also to protest).
2.4 Two and more words phase (19 till 30 months)
In this stage the child uses language in a form that is often called “telegram style” 21,
or referred to as “telegraphic speech” 22. This term refers to the fact that the child does not
use a lot of words in a sentence and that these words are often a shortened version. For
example the endings of a word or whole words are left out of the sentence. Also, the
phonological process that has started in the previous period continues to develop. The child
starts to expand the amount of syllables it uses and also composure of the different sounds
is commencing itself more. Interesting to note is that during this stage children sometimes
start to correct themselves, which indicates that the correct formulation of a word or
sentence is already there even if a child does not always produce it the right way. For
example, it uses a wrong word, then shakes its heads, as if talking to itself and then says it
the correct way.
Again the vocabulary is a very important element during this stage. A lot of scientists have
tried to measure the range of the diction of a child during the different stages of language
acquisition, but they all present very varied numbers and, therefore, it is still uncertain how
many words the vocabulary really consists of. An example of the range of the vocabulary
can be found in “Kindertaal”, which sticks to the amounts (shown in the table on the next
page) according to Smith (1926)23.
However, these numbers are not undisputable. For example Benedict (1979)24 states that
19 Source of both terms: Houwer, A. De (2009), “Bilingual First Language Acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters
textbooks. Page 365 and 368 20 Source example: Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 3, page 38 21 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 4, page 47 22 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/langdev.html 23 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 4, page 70 24 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 3, page 35
11
around the age of eighteen months children have already acquired a vocabulary of ca. fifty
words, in contrast to the ca. twenty words according to Smith. 25
Nonetheless what can be stated true with
more certainty is that the vocabulary
undergoes an exponential growth during
this stage of language development,
sometimes also referred to as the
“vocabulary spurt” 26. Despite the
exponential growth, the child still uses a lot of words in the same category, which means
that it does not use a lot of different types of words. For example articles, pronouns and
prepositions are not often found in the language used by a child in this phase of language
development. The first adjectives the child uses are often colours; nonetheless does it often
still takes until the end of this phase for the child to use the colours in a correct way. A
development in the use of conjugations takes place during this stage as well even though
they are not always used the right way (e.g. I wented or I camed) 27. Also in the
conjugation there is often some overextension. For example, once a child learns that the
plural of something is often indicated with an ‘-s’, it tends to apply this rule to all the words
it knows (i.e “one man” and “two mans”). Another example of this type of overextension is
also found the other way around, namely, that children sometimes format these words
back. Which leads to things like: ‘one bok´ from ‘box’, and ‘one pant’ from ‘pants’ 28.
Finally, it is important to know that during this phase the first forms of ‘real’ communication
begin to appear; it is now possible to converse with the child using language.
2.5 More words to full expression phase (2,5 years till 6 years)
As the child enters this stage the sentences become longer and more complete.
Articles, prepositions, conjunctions, etcetera are now becoming more often evolved in the
language and sentences of the child. Also, the right conjugations occur in a more frequent
manner. Because of these changes the child starts to lose the “telegram style” and therefore
the language it uses becomes more similar to the adult language. In this phase the child is
able to identify itself using the terms ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Also elements of space and time in
language are included, even though the element of space seems to occur often before the
aspect of time. As all of these processes continue to develop the vocabulary also continues
to grow and expand. At this point it is not yet completed and again scientist differ widely on
the range of children its vocabulary. According to Smith (1926)29 a six year old child has an
active vocabulary of ca. 1500 words. In contrast, Cary (1977)30 states that a six year old
25 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 4, page 70 26 Houwer, A. De (2009), “Bilingual First Language Acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters textbooks. Chapter 6,
page 222 27 http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Verb_Acquisition_in_Young_Children 28 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 85 29 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 79 30 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 79
Age in
months
Active vocabulary in number of
words
18 ca. 20
21 ca. 120
24 ca. 270
36 ca. 900
12
has an active vocabulary of between 8000 and 14000 words. However, what is known for
sure is that the cognitive development is one of the factors that leads to the expansion of
the vocabulary. But also more contact with the rest of the world leads to stimulation of the
growth of the vocabulary. Towards the end of this stage the child completes the
phonological aspects of the language acquisition. Also adjectives are beginning to occur in
the child’s language. Interesting is that some adjectives seem to occur before others. First
comes big, after that long, then high and often after that broad. The order of these words
seems to be the same in various languages31. During this phase there is still also some
overextension of words. For example some children at the age of five still consider brother
and boy, and sister and girl 32, to have the same meaning. Also children often think that
antonyms are synonyms. Donaldson & Balfour (1968) 33 did research on the words more
and less. With the question: “Does one tree have more/less apples than the other?” children
regularly gave the same answer with both less and more. The probable reason for this is
that the children only saw the feature both words have in common: quantity. Thus they
were not (yet) aware of the other features of the words that make them opposites.
Furthermore the child starts to conjugate words more often in a correct way. That said,
there is still some overextension, like the example given earlier on about plural words that
end with ‘-s’.
Intriguing is also the fact that children have a lot of monologues. This was observed by
Piaget (1923)34; he found that a lot of children between the age of five and six were talking
to themselves. For example they were telling what they were doing or what they were
planning to do. This happened without them considering if someone was listening to them
or not. This is something called “egocentric use of language” 35. However, in further
research it is stated that most of the verbal communication leads to an answer or a reaction
from the child, which illustrates that the child is very well aware of the meaning and the
goal of language and the social aspects included.
2.6 Conclusion
It seems clear that during the last stages all the processes that started in earlier
phases are completed or at least developed very far. The language acquisition starts with
the infant exploring its speech organs and continues when it develops the first sounds and
words, only to then produce small and simple sentences leading to full and complete
language composure. The reason the last stage is called the phase of full expression is
because by the time children have reached the end of the phase they have finished most of
their first language acquisition and are now entering the world of adult language where they
will of course still be developing themselves but have a good fundament of their first
language.
31 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 80 32 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 82 33 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 82 34 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal ”Chapter 5, page 85 35 Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal” Chapter 5, page 85
13
How does the bilingual language acquisition from a child from birth till the age of
five differ from the monolingual language acquisition?
3.1 Introduction
In general, both MFLA and BFLA children seem to undergo the same process of
acquiring a language. They undergo the same stages of development and also the ages
related to the different phases seem to be the same. But even though the main processes
overlap there are some differences between MFLA and BFLA children; some processes
bilingual children go through vary compared to monolingual children. There are even some
processes that only apply to bilingual children, like distinguishing the difference between two
languages. Therefore, in this chapter those differences and new processes will be
addressed. However because of the limited number of variations, the different stages of
language development will not be discussed as comprehensively as in the previous chapter.
In her book “An Introduction to Bilingual Development”, Houwer, A. de (2009) describes
most of these variations in BFLA. Therefore I will stick to her division of the development in
different stages. The first phase is called “from birth to the comprehension of words”36, this
stage lasts till the child has reached an age of about twelve months and therefore generally
overlaps with the pre-lingual phase of the previous chapter. The second phase is called
“saying words and starting to combine them”37 and covers most of both the one word phase
and two and more words phase from the previous chapter. The last two phases by Houwer
are “making sentences” 38 and “preschool and beyond”39. Those two phases concern most of
the more words to full expression phase. However I will not focus so much on Houwer’s last
phase because it concerns some elements that only account for children older than five.
3.2 From birth to the comprehension of words
As said in the previous chapter, in the pre-lingual phase an infant starts to learn a
language just by listening to it. By doing so it starts to recognize intonation patterns. These
intonation patterns combined with phonemes help a child to divide a language into different
units. However, BLFA infants have to learn to recognize these intonations patterns and
phonemes in each of the languages. Now for some languages, those who have the same
structure, like e.g. French and Spanish (they belong to the same pair of language40), this is
far less of a problem than languages that do not belong to the same pair. An example of
this is a BFLA child learning Thai and English. In Thai there are five lexical tones. This
means that the same word, pronounced in different tones (e.g. a rising tone or a steady low
tone) has a different meaning. In English on the other hand meaning of words does not
depend on the tone used. Therefore, a bilingual child will have to first understand these
36 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2 37 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3 38 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4 39 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 5 40 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 18
14
variations in how each of the languages is constructed in order to be able to understand
what people are saying. 41
According to Houwer, A. de (2009)42 BLFA children are from a very early age able to
distinguish the two different languages. Already a few days after birth an infant is able to
differentiate the languages. Finer distinctions, like separating phonemes, can be made at an
age of four months. This is the most important element a BFLA infant goes through during
the pre-lingual phase.
However there are other, smaller, developments during this phase. Firstly, the vocabulary
an infant hears every day is limited to mostly topics concerning food, drink, toys etcetera.
Because of this, translations will occur (e.g. Spanish “agua” and English “water”43). These
are called “translation equivalents” (TEs) 44
Secondly, BFLA children sometimes tend to create language specialization for some topics.
An example is when the father goes to the zoo with the child and there names the different
animals (e.g. in French). The mother, who speaks German with the child, does not discuss
the animals and therefore the child will at first will only know the animals names in one of
the two languages and thus a specialization is created. 45
Thirdly, some BFLA infants are very sensitive to their parent’s choice of language. For
example a little girl got really upset every time her mother spoke Japanese to her father
instead of Korean (which she always spoke to the girl). 46 This shows that sometimes there
are very complex relations between language and the persons in a child’s environment.
Finally, bilingual children babble, just like monolingual children, but, scholars47 studying
BFLA or MFLA are not sure to what extent the babbling already shows similarities to a
certain language.
3.3 Saying words and starting to combine them
During this phase the first words are produced, followed by the holophrases 48 and
eventually develop into the first actual sentences. The rate of development from when
exactly the first words and sentences are produced in BFLA varies from child to child just
like in MFLA. However, also among bilingual children there are differences in development.
Some children for example say their first word in one language at the same time as in the
other language49, whilst other children first start with one language and the other languages
follows later. Also the time span as to when the language Alpha follows language A depends
very much on the specific case. For example Houwer, A. de (2009) found that sometimes
41 Source example: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 18 42 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 20 and 25 43 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 18 44 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 18 45 Source example: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 19 46 Source example: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 23 47 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 2, page 22 48 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3, page 28 49 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3, page 30
15
the difference was only one month, while other times it would build up to four months. 50
For example a child spoke its first two-word combinations in Japanese, and the mother
continued to talk to the child in Korean, and the child continued to answer in Japanese,
which showed that it understood the Korean perfectly. So whether the two languages
develop at the same rate depends very much on the individual case.
Just like in MFLA the vocabulary in BFLA children continues to grow, but then with words
from two languages. Due to this the number of translations equivalents continue to grow as
well. Sometimes even though the child knows and understands the translation equivalents it
does not (yet) use the word in both languages. For example a child would say “bye bye”
(English) and not “adios” (Spanish) even though it would know very well that they are each
other’s translations. 51 This is something that slowly disappears as the child gets older.
Houwer, A. de (2009)52 also found that if a bilingual child is in a place where only one
language is spoken, it will almost always adapt its words used to the same language. But if
the child is with people who have mostly spoken both languages, it will feel free to use
words from both languages. If it is addressed by a person in language A, but of whom it
knows speaks language Alpha too, the child will often continue to stick to the use of
language A, apart from who else is present. 53
3.4 Making sentences
Just like MFLA children, BLFA children continue to develop their use of language and
especially the length and complexity of their sentences. Also just like monolingual children,
bilinguals show ‘gaps’ in their multiword utterances. This means that small words are still
left out in a sentence, like pronouns and prepositions. Furthermore, the way bilinguals leave
out parts is, according to Houwer, A. de (2009)54 , typically for the language spoken. So if a
BFLA child produces a sentence in language A, it will do so following the word order and
“little bits” 55 that typically fit language A, rather than language Alpha. The same is applied
the other way round. What is so interesting about this is that it shows that the grammatical
development of bilingual children is independent from one another. This could therefore
support the idea of “Separate Development Hypothesis” or “SDH”56. This means that both
the languages in a bilingual child develop individually and separate from one another.
Nonetheless this of course only accounts if the child produces a “unilingual utterance”57, and
not one where the two languages are mixed.
This mixing of languages in the utterances is an extra process that can be found in BFLA
compared to MFLA. These are called “mixed utterances” 58. It depends on the child, and on
50 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3, page 38 51 Source example: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3, page 33 52 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” 53 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 3, page 37 54 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 54 55 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 54 56 Source of both terms: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 54 57 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 45 58 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 45
16
the way its environment reacts to these mixed utterances, how often they occur. For
example, if whoever cares of the child offer it translation equivalents when it produces a
mixed utterance and thus stimulate it to produce unilingual utterances, the child is more
likely to pay attention to producing unilingual utterances, than when the cares do not even
react to the mixed use of languages. 59 When a child uses a unilingual utterance there is
usually no clear accent that gives away that the child speaks another language as well. Even
though this is stated, it still hard to determine whether or not bilinguals develop also
phonologically separate, and not only grammatically.
Again the rate of the development in the length of the utterances in BFLA varies, just as in
MFLA. But also among bilingual children the rate of development deviates. This sometimes
leads to the child being better in one language than in the other, because the development
in e.g. language A is much slower than in language Alpha. 60 This means that the child has a
“weaker language” and a “stronger language” 61. However, this does not mean that the
“strength” in one language is set. If the “weaker” language for example is extra, or even
only, stimulated, the development could speed up and even eventually pass the
development of the other language. Nonetheless there are also bilingual children who do not
seem to differ at all in their rate of development and capacities in both languages.
3.5 Conclusion
As said before, BFLA children undergo the same process of language development as
MFLA children. However there are differences between them and those often concern the
difference between the development of language A and language Alpha. Thus, the general
language acquirement is the same, but there are sometimes differences between the two
first languages. This also leads to observations on how BFLA children address (what
language) different people in their environment. But most importantly there are several
processes, like distinguishing the two languages, the specialization of one of the languages
in a certain topic, the mixed utterances and the translation equivalent that are specifically
for BFLA. All together those are the elements that distinguish the difference between MFLA
children and BFLA children.
59 Source example: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 54 60 Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 53 61 Source of both terms: Houwer, A. de (2009), “AITBD” Chapter 4, page 53
17
What important advantages and disadvantages do bilingual children have compared
to monolingual children based on studies by different scientists?
4.1 Introduction
Over the years there have been discussions worldwide about the effect of bilingual
upbringing and whether it has a positive or negative effect on the child. This has led to a lot
of new research and a lot of new results. In this chapter I will discuss some of the
advantages and disadvantages that have been found with bilinguals. A lot of research has
been done on the effect of bilingualism on metalinguistic awareness and therefore a big part
of this chapter will concern this element. However, there are other studies on subjects like
problem-solving, cognitive control and literacy that also show the effects of bilingualism but
they are not as extensive as metalinguistic awareness and will therefore be discussed first.
4.2 Cognitive control
One of the first things a bilingual child has to learn is switching between languages
and learning to control or suppress one language while using the other. Hence, a bilingual
person must learn to coordinate and regulate different languages. Being able to do so, a
claim is made on the cognitive control capabilities. These abilities are extra addressed when
the person deliberately switches between languages, so opposite to being forced to change
language because for example some cannot understand the current spoken language. By
switching deliberately a person is forced, as said before, to suppress the language that is
not used. A lot of scientists have done research to try and prove that bilinguals have an
actual cognitive advantage in being more capable of altering between different tasks.
Different executive processes can be associated with different kinds of tasks (interference
suppression, response suppression and task switching). 62 Green, D. W. (2011) 63 gives an
example of one of these tasks. He writes about a non-verbal task in which individuals were
stimulated with certain processes, but at the same time had to suppress any interfering
stimuli. The stimulation they had to focus on was a row of arrows pointing in the same
direction as the central arrow (could be both left and right): (i.e., ), this is an
example of the congruent trial. On the incongruent trial however the central arrow would
point in the opposite direction of the other arrows: (i.e., ). The individuals
were asked to press one button if the central arrow pointed to the left and another if the
central arrow pointed to the right. According to Green, D.W. (2011) bilinguals showed an
advantage in suppressing interference 64 and in task switching65, but not indubitably in
response suppression66.
62 e.g., Bunge, Dudukovic, Thomason, Vaidya, & Gabrieli, 2002; Miyake, Friedman, Emerson, Witzki, & Howerter,
2000, source: Green, D. W. (2011), “Bilingual Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and Bassetti B., “Language and
Bilingual cognition”, Hove: Psychology Press. Page 232 – 233 63 Green, D. W. (2011), “Bilingual Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and Bassetti B., “Language and Bilingual
cognition”, Hove: Psychology Press. Page 229 – 240 64 e.g., Bialystok & Viswananthan, 2009; Costa, Hernández, & Sebastián-Gallés, 2008), source: Green, D. W.
(2011), “Bilingual Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and Bassetti B., “Language and Bilingual cognition”, Hove:
Psychology Press. Page 233
18
A different study on the higher development of control by bilinguals was done by Bialystok,
E., et al., in 2005,67. This study was a neuroimaging study, the only one in the time written.
During the trial participants had to press the right-hand button if there was a red square
and the left-hand button if there was a green square. In the congruent trial the target
square (e.g. the red square) was on the same side as the corresponding button (i.e. right).
In the incongruent trial however the target button was on the opposite side. During the trial
an MEG (magneto-encephalography) was used to measure any bilingual advance. The
attentional control process was for both monolinguals and bilinguals the same during both
the congruent and the incongruent trial; however it appeared stronger for bilinguals.
4.3 Problem-Solving
Another concept that helps define the advantages and disadvantages for bilinguals is
problem-solving. There are different forms of problem-solving, but in general an individual
has to solve, verbal or non-verbal, a problem. These problems can be a physical science
problem or something like the Water Level task (Pascual-Leone, 1969)68. Hence, problem-
solving is a concept that is often used by scientists in order to try and find differences
between monolinguals and bilinguals. An example of a research on problem-solving in
bilingual children was done by Ricciardelli in 199269. During this research both monolingual
and bilingual six-year-olds had to do a lot of tasks; for example non-linguistic tasks including
creativity and geometric design. For the fluent bilingual children Ricciardelli found a
significant cognitive advantage in all measures. However, these advantages accounted only
for the fully bilingual children and not for those who only had a limited knowledge of the one
of the two languages; they did overall just as good as the monolingual children. A research
done by Lemmon and Goggin in 198970 showed less significant results. During this study
college students were given several cognitive tasks assessing fluency, flexibility of thinking,
creativity and concept formation. The monolinguals scored higher on almost all of the tasks.
However, in a closer analysis of the results they looked more specifically at higher
(balanced) bilinguals and lower (unbalanced) bilinguals. They then found that it were mostly
the lower (level) bilinguals who had a lower score, whilst the higher (level) bilinguals scored
equivalent to the monolinguals.
65 e.g., Bialystok & Viswanathan, 2009; Prior & MacWhinney, 2010), source: Green, D. W. (2011), “Bilingual
Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and Bassetti B., “Language and Bilingual cognition”, Hove: Psychology Press. Page
233 66 e.g., Martin-Rhee & Bialystok, 2008), source: Green, D. W. (2011), “Bilingual Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and
Bassetti B., “Language and Bilingual cognition”, Hove: Psychology Press. Page 233 67 Green, D. W. (2011), “Bilingual Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and Bassetti B., “Language and Bilingual
cognition”, Hove: Psychology Press. Page 234-235 68 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development (Language, Literacy & Cognition)”, New York: Cambridge
University Press. Chapter 7, page 206. This source will from now on be referred to as: Bialystok, E. (2001),
“Bilingualism in Development” 69 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 7, page 204 70 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 7, page 205
19
Nonetheless, there are overall more studies that have compatible results with Ricciardelli’s
study and one by Bialystok and Majumder (1998)71 is an example of this. During their
research they found interesting results on the following three cognitive tasks: Block Design
subtest of the Wechsler intelligence scale (Wechsler 1974) 72, the Water Level task
(Pascual-Leone 1969)73 and Noelting’s Juice Task (1980) 74. They did this research on
children in third grade; all approximately eight years old. The first two of these cognitive
tasks were related to a high level of control, whereas the third task concerned analysis. The
bilingual children scored significantly higher on the first two tasks whereas with the third
tasks there was hardly any difference between monolinguals and bilinguals. Also these
significant higher scores on the first two tasks again proved to almost only account for the
fully and higher bilingual children and not for those who were lower bilinguals.
4.4 Literacy
The element of literacy is an important factor to consider when looking at a
language. Even though reading might not be the major aspect when considering whether
someone has mastered a language or not, it defiantly is an important one. Especially
because literacy seems to become more and more essential due to the development of
technology where reading a language mostly overrides speaking it (think about texting and
online information). Anyway, more important is to find out whether bilinguals have an
advantage concerning literacy. In order to do so it is important to divide the concept of
literacy into three rough stages; first; preparing for literacy, second; developing skills for
decoding and third; fluent reading.75
During the first stage exploring the relevant concepts and interpreting symbolic functions
are the main factors. Bilingual children are believed to have an advantage in this stage of
literacy compared to monolingual children. Reasons for this are both the oral advantage of
already speaking two languages and being used to print exposure, which could help to
develop conceptual advantages. 76
The second stage of literacy concerns skills for decoding a language. This means being able
to analyse a text and being able to understand the symbols, which includes logographic,
sylabographic and alphabetic reading. During this stage there is no sustained evidence that
bilinguals have an advantage compared to monolinguals.77
Finally, during the last stage of fluent reading difference can be found in the fluency of
reading in the weaker or stronger language. For example some individuals who are orally
fluent in both languages and cannot be distinguished from natives have problems reading in
one of those languages. However, it is only the question whether this really indicates a
71 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 7, page 206 72 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 7, page 206 73 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 7, page 206 74 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 7, page 206 75 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 6, page 180 76 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 6, page 180 77 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 6, page 180-181
20
disadvantage for bilinguals. Because it is of course disputable whether or not it is a
disadvantage to be reading a little slower and using transfer strategies that are not used by
natives, if that means being able to read in two languages instead of one. 78
4.5 Acquiring a new language
Another way of looking for advantages or disadvantages is to connect the knowledge
of different sound systems in bilinguals to learning a new, second, language and see if they
might have any advantages there. This could be accounted for on the fact that even though
bilingual children might have a better access to a new sound system because they have
more insights on different sound systems already. But on this aspect it is still hard to find
actual proof. However, there is a study by Ciscero and Royer in 1995 79 that gives room for
possible support but I choose to not further discuss this because the evidence is (for now)
very vague and little.
4.6 Metalinguistic awareness
4.6.1 Introduction
Metalinguistic awareness is one of the first research areas in which consistent
advantages for bilinguals were found. One of the probable reasons for this is due to the fact
that having two languages makes it easier to see the systematic features of a language.
Metalinguistic awareness is a term used a lot in science but it does not have a clear and
definitive meaning and is used in very different ways. Therefore I will use the term given by
LEAP (Language Enhancing the Achievement of Pasifika) because it gives a good and
complete overview on the expression and also fits within the way Bialystok uses the term in
her study. “Metalinguistic awareness (MA) is the ability to analyse language, particularly
language forms, in terms of how they work and how they are integrated into the wider
language system” 80.
Metalinguistic awareness can often be divided up into three, separate, smaller aspects:
syntax, word awareness and phonology. By looking at each of these aspects separately and
seeing what difference can be distinguished between monolingual and bilingual children, a
conclusion can be formed on the overall advantage or disadvantage for bilingual children
concerning metalinguistic awareness.
4.6.2 Word awareness
First looking at the aspect of word awareness: to be able to fully understand word
awareness, two elements are needed. First, “the awareness of a segmentational process
that isolates words as a significant unit” and second, “awareness of how words function to
carry their meaning” 81. An example of this first element is counting the number of words in
78 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 6, page 181 79 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 6, page 169 80 http://leap.tki.org.nz/Is-bilingualism-an-advantage 81 Both quotes: Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 135
21
a sentence. The second element shows to what extent people are able to understand the
relation in which words convey designated meanings. An example of a study done on the
second element of word awareness is one by Ben-Zeev in 197782. She designed a creative
task in which monolingual and bilingual children had to substitute a word in a sentence; a
task of symbol substitution. In this study the children had to replace the word ‘we’ with
‘spaghetti’. So the children had to change “We are good children” into “spaghetti are good
children” 83. Ben-Zeev found in her study that bilingual children were significantly better
able to replace the words. What this study therefore shows is that monolingual children
seem to think that meaning is inseparable intertwined with the word. Bilingual children on
the contrary seem to find it easier to accept that the meaning of a word is more of an
agreement than truth. Also Leopold (1961)84 suggests, based on his studies of his
daughter’s diary, that bilingual children are able to make a distinction between words and
their meanings before monolingual children are able to understand this concept.
Also Cummins (1978)85 proved that bilingual children had an advantage in word awareness.
In one of the tasks children had to define whether or not a word was stable even when the
object it was referring to no longer existed. For example if the word ‘giraffe’ was stable,
even if there were no giraffes left in the world. On this task bilingual children seemed to
show an advantage. However, on another task in this study, one where children were asked
if a word had the physical property it represented, there was no difference in performance
between bilingual and monolingual children.
So not all the studies on word awareness show an advantage for bilingual children and the
study by Rosenblum and Pinker (1983)86 is another example of this. They found no
difference between bilinguals and monolinguals when they asked them to distinguish
nonsense words from actual words. However, they did find some difference between the
explanations bilinguals and monolinguals gave.
4.6.3 Syntactic awareness
Another aspect of metalinguistic awareness is syntactic awareness. When speaking
of syntactic awareness we aim for the grammatical aspect of a language. There have been
several studies on the differences in syntactic awareness between monolinguals and
bilinguals. One of them is a study done by Galambos and Hakuta (1988)87 in which they did
two metalinguistic tasks with bilingual and monolingual children. The first task only
concerned syntactic awareness, in which children were asked to judge and correct the
syntactic structure of sentences. With the second task children were asked to judge the
ambiguity of a sentence and then paraphrase the different meanings. On the first task
82 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 136 83 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 136 84 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 136-137 85 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 136 86 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 138 87 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 139-140
22
bilingual children showed a consistent advantage compared to the monolingual children. On
the second task however only the older bilingual children had better results.
Another research was done in 1990 by Galambos and Goldin-Meadow88. They studied
monolingual and bilingual children presenting them several problems concerning syntactic
awareness. Those problems were sentences in which the children were asked to note any
errors, correct the errors and then explain the errors. They found that when noting and
correcting the errors bilinguals had a significant advantage but not when explaining the
errors. This lead Galambos and Goldin-Meadow to conclude that “bilingualism alters the rate
of development but not its course” 89.
A study by Bialystok and colleagues also showed bilingual advantages in syntactic
awareness. Participants had to judge whether sentences were grammatically correct or
incorrect. In this study these sentences were manipulated because the sentences also
contained incorrect semantic information. The study showed that it was very difficult for
monolingual children to judge the grammatical aspects because they were distracted by the
semantic information. Bilinguals showed to be more successful with these sentences.
But once again, not all the studies showed a positive result for bilinguals. In a research done
by Gatercole (1997)90 children had to divide nouns into two categories; mass nouns (such
as water) and count nouns (such as cups). She found that older and fluent bilinguals
performed on the same level as monolinguals. However, younger and less fluent bilinguals
had more difficulties with the syntactic cues, and in a way were therefore less developed in
this specific metalinguistic function.
4.6.4 Phonological awareness
The last aspect considering metalinguistic awareness is phonological awareness. On
this part of metalinguistics only a small number of studies have been done and, therefore, it
is hard to tell what the exact effects of bilingualism are. However, there are some studies
and one of them was done by Bialystok, Majumder, & Martin in preparation91. The task the
children had to perform was a phoneme deletion task. An example of this task is when the
word ‘cat’ is converted into ‘mat’ by using the first sound of the word ‘mop’. A child would
get the following instructions; “take away the first sound from ‘cat’ and put in the first
sound from ‘mop’”92. In the results of the study no difference was found between bilinguals
and monolinguals in their abilities to solve this problem.
In another study by Bialystok, Majumder, & Martin in preparation93 children had to perform
three different phonological tasks. One was related to sound and meaning; children had to
choose two words that matched a target in either sound (rhyme) or meaning (synonym).
For example; dog, frog and puppy94. The other task involved determining the number of
88 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 139-140 89 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 140 90 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 141 91 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 142 92 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 142 93 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 142 94 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 143
23
phonemes in words. This second task was the purest assessment of phonological
awareness, in contrast to the other tasks which required only a minimal level of sound
awareness. The last task consisted out of phoneme substitution, which tested the children’s
ability to form computations with the segmented sounds. In the results only one of the
three tasks showed an advantage for (a certain group of) bilingual children; the task of
solving the segmentation.
Another research phonological awareness was done by Campbell and Sais (1995)95. The
participants were required to do several tasks. Two of them involved the subjects choosing
a word that did not fit in a set because of either a semantic or phonological reason. Even
though semantics are not part of phonological awareness they were needed because it
forced the children to choose between meaning and sound and therefore scientists were
able to indicate to what extent children had access to the structural properties of words.
Another task was also a phoneme deletion task, which means that certain letters have to be
left out while reproducing a word. Campbell and Sais found that the bilinguals scored higher
on all of the phonological tasks, but did not do better on the letter identification task. This is
therefore a positive outcome for bilinguals. Still an annotation must be made because this
research was done on preschool children and other studies have shown that sometimes the
bilingual advantages disappear as children enter first grade.
4.7 Conclusion
First, focussing specifically on the advantages found on metalinguistic awareness,
bilinguals seem overall to have higher scores throughout different studies. Nonetheless, the
evidence is often little and some studies show no difference between monolinguals and
bilinguals. Therefore, it is reliable to say that bilinguals defiantly have an advantage with
some elements of metalinguistic awareness, but the evidence is not sufficient enough to say
that bilinguals have great advantages. Or as Bialystok, E. (2001) says: “bilingualism itself is
insufficient to fundamentally change the path of metalinguistic development” 96
Secondly, looking at all the other subjects mentioned in this chapter as well, it appears that
bilinguals have some advantages in most of them. In some cases the advantage is more,
such as with problem-solving and cognitive control, whilst in others the evidence is limited
as in literacy, or hardly recognizable at all like with learning a new language.
In several studies we also saw a difference among bilinguals; namely, that higher level
bilinguals score the same, or better than monolinguals. Whereas lower level bilinguals show
a disadvantage compared to monolinguals. Based on that you could conclude that some
advantages only account for fluent, higher level bilinguals.
Most of the studies that showed advantages did state those results with a lot of caution, but
there are also only two studies that really show a disadvantage for bilinguals. Therefore it
could be concluded that fact that there are barely disadvantages, is an advantage in itself
for bilingualism. Most importantly nonetheless is that there defiantly are studies that prove
advantages for bilinguals even though they are not (yet) groundbreaking.
95 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 142 96 Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development” Chapter 5, page 143
24
To what extent do individual bilinguals or multilinguals experience advantages or
disadvantages?
5.1 Introduction
Apart from all the literature research it is of course also interesting to do some
practical research. However, it is difficult to research the effect of bilingualism in a
quantitative way because I do not have the right facilities and capabilities to do that kind of
research. Therefore, instead of doing a quantitative research I decided to do a small
qualitative research. In a qualitative research you try, by talking to a certain target group,
to collect as much information as possible. This often involves having interviews with people
that fit the target group. For my research I decided to focus on bilingual or multilingual
people between the age of fourteen and twenty-one. By interviewing them I hoped to find
enough information to be able to conclude what experiences people have with being
bilingual and whether or not they experience any advantages or disadvantages from being
bilingual.
In order to do so I formulated a main question and formulated twenty sub questions for an
interview. Next, I sat down with bilinguals and did the interview; but because of limited
time and travelling options I was not able to do all of the interviews in person and therefore
had to send some of them per e-mail. In total, I asked ten people to participate in this
project. I divided the sub questions into different smaller groups and will now per group
give a small summery of the answers of the participants and the things I was able to
conclude based on their statements. All the interviews were done in Dutch but I translated
the questions and will therefore also translate the answers of the respondents in this
chapter. Also I want to note that I sometimes had to adapt the literal answers of the
participants a bit in order for them to become good and fluent sentences. Finally, I have to
apologize in advance because sometimes some answers might be little incomplete and this
is due the fact that whilst working on the research I came to new insights and therefore had
to adapt the interview questions a little. However, I was not always able to reach the people
I had already interviewed and therefore they did not all have the chance to complement
their answers accordingly. This only accounts for a few people and only for the percentages
in question four and the whole of question twenty-one. A complete overview of all the
interviews can be found in the attachments at the end of this research.
The main question of the interview is stated the following:
To what extent do you experience differences (which) between both languages, and to what
extent do these differences lead to disadvantages (or advantages)?
The answer to this question is mostly a combination of the answers to different sub
questions, but was also indented for the participant to have some extra room to add certain
experiences that I did not ask in one of the questions but are nonetheless of value to the
subject.
25
5.2 Outcome of the interviews
Now I will discuss the different groups I divided the questions into and at the same
time discuss their outcomes. The number of the questions sometimes does not run
according to order because I decided to keep the original order in which they were asked.
The first four questions mainly concern the basic information like gender and age, but also
which first languages the participant speaks and an estimation of how much percent of the
time they speak a certain language.
1. Gender?
2. Age?
3. What languages did you learn in your bilingual or multilingual upbringing?
4. What language do you speak most in your current environment and living
circumstances (division in percentages)?
As said before there is a total number of participants of ten, of which 40% are male and
60% are female. All of them are between the age of 14 and 21 years old, with an average
age of 17.1 years old. Three of the participants are multilingual (all of them three
languages) and the others are all bilingual. There is a total of 23 languages spoken and
every one of the participants has Dutch as one of his
languages. In the table on the left you see a division of the
different languages in percentages. All of the respondents still
use both languages in their daily life even though the division
of how much they speak the language differs sometimes.
Nonetheless do all of the participants speak Dutch the most,
most of them over 50% of the time. From this can be
concluded that there is something as a weaker and stronger 97
language for most bilinguals, but more on this later.
The next selection of questions concerns the way the acquisition of the first languages was
organized and to what extent the respondents can still remember anything from learning
these languages. Also the situation of early language acquisition is compared to the current
situation.
10. To what extent are you able to recall consciously learning two languages (or more)
instead of one?
11. How was the division of both languages during your upbringing? (For example was
one language related to one specific person or environment?) And has this changed
compared to now?
Actually none of the respondents can really recall learning a language, most of them
remember nothing or say it just came very natural. This is of course not really surprising
97 Houwer, A. de (2009), “An introduction to Bilingual Development”, Bristol: Multilingual Matters Textbook.
Chapter 4, page 53
Language Percentage
Dutch 43.48 %
German 04.35 %
French 26.09 %
Hebrew 04.35 %
English 17.39 %
Spanish 04.35 %
26
because also no monolingual can remember consciously learning a language, so it was to be
expected that it would not be much different for bilinguals. However there are some things
people still remember. For example one had, around the age of six, French lessons from a
family member and someone else only really learned the languages when going to school.
Someone who said to not remember learning the language does note that when speaking
the weaker language for a longer and frequenter period of time, she/he learns new things.
When looking at the early language acquisition, most of the respondents describe the
situation of one parent, one language. So they spoke for example French with their mother
and Dutch with their father and the rest of the environment. Nevertheless, there are also
more complex constructions where for example the school was related to one language, the
environment to another and the parents also to another. Nonetheless does it seem like in
every upbringing a language was always related to a certain person or setting. Whether or
not this situation of language division changed later depends very much on the individual
cases. For some it stayed more or less the same even though they now might speak both
languages to both parents instead of strictly one language. For others one language is
spoken less overall by everyone, so for example the parent who always spoke the foreign
language now speaks the language of the country of living (often Dutch). Only two of the
respondents say they also speak different languages with different friends.
The next group of questions mostly concerns the capacities of the participants in both
languages. So for example, whether they are fluent in speaking and whether or not they can
read and write in both languages. Also it captivates the differences the participants
experience between the languages.
5. Is there one language you prefer over the other? Or is one easier than the other? If
so, which one and do you know why?
6. Is it possible to hear an accent when you are speaking one of these languages?
7. Are you able to read both languages? And if so, is it easier in one language than in
the other?
8. Are you able to write in both languages? And if so, is it easier in one language than in
the other?
9. Do you think that your vocabulary in both languages is approximately as extensive?
12. To what extend does it require an effort to switch between the different languages?
13. Is translating from for example language A to language Alpha, easier than translating
from language Alpha to language A?
15. Are there certain things that are easier in one language than in the other? (for
example colours, counting etc.)
Most of the participants prefer one language other the other(s), and very often this is Dutch.
The reason for this is that they know this language best and are most used to speaking it.
This again shows the element of a weaker and a stronger language. Furthermore, it is very
interesting that there are several people who say that even though they are best at Dutch
and therefore prefer it, they do not like that language best because they think other
27
languages sound better or are just nicer to listen to. There are also some who do not prefer
any language at all.
Most of the respondents state that they do not have an accent whilst speaking any of the
languages and others say that they have a slight accent in one of the languages, but this
tends to disappear for some if they speak the language for a longer period of time.
A few of the respondents consider themselves to have equally or very close to equally big
vocabularies in both languages. However these are only one or two people and most of
them find bigger differences between their vocabularies. Almost everyone thinks they have
a bigger and more extensive vocabulary in Dutch.
Apart from two all the participants are able to both read and write in all their languages.
Those two nevertheless both state to be dyslectic or have something similar to it, which
could explain the difficulties with reading and writing a language. Everyone says that they
do not have the same level in both languages in regard to reading and writing and for most
of them the higher level is in the Dutch language. Some also say that reading in the weaker
language is easier than writing in the weaker language.
The answers to the question whether or not it requires an effort to switch between the
different languages are very varied. According to some it costs them no to very little effort,
whilst others state they need their time to really make the switch. But also on the question
about translating from one language to another the answers are very different from each
other. Several people state that it does not really matter if they translate from language A
to language Alpha or the other way around. On the contrary, there are also some that
experience a difference and they mostly state that it is easier to translate from any language
(depending on the person) to Dutch.
About half of the people have no specific things that are easier for them in one language
than the other. Others do have small things, for example: the conjugation of verbs,
counting, specific word groups like flowers and vegetables, swear words, but also the
alphabet or days of week and other ‘daily life’ things such as math terms. These are almost
all things that can also be linked to a smaller vocabulary in one language.
The next combination of questions is an important part of the interview because they are
about the experiences of advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism.
16. Is it easy for you to learn a new language (so besides the ones you have known in
your upbringing)?
17. Which advantages have you experienced due to your bilingual upbringing?
18. Which disadvantages have you experienced due to your bilingual upbringing?
Apart from two, all the respondents seem to think that they have an advantage compared
to monolinguals when learning a new language. Some also give examples of how they use
their knowledge from the languages they know to understand certain things and words in a
new language. Someone states that he/she thinks to have learned a new language fast but
is not sure whether this is because of his bilingualism. This is of course very interesting
because it has been hard to find evidence on advantages for acquiring a new language
(chapter 4) and yet still a majority thinks to have benefitted from bilingualism in that way.
28
In addition to this one of the people who says he/she do not have an advantage in learning
new languages also stated to be dyslectic and explains that siblings who are not dyslectic do
experience this advantage.
Overall the participants are very positive about being bilingual and have more, to only,
advantages. A very important advantage is the ability to communicate with a lot of people,
including family in a foreign country. Also some state that it makes it easier for them to
connect with foreign countries, because they can understand more of the country through
the language. Others state that they have developed a feeling for languages because of
their bilingualism and therefore are well capable of learning new languages. Some also say
it lifts barriers on going abroad to study or live there. But some also name work and school
related advantages. Because most of them speak a language fluent which is thought in
school, they have one subject less to worry about. Others state it will be good when finding
a job later if you know a lot of languages. One person has even had a job offer from an
airport because of the different languages he knew.
Still people also have some disadvantages even though they seem of less importance and
there are also several participants who cannot name any. The most common is about the
Dutch language; several people feel like they have a small arrear on Dutch spelling, but,
they are not all sure it is because of being bilingual or because they would have had this
disadvantage anyway (like when being dyslectic). Some other disadvantages are; a smaller
Dutch vocabulary, difficulties with comprehensive reading in preschool, and sometimes
having the feeling to not fully command any language anymore.
The last group of questions are different from all the previous ones because they tend to go
a little outside the context. The first one is mostly to try and understand which language
plays the most important role. The other two are actually more to see what other effects
bilingualism has, which is therefore already also a bit part of possible further research.
14. In which language do you dream and/or think? Does this change sometimes?
19. To what extend did you not only learn an extra language, but also ‘learn’ an extra
culture? And if so, how strong do you feel connected with this culture?
20. Are there differences in humour between the different languages?
A lot of people relate the language they dream and think in to the language they are at that
moment most “occupied” with. So for example when travelling to family in a foreign country
the language of the thinking and dreaming often adapts itself to the language spoken in the
foreign country. So when having spoken one particular language all day the thinking and
often dreaming is in that language as well. There are on the contrary also several people
who state to (almost) always dream and think in the same language (often Dutch).
The question about the different cultures led to a lot of different and interesting answers.
Some say to really feel like they belong to two different cultures and therefore also really
feel “at home” when being in either of the countries to which the cultures belong. Others
say to do feel like they have two cultures, but they think the cultural differences are very
little and therefore they do not really think of it as belonging to two different cultures. One
or two say to not at all have the sense of belonging to different cultures.
29
The question about the difference between humours in the different languages was a
difficult one and the answer varies a lot. Some do not think there are any differences, and
others think there are some differences but do not name any examples to explain the
difference. Some do explain a lot about different types of humours. Most of them say that
the Dutch humour is very rude, about sex and is often on the expense of others. But even in
the descriptions of the different types of humours there is a lot of variation. Someone for
example thinks that the French and Dutch humours are very different from each other
whilst someone else thinks they look a lot alike.
The last question that needs to be discussed is the main question of the interview. However,
as I already noted in the introduction, not all of the participants have answered this
question and therefore the summery of the answers to this particular question are only
based on six respondents instead of ten. According to some participants the differences in
the language is in how the languages are grammatically structured. Others look at the
differences between the languages more in relation to themselves; so how well they are
able to speak the languages. Someone also name the differences in sound between the
languages and someone else comments on which language he/she thinks sounds better.
Two people name that there are differences in how well they are able to express themselves
in the various languages.
The participants name several advantages that are also already mentioned in previous
questions, like; speaking more than one language, being able to communicate with family
and the advantage when acquiring a new language. Others name some disadvantages that
have not been mentioned yet, like; sloppy use of language, in which they mean that they
mix the different languages because they know people will understand them anyway. An
example from one of the participants: “een lack of motivatie”. Someone else also names a
disadvantage that because of all these languages he/she focuses less on the improvement
of one particular language. Someone also, once more, states the slight disadvantage on
comprehensive reading in primary school.
Last I thought it might be interesting to include my own experiences with bilingualism, using
the interview questions as guidelines for my story. I am a female, 17 years old and speak
both German and Dutch even though I speak Dutch most of the time (about 95%). Just like
a lot of the participants I cannot recall anything from consciously learning Dutch or German
but the division between both languages was related to one parent, one language. My
mother spoke only German to me and my father and the rest of my environment spoke
Dutch. However like I said I do not speak a lot of German anymore because I now also talk
Dutch with my mother and German is actually only spoken when with German family or
friends. The fact that I speak more Dutch is probably also the reason I prefer this language,
just because it is easier to express myself. Nonetheless are most people not able to hear
that am from the Netherlands when I speak German. I can read and write in both languages
and the reading in both languages is almost on the same level. When reading a German
book it takes me some time to adjust to the language but after that it is easy. Writing was a
30
little more difficult because I used to write everything phonetically, but since I have started
German as an official subject in school my writing has improved a lot. I think my Dutch
vocabulary is more extensive especially when considering the amount of synonyms I know
for one word in both languages. Therefore, I sometimes have trouble finding a certain word
when speaking German. Nevertheless, it does not really require any effort to switch
between the languages, that is just something that seems natural. Translating from German
to Dutch is probably just a little easier than the other way around and when I have to count
really fast or long I switch to Dutch because I am less likely to lose track. I do have the
feeling that it is easy for me to learn new languages and that I also have an interest in
foreign languages, but, I am not sure this is because of being bilingual. Nonetheless do I
think I have had a lot of advantages form being bilingual. Being able to communicate with
my family and people in every country were German is spoken is something I really
appreciate. Also the advantage of having a subject in school which you do not have to worry
about is something very useful. Speaking an extra language also gives me the advantage of
having an extra “home”, but more on that later. Personally I have not experienced any
disadvantages from being bilingual. I mostly dream and think in Dutch, still, this does
sometimes change. When being in German for some time and speaking it a lot I notice that
I switch from thinking in Dutch to thinking in German. For dreaming I find it harder to say
exactly which language I do that in.
I also really think there is a difference between humours in the different languages, but I
am not sure this is because of the difference in language or because of the difference in
culture. The Dutch humour is very rude and is, like some participants already stated, often
about sex and insulting people. However it can also be very dry and sarcastic. I find it
harder to describe the German humour but I think it is softer, maybe more silly and
harmless. I recognize for example that my grandmother has a type of humour I would
typically call German humour but still it is hard to describe. Nonetheless do I think both the
humours can be funny.
Finally, I want to say I strongly feel that I have two different cultures and belong to two
different nationalities. An example of this is that in our family we both celebrate the German
and the Dutch holidays, which involves Lebkuchen, Kristkind and Sinterklaas. Also being in
Germany and hearing the language anywhere always brings a sense of “home”. I recognize
that this feeling tends to grow stronger now that I get older. I start to see more differences
between the Dutch and the German people and even though the cultures seem very similar
I am starting to see that they are actually very different. Also for example in the way people
interact with one another or which “unwritten” rules a culture has. What I like so much
about the different cultures is that I can say that I feel really much connected to the both of
them and that I feel enriched to have them both. I never have the feeling that I should have
to choose between them because I feel that they can both coexist within me and together
sort of shape my nationality and identity.
So to conclude and answer the last question, I think there are differences between the two
languages, like how well I command them and am able to express myself. I am very happy
with being bilingual and I cannot think of any disadvantages I might have experienced. I do
31
however have experienced several advantages. A really important one is of course to be
able to speak two languages fluently instead of one. But also the aspect of two languages
having to cultures is something I experience very strongly and is also what I, personally,
would call the biggest advantage of being bilingual.
5.3 Conclusion
What was shown very clearly through the interviews is that almost all the bilinguals and
multilinguals have a weaker and a stronger language. This does not mean that they are not
fully fluent in both their first languages but it does mean that there is one language that is
just a little better developed than the other. This is often the language that is spoken most
and the language of the current country of living (so Dutch). But it is possible for the
division of the weaker and the stronger language to change later. Because of this weaker
and stronger language most of the participants experienced differences between the two
languages. This involved things like reading and writing, vocabulary but also sentence
structure and differences in grammatical elements.
Nonetheless do these differences not seem to directly relate to the advantages and
disadvantages. Only the knowledge of the difference in structure and grammar of languages
can be accounted for as a factor why bilinguals feel like they have an advantage in acquiring
a new language.
The most evident advantage of being bilingual seems to be actually quite ‘simple’. It is the
ability to express yourself in more than one language; to be able to communicate with more
people. But also having a lead in school in a foreign language is an several times named
advantage. The most named disadvantage is the arrear some people they feel they have on
Dutch spelling. Other disadvantages are that some people feel like they are becoming lazy
because they start to mix different languages, for example when having trouble to find a
certain word. They do this because they know people will understand them anyway. What
should be taken into consideration is that every bilingual could name advantages, whereas
not all of them could name disadvantages.
So to conclude, bilinguals and mulitlinguals seem to both experience disadvantages and
advantages. However the advantages seem to overthrow the disadvantages and all the
people I spoke to seemed to be really happy to be bilingual. Also those who could name
disadvantages did not seem to think that these disadvantages are more important than the
advantages they experience. So overall the advantages seem to be of more value and
therefore dominate the disadvantages.
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6.1 Conclusion
How do monolingual and bilingual children acquire language(s) and what advantages
or disadvantages for bilinguals can be found? Working with different chapters I have tried to
address the different elements of this question and find a complete answer.
As we have seen children acquire a language according to a process that can be divided into
different stages. These stages are the pre-lingual phase, which concerns mostly the
development of the infant listening to sounds and starting to produce its first sounds. The
one word phase, where the child starts to produce its first words and the concept of
holophrases start to appear. Also with the developing of the language processes like
underextension and overextension appear. The two to more words phase shows the
continuation of the learning process and shows that the holophrases disappear and make
room for the telegraphic speech. At the same time also the vocabulary of the child
undergoes an immense growth and, even though not always correctly applied, the process
of the conjugation of verbs begins. In the more words to full expression phase all the
processes started earlier in the development come to a conclusion. The telegraphic speech
disappears and the use of different word types increases. Nonetheless are there still
elements of the language children in this stage do not fully command, but they are well on
their way by the time they reach the age of five or six.
Bilingual children undergo almost the same development as monolingual children. But
already from a very early age a bilingual child has to learn to distinguish the difference
between the languages spoken. This often happens a few days after birth, but reaches finer
distinctions when the infant is a few months old. Translation equivalents are a very
important element for bilinguals because those are words the child knows in both languages
and it is aware of them being each other’s translations. As the development continues we
sometimes see a difference between the rates in which both languages develop. Sometimes
the development of language A trails behind by several months compared to language Alpha
but sometimes both languages develop simultaneously. This very much depends on the
individual case. Very important concepts to consider when looking at bilingual first language
acquisition are the unilingual utterances and mixed utterances. In the first the child uses
strictly one language in a sentence when expressing itself whereas in the second the child
mixes the different languages within one sentence. Often as children get older the mixed
utterances disappear and more and more unilingual utterances take their place.
This is in short how in chapter 2 and 3 the elements of language development and
acquirement are addressed, and which therefore forms the answer to the first part of
research question.
In chapter 4 and 5 the advantages and disadvantages for bilinguals are addressed on two
different levels: literature research in chapter 4, and practical, qualitative research in
chapter 5. Looking at studies done on bilinguals the elements of the different studies can be
divided into different categories (cognitive control, problem-solving, literacy, acquiring a
new language and metalinguistic awareness). The first one; cognitive control, showed only
33
an advantage for two third of the tasks and in a neuroimagey study bilinguals did not
appear better or faster, but only stronger. In problem-solving one study showed a
disadvantage for lower bilinguals and an equal score for higher bilinguals, and another study
showed again only on two third of the tasks a slight advantage for bilinguals. The aspect of
literacy can be dived into preparing for literacy, developing skills for decoding, and fluent
reading. On the first aspect bilinguals are believed to have an advantage, on the second no
difference was found between monolinguals and bilinguals and on the third aspect bilinguals
who were orally fluent in both languages showed sometimes a less fluent reading in one of
the languages. There was no real evidence that bilinguals have an advantage in acquiring a
new language even though there are some studies that might leave room for possible
support. Finally, the last and biggest element of the literature research concerned
metalinguistic awareness. This element can be divided into word awareness, syntactic
awareness and phonological awareness. In word awareness several studies showed an
advantage for bilinguals even though there were also some studies that showed no
difference between monolinguals and bilinguals. In syntactic awareness most studies
showed little advantage for bilinguals and some showed none. One study even showed a
disadvantage for younger, less fluent bilinguals and an equal score for older, more fluent
bilinguals. On phonological awareness the first study showed a small advantage for
bilinguals, the second showed no difference and the third showed only on one third of the
tasks an advantage for bilinguals. So when looking at the results of the literature research it
can be concluded that the positive results for bilinguals are often stated with a lot of caution
and that the results are not always very significant. However, it is also true that in the
literature research hardly any disadvantages for bilinguals could be proven. Therefore the,
almost, nonexistence of the disadvantages could also be seen as a proof that bilingualism is
an advantage because it has no disadvantages.
The interviews, which were summarized in chapter 5, showed very interesting results.
Overall all the participants seemed to be very happy and positive about being bilingual,
which could be concluded due to that they named only, or more, advantages than
disadvantages. The most common advantage was the ability to speak more than one
language fluently and therefore be able to communicate with foreign family members,
specifically, and a bigger group of people, in general. Another big advantage was the ability
to learn a new language faster. Of course it cannot be stated with certainty this is because
of bilingualism, especially looking at the literature study that showed no advantages, but it
is sure that bilinguals feel like they have an advantage in that aspect. In the differences
between the two languages, which were also researched in practical study, it became very
clear that there is indeed a weaker and a stronger language for most bilinguals. This was
already stated in the chapter 3, according by Houwer, A. de (2009). Looking at different
aspects such as reading, writing, vocabulary, and translating, most participants showed that
these things were easier in one language than in the other, which therefore supports the
concept of a weaker and stronger language.
34
Thus it can be concluded that there are some similarities between the practical and
literature study, like the concept of weaker and stronger language. Whereas in other things
there are differences between both studies, for example whether bilinguals have an
advantage when acquiring a new, second, language. This shows that the theoretical part,
which is based on numbers, sometimes differs with the experiences people have. It is
difficult to say which one has more value because they both play an important role. As some
things can only be proven by comparing a lot of bilinguals and monolinguals and then
looking at the numbers, like the advantage on problem-solving. And other things can be
proven by individual cases, for example, the learning of a new language; if a bilingual feels
like having an advantage it will probably learn the new language faster, regardless whether
this is due to his bilingual advantage or because of his psychological believe to have an
advantage.
So to formulate an answer to my research question: In the acquirement of language there
are small differences between monolinguals and bilinguals and when looking at bilingualism
as a whole there are both advantages and disadvantages. But the disadvantages were
rarely found in the literature study and were only slight in the practical research. The
advantages were found, even though sometimes small, frequently in the literature research.
In the practical research the advantages were a lot more prominent than the disadvantages.
Therefore it can be concluded that based on this research bilingualism is an advantage.
35
6.2 Suggestions for further research
6.2.1 Introduction
As said in the final conclusion, bilinguals have an advantage compared to
monolinguals. That said, these advantages are still small and it is therefore interesting to
investigate them further. This could be done either by investigating this specific subject
further and deeper, or by looking at other areas on which bilinguals could have advantages,
like the cultural and social aspect. Investigating this subject further could be done for
example by trying to find prove using a neurological point of view or making the practical
research of this project more extensive. How this could be done is explained in 6.2.1. Why
culture in relation to bilingualism is interesting to research is explained in 6.2.2.
6.2.2 Expanding the qualitative research
First of all, before looking at other subjects where bilinguals could have an advantage
it is important to consider how the current research I have done could be improved. For
example doing the same interviews with more bilinguals or multilinguals would already
improve the significance of the outcome of that research a lot. But also expanding the
interview itself, by asking more questions or going into the subject deeper more results can
be found and therefore a more accurate picture of the advantages and disadvantages can
be formed. Furthermore different target groups could also help make the research more
significant. I chose to focus only on teenagers and young adults because I knew the most
bilinguals within that target group and because it would make comparing the results easier.
However it is of course very interesting to research whether the perspectives of people on,
and experiences with, bilingualism change as they grow older. Also these different age
groups would give a more complete picture of the advantages and disadvantages people
experience due to bilingualism.
6.2.3 Bilingualism and neurology
Working on this research I came across the aspect of neurology several times. For
example by looking at how the acquiring of language works, I intentionally thought to be
explaining how this process develops in the brain. Also, having that knowledge I hoped to
be able to explain what differences there are in the brain on language acquisition between
bilinguals and monolinguals. However, as it soon turned out, this was an aspect that
involved a lot of expertise on neurology, and therefore I was not able to write about it. But
apart from that, also the available material on the neurologic aspect of bilingualism is very
limited. For example the neuroimaging study by Bialystok, E. (2005) on cognitive control
was at the time the source 98 was written one of the only neurological studies on
bilingualism. Nonetheless, is it of course a very interesting aspect to consider when looking
at bilingualism and its advantages and disadvantages. In the future there will probably be
98 Green, D. W. (2011), “Bilingual Worlds”, in: edited by Cook, V. and Bassetti B., “Language and Bilingual
cognition”, Hove: Psychology Press. Page 234-235
36
more facilities and options to do neurological research and therefore more possibilities to
investigate the relation between neurology and bilingualism.
6.2.4 Bicultural
Language and culture are two elements that are closely intertwined; every culture
has its own language. However, that does not mean that one language cannot have
different cultures. For example Brazil and Portugal have different cultures even though they
speak the same language: Portuguese. It is interesting, though, to consider to what extent
bilingualism is related to biculturalism. Do children who are raised with two languages also
receive two cultures? And if they do so, does this give them an advantage? And to what
extent does the bilingualism play a role in becoming bicultural? In the interview one
question was also related to having two cultures and there were several bilinguals who said
they felt like they belonged to more than one culture. These answers are part of the reason
why I think it would be interesting to investigate this subject further.
For example according to Shikano (1999)99 people who considered themselves to be
bilingual felt more accepted and fit in better in a country than the people who thought
themselves of a less proficient level; they had a neutral to no specific reaction. Still there are
also others100 who think that biculturalism is not always a good thing because it can
sometimes make people feel like they belong nowhere and have no real identity because
they seem to be torn between different cultures.
I myself feel very much like I have two nationalities and, therefore, also am part of two
different cultures. Some participants of the interview also really felt like they had two
cultures, whilst others did not experience anything like that.
Therefore, I think it would be very interesting research to what extent there really is
something like biculturalism, but also look at to what extent biculturalism is influenced by
bilingualism and whether being bicultural brings an advantage for bilinguals.
99 Dr. Carlson, A. (2011), “Issues in Adding Biliteracy to Bilingualism and Biculturalism”
http://www.multiculturalismconference.info/articles/issues-in-adding-biliteracy-to-bilingualism-and-biculturalism-
carlson/ 23-04-11 100 Yoshida (1999a, web) mentioned by: Dr. Carlson, A. (2011), “Issues in Adding Biliteracy to Bilingualism and
Biculturalism” http://www.multiculturalismconference.info/articles/issues-in-adding-biliteracy-to-bilingualism-and-
biculturalism-carlson/ 23-04-11
37
6.3 Reflection
When I first came up with the idea to research bilingualism I never thought it would
be such a tough subject. At the very beginning, the idea was to research the relation
between cognition and bilingualism. When I look at my first research questions in
dossierblad 1 I can really see that when I formulated them I did not really know much about
the subject yet. But that is of course not a bad thing because you need to start somewhere
and from there on you work your way through.
When I started working on the project the first obstacle that crossed my path was the
availability of information. This was due to two factors. Firstly, the books in the public
libraries focussed mostly on bilingual upbringing and were often guidance books for parents
and not scientific literature. Secondly, a lot of the information online was not available
without paying for it or having certain codes (from universities or companies) to gain access
to the articles, studies or books. Because of this, I felt very limited in my options and it
really demotivated me from continuing the project. Also, I found that the way I formulated
my questions and divided the aspect cognition into different areas (like math, language and
logic) was not the way it was represented in studies and therefore it made it even harder to
find the information I needed.
Luckily, I then was able to make an appointment with Daniela Polisenksa and our
conversation gave me a lot of new insights and motivation. Her knowledge on the subject
was really helpful in order for me to formulate new, good research questions. For example
in telling me which different areas I could address in order to find a relation between
cognition and bilingualism (e.g. problem-solving). She also helped me by giving me some
literature that was really useful, especially “Bilingualism in Development (Language, Literacy
& Cognition)” by Bialystok, E. turned out to be an important source for my research. She
was also the one who helped me with the aspect of neurology and bilingualism, of which I
first intended to write about in a separate chapter. She told me that it is a very specific part
and there has not been done much research on it. This was also confirmed as I tried to find
information on neurology in combination with bilingualism. Therefore, I chose to put this
subject aside and put it in my suggestion for further research, which you will find in the next
chapter. Besides that, I was also able to gain access to books in more specialized libraries
which provided a lot of new literature and information. Almost so much that I had to learn
to find out how to focus and pick out what I really needed without being side tracked by
things that were very interesting but not really relevant to my chosen subject. Hereafter, I
was able to really work on the first sub question and find a complete answer to it.
However, the other questions were still difficult to answer even with all the information I
had access to. It was then that I realized the way my research project was formulated was
still not a way in which I could bring it successfully to an end. This brought me to a low
point in my research where I actually was ready to start a completely new subject and let
go of bilingualism in total. But I was advised not to do so, mostly because of the limited
amount of time left. I then choose to let go of the subject of bilingualism in relation to
cognition and focus more on advantages and disadvantages for bilinguals in general. This
38
turned out to be a good decision because it gave me the possibility to look at different
studies done on bilinguals without being limited to the concept of cognition. Besides that I
was able to keep everything I had written so far, which was the course of language
acquisition from birth till the age of five.
When I handed in my first version of my research I had finished the part about the first
language acquisition in monolinguals and I had done most of the literature research on
advantages and disadvantages for bilinguals. Also, I had interviewed some bilinguals on
their experiences and had the intention of putting these interviews in the same chapter as
the one about literature research. However, the main criticism on this first version was that
it did not involve enough “of myself” and this was something that was of course difficult to
change because I did not have the facilities and possibilities to do actual, practical research.
This again led to a new obstacle that had to be overcome. First, I brainstormed with my
supervisor to try and find a good way to add a more personal approach to the project.
Secondly, I also had an appointment with Elma Blom at the University of Amsterdam. She
told me about two kinds of research: quantitative research and qualitative research. The
first one involves measuring something which leads to certain results and numbers. Those
numbers are then used to come to a conclusion on the research. Qualitative research uses a
different approach, namely through in depth interviews with people you gather information.
Based on this information you come to a conclusion on your research. Those ideas together
with what I already thought of with my supervisor I chose to, instead of putting the
interviews within the chapter on the literature research, put them in a separate chapter and,
therefore, create my own small qualitative research. This involved focussing more on the
interviews and also trying to find more bilinguals who were willing to participate.
Unfortunately this idea only came to realisation several weeks before the deadline and
therefore I was limited in how far I could extend the research. Nonetheless do I think that I
was able to put together a good research and that the interviews brought very interesting
and new perspectives on the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism. I especially
liked to do this part because I could relate to it a lot more with my own experiences than I
could to the literature research. Nevertheless does literature research remain a very
important element of the project because with only the qualitative research the final
conclusion would have been of a much lower value. By combining literature (quantitative)
research with my own qualitative research I think I came to a good conclusion.
The last sub question was originally indented to be about the relation between bilingualism
and biculturalism. However, when starting to research this I came to the conclusion that it
was too much of a new and different subject within bilingualism and therefore chose to
suggest it as further research.
I learned a lot from this project and of course there are several things I would do differently
next time. For example, I would do more research on the subject prior to defining the
hypotheses, because even though I did some of that before, I had to adjust my questions
very often because I later discovered that what I was planning to do was not possible. So by
trying to gather more information beforehand and maybe reading some summaries of
39
different literature try to get a clear picture of the subject and, maybe even more
importantly, of the knowledge about it that is available, to be well prepared when starting
the research. Nonetheless you will probably never be able to avoid having to adapt your
questions at all and that is not a bad thing because that is just something that comes with
process of doing research.
Something else I would do different is from a very early stage in the project try to find
people of expertise that are willing sit down and talk with you. The reason for this is that I
found a lot of motivation in talking to them and learning what they had to say about the
subject. Talking to people about your ideas can really help you develop and come to new
insights. Both of the times I had these conversations I felt a lot new energy to continue
working on the project; I felt inspired. But these conversations can also have a more
practical function. Namely because of their expertise on the subject the people can help you
find/access good and useful information in a direct way and are probably able to tell you
really quick which things or which studies or literature you should look at and which not.
Those are in general the two main things I would do differently next time. Of course there
are other smaller things I would do different, like the way I would divide my time but also
how I would work with sources. Through this project I have learned a lot about how to cite
different studies and sources and the next time it would probably do it right from the
beginning because it will time and effort.
So I think I can say that I have come quite a long way since I started this research project,
and I had to adapt my subject and research questions several times along the way, which
sometimes led to a lot of frustration. However, that does not mean that I did not enjoy the
project overall or that I am not really pleased with the final result. Because I still very much
enjoyed researching bilingualism, partly because I could apply certain things to myself and
partly because I found the things I came across very interesting. I also really liked doing the
interviews because it gave me the opportunity to compare my own experiences with
bilingualism to those of others. So to conclude, I am very happy with the final result and
have, despite the obstacles, enjoyed bringing this research project to a successful end.
40
6.4 Bibliography
Literature sources
Besien, F. van (1985), “Kindertaal (de verwerving van het Nederlands als
moedertaal)”, Amersfoort: Acco.
Bialystok, E. (2001), “Bilingualism in Development (Language, Literacy &
Cognition)”, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Edited by Cook, V. & Bassetti, B. (2011) “Language and bilingual cognition”, Hove:
Psychology Press.
Edited by Groot, A. M. B. de & Kroll J. F. (1997) “Tutorials in Bilingualism
(psycholinguistic perspectives)”, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum associates.
Felix, S. W. (1986), “Cognition and language growth” Dordrecht: Foris Publications.
Gillis, S. en Schaerlaekens A. (2000), “Kindertaalverwerving (een handboek voor het
Nederlands)”, Groningen: Martinus Nijhoff.
Goorhuis-Brouwer, S.M. (1997), “Het wonder van de taalverwering (basisboek voor
opvoeders van jonge kinderen)”, Utrecht: de Tijdstroom.
Gray, P. (1999) “Psychology (third edition)”, New York: Worth Publishers.
Houwer, A. de (2009), “An introduction to Bilingual Development”, Bristol:
Multilingual Matters Textbook.
Houwer, A. de (2009), “Bilingual first language acquisition”, Bristol: Multilingual
Matters Textbook.
Kompier, R. en Wagenaar, E. (1997), “Handboek taalbeleid (voor mensen die
werkem met [meertalige] jonge kinderen)”, Utrecht: SWP.
41
Internet sources
http://lsadc.org/info/ling-faqs-lang_acq.cfm
http://leap.tki.org.nz/Is-bilingualism-an-advantage
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/langdev.html
http://ling.uni-konstanz.de/pages/event/Workshop2012_LangAcquisition_en.html
(illustration front page)
http://www.rightmarktonderzoek.nl/methoden-onderzoek/kwalitatief-onderzoek
Dr. Carlson, A. (2011), “Issues in Adding Biliteracy to Bilingualism and Biculturalism”
http://www.multiculturalismconference.info/articles/issues-in-adding-biliteracy-to-
bilingualism-and-biculturalism-carlson/ 23-04-11
http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/w.b.t.blom/
http://taalunieversum.org/neerlandistiek/instelling/16/universiteit-van-
amsterdamfaculteit-der-geesteswetenschappenafde
42
Further sources:
Informative conversation with Dr. (Daniela) Polisenksa, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen Afdeling Neerlandistiek Capaciteitsgroep
Nederlandse taalkunde, at her home in Amstelveen on the 15th of September 2012. 101
Informative conversation with Dr. W.B.T. (Elma) Blom, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen Afdeling Neerlandistiek Capaciteitsgroep
Nederlandse taalkunde, at “Bungehuis” in Amsterdam on the 9th of November 2012. 102
101 http://taalunieversum.org/neerlandistiek/instelling/16/universiteit-van-amsterdamfaculteit-der-
geesteswetenschappenafde 102 http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/w.b.t.blom/,
http://taalunieversum.org/neerlandistiek/instelling/16/universiteit-van-amsterdamfaculteit-der-
geesteswetenschappenafde
43
7.1 Logboek
Date Number of hours Done
29th of March 2012 2 hours en 40 minutes Coming up with a topic and
formulating a research
question.
24th of May 2012 2 hours en 40 minutes Making dossierblad 1 and 2.
4th of July 2012 2.5 hours Making a start with the
introduction.
5th of July 2012 3.5 hours Finishing the introduction,
starting on sub question 1,
making changes in
dossierblad 1 and 2. Reading
of sources and looking for
new sources.
6th of September 2012 2 hours en 40 minutes Looking up information.
15th of September 2012 3 hours Informative conversation
with Daniela Polisenska,
again adapting the main and
sub questions. Adapting the
introduction, reading sources
for sub question 1.
16th of September 2012 4.5 hours Reading literature sources
and making notes to answer
sub question 1.
22nd of September 2012 40 minutes Answering sub question 1.
23th of September 2012 2 hours Looking up information and
answering sub question 1.
25th of September 2012 1 hour Answering sub question 1.
27th of September 2012 1.5 hours Answering sub question 1.
30th of September 2012 15 minutes Looking up literature.
2nd of October 2012 2 hours en 20 minutes Reading literature.
4th of October 2012 2 hours en 40 minutes Working on sub question 1
and adapting the other sub
questions.
6th of October 2012 4.5 hours Formulating the interview
questions, reading literature
and answering sub question
3.
7th of October 2012 1.5 hours Answering sub question 3.
44
8th of October 2012 2 hours Processing the interviews
answering sub question 3.
9th of October 2012 5 hours Processing the interviews
and answering sub question
3. Altering the bibliography
and making the table of
content.
10th of October 2012 5.5 hours Processing the interviews.
Answering sub question 3
and making small start with
sub question 4. Checking
and correcting all the
elements of the provisional
version.
18th of October 2012 2 hours Reading literature and
discussing the provisional
version.
28th of October 2012 2 hours Adapting the work based on
the comments from the
provisional version.
6th of November 2012 1 hour Adapting the bibliography.
8th of November 2012 1 hour Preparation of the
informative conversation
with Elma Blom.
9th of November 2012 2 hours Informative conversation
with Elma Blom, at the
Bungehuis, UvA,
Amsterdam.
18th of November 2012 9.5 hours Further adapting of the
bibliography. Answering sub
question 2. Adapting small
stuff. Processing interviews.
Adapting the introduction
and translating the logbook.
Adapting sub question 1 and
3.
20th of November 2012 4 hours Working on sub question
three. Processing interviews.
Starting on sub question 4.
Putting everything together
in one file.
45
22nd of November 2012 4.5 hours Processing interviews.
Working on further research.
Working on answering sub
question 4. Working on
bibliography.
23th of November 2012 3.5 hours Processing interviews.
Working on further research
and writing the reflection.
Checking spelling.
24th of November 2012 1 hour Processing interviews.
25th of November 2012 7 hours Finishing sub question 4.
Doing a total spelling check.
Working on the conclusion.
26th of November 2012 3.5 hours Rereading the whole project
and adjusting small things.
27th of November 2012 8 hours Finishing the conclusion,
working on further research
and re-reading and adjusting
the whole project. Adjusting
sub question 4.
28th of November 2012 1.5 hours Checking spelling.
Total number of hours: 100.5 hours
46
7.2 Interviews
Participant 1
1. Geslacht?
Man.
2. Leeftijd?
19 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands en Frans. Daarnaast echter ook wel een beetje Spaans.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest?
Nederlands het meest, ongeveer 70%. Frans eigenlijk alleen thuis met moeder, dus
ongeveer 30%.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Nederlands is makkelijker, maar Frans is eigenlijk leuker.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Mensen horen vaak wel dat ik bijvoorbeeld niet uit Frankrijk kom, maar kunnen het accent
vervolgens niet goed plaatsen.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Nee ik kan geen Frans en Spaans lezen, dit komt voornamelijk ook door mijn dyslectie.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Nee ik kan ook geen Frans of Spaans schrijven. Lezen in het Frans gaat echter in
verhouding wel beter dan schrijven in het Frans.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Nee mijn Nederlandse woordenschat is groter, ook mede omdat ik in deze taal meer lees.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij te leren?
Ik kan me er eigenlijk niks van herinneren, het is altijd al zo geweest dat ik beide talen
spreek. Ik kan me ook niet herinneren dat ik Frans heb geleerd. Het meeste heb ik geleerd
door het gewoon veel te spreken.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Op de basisschool heb ik alleen Nederlands gehoord, ook werd ik door de docenten gewoon
in het Nederlands aangesproken. Eigenlijk heb ik alleen met mijn moeder Frans gesproken,
en dat is nog steeds zo. Mijn vader sprak ook Nederlands met ons, maar echter wel Frans
met mijn moeder.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Niet.
47
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Het is makkelijker om van het Frans naar het Nederlands te vertalen. Zowel bij vertalingen
van zinnen als bij directe woord op woord vertalingen. Je hoort het in het Frans en dan is
het makkelijker om het in het Nederlands te zeggen. Andersom is het lastiger omdat je dan
bij het vertalen naar het Frans de neiging hebt de Nederlandse zinsopbouw aan te houden.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Bijna altijd in het Nederlands. Alleen een enkele keer in het Spaans of Frans, dit gebeurt
meestal wanneer ik in een gebied ben waar Spaans of Frans wordt gesproken.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Tellen gaat beter in het Nederlands. Ook Nederlandse scheldwoorden, ik ken geen Franse
scheldwoorden. Ook sommige specifieke woordgroepen, bijvoorbeeld vleessoorten, of
bloemsoorten of soms ook bepaalde groentes.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Nee, maar dat is voornamelijk vanwege de dyslectie want mijn zus gaat het bijvoorbeeld
wel gemakkelijk af.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Het is leuk om meerdere talen te beheersen en het is ook leuk om meerdere nationaliteiten
te hebben; ik heb ze alle drie. Op vakantie is het leuk om de taal van het land te spreken. Je
krijgt vaak leuke reacties van mensen en het is op het gebied van werk ook handig. Ik kan
Franse klanten in de winkel vaak goed helpen. Ik heb ook een keer een baan aangeboden
gekregen op Schiphol omdat ik veel talen spreek.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Op de kleuterschool en basisschool werd wel eens gezegd dat het niet goed was dat ik
tweetalig was opgevoed, mede vanwege mijn dyslectie, omdat sommige docenten zeiden
dat mijn Nederlands daardoor achteruit ging.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Vooral in Spanje voel ik me heel erg thuis, dat komt ook omdat ik meer een Spaans uiterlijk
heb dan een Frans. Ik voel me helemaal geen toerist in het land, ook in Frankrijk niet. Ik
word ook altijd aangesproken in de taal van het land. Ik heb ook wel een beetje Spaans
temperament.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
In de verschillende talen heb je wel een ander soort grapjes en humor. Ik merk soms ook
verschillen bij humor tussen mijn vader en moeder. Vooral ook in films zijn de verschillen
groot. In Nederlandse komedies gaat het vaak over seks en schelden en is het soms grof.
Bij Franse komedie gaat het meer om domme dingen die gebeuren, bijvoorbeeld humor
zoals in de Pink Panter of Astrix en Obelix. Ik vind het allebei grappig maar ik heb meer met
de Nederlandse humor. Misschien ook omdat ik die meer gewend ben.
48
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
-
49
Participant 2
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
17 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands en Engels.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest?
Ik denk Nederlands, maar thuis praat ik eigenlijk gewoon Engels. Ik denk toch wel 60%
Nederlands, 40% Engels.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Ik vind Engels fijner klinken, om zelf te horen. Maar ik ben beter in Nederlands. Dus ik heb
liever dat iemand in het Engels tegen me praat en dan antwoord ik liever in het Nederlands.
Zo praatte ik vroeger altijd met mijn vader eigenlijk.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Nogal ja, een zwaar brits accent, maar ze horen niet dat ik niet uit Engeland kom.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja. Ik lees niet zoveel Engels, maar ik lees sowieso niet veel, maar Nederlands gaat wel
makkelijker.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan te
andere?
Nee, ik heb een vermoeden dat ik dyslectisch ben, maar ik ben dus echt niet goed in Engels
schrijven. Maar eigenlijk ook niet in Nederlands. Maar in het Engels moet ik er wel echt heel
goed over na denken wat ik nou precies opschrijf. Soms schrijf ik echt gewoon zoals je het
spreekt.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Ik denk dat mijn woordenschat in het Nederlands een grotere omvang heeft.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij de leren?
Ik denk dat het gewoon natuurlijk is gekomen, zo van mijn ouders, mijn vader die praat
altijd Engels tegen mij, dus dat pak je gewoon op. En met familie in Engeland, vroeger
praatte ik niet en luisterde ik alleen maar en dan kwam het praten vanzelf.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Ik denk dat mijn moeder Nederlands tegen me praatte en mijn vader Engels. Volgens mij
hebben ze mijn oppas vroeger ook Engels laten praten. Nu praat ik Nederlands met mijn
moeder en ook met mijn broers. Maar dan praten we met zijn allen weer Engels.
50
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Helemaal niet, ik merk het zelfs bijna niet.
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Ja ik weet het niet. Ik heb nogal vaak dat in het Nederlands niet op een woord kom maar
dan heb ik het Engelse woord ervoor en andersom ook. Maar mijn vocabulaire past zich aan
elkaar aan. Maar ik denk dan toch van Engels naar het Nederlands.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Ik denk in het Nederlands. Ik heb wel een paar keer in het Engels gedroomd, maar ik droom
vooral in het Nederlands. Het komt eigenlijk niet op bepaalde momenten vaker voor,
misschien als ik op vakantie ben geweest, een week met mijn familie, dat ik dan in het
Engels denk, maar niet heel erg.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Ik heb zelf nooit op een Engelse basisschool gezeten, dus het alfabet opzeggen bijvoorbeeld,
dat is echt iets wat ik in het Nederlands kan. Tellen dat maakt niet zoveel uit, maar dingen
zoals dagen in de week, ik denk dat dat makkelijker in het Nederlands is. Gewoon omdat ik
dat nooit echt gedaan heb (in het Engels).
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ja. Ik neem snel accenten over, dus praten in het Duits of Frans gaat ook gewoon
gemiddeld.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nou is Engels is natuurlijk een voordeel dat je dat vloeiend spreekt want dat is wel een
wereldtaal. En ja ik vind een Brits accent ook wel cool eigenlijk! Dat is wel heel maf want
dan kijkt iedereen je aan.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Ja nou ik heb het idee dat ik een beetje achterloop op grammatica met Nederlands,
Nederlandse spelling en zo. Vooral met zinsopbouw soms, eigenlijk “a-grammaticaal”
gewoon.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Ja dat denk ik wel, want als ik bijvoorbeeld in de tram zit en ik hoor mensen Engels praten,
met een goed accent, dan mis ik dat raar genoeg terwijl ik niet opgegroeid ben in Engeland,
maar het is toch wel thuis. En ik verlang er ook wel naar om terug te gaan naar Engeland,
om er zelf te studeren bijvoorbeeld. Dat is toch een zekere nostalgie. Ik heb bijvoorbeeld
ook, Nederlanders willen altijd alles aanraken, bij het winkelen bijvoorbeeld, en dat hebben
Engelse totaal niet en ik merk aan mezelf dat ik dat dan irritant vindt. Nederlanders zijn veel
meer flapuiten. Terwijl ik ben best wel bescheiden en ik zou nooit, nooit zeggen wat ik denk
als ik iemand zou kunnen kwetsen.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
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Humor, ja natuurlijk! Engelse humor is, ik zou niet weten hoe ik het moet omschrijven, heel
droog. Ik vind Nederlandse humor vaak bot. Engelse humor is meer slapstick, tegen dingen
aanlopen en dat soort dingen. Een beetje stomme dingen doen. Nederlandse humor gaat
heel snel over seks en geloof of zo; belediging van geloof.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
Aan de ene kant zijn Engels en Nederlands erg verschillend van elkaar. Het is een totaal
verschillende vocabulaire, daar heb ik tot op de dag van vandaag moeite mee en het liefst
praat ik dan ook twee talen door elkaar. Dat is omdat je gemakkelijk op sommige woorden
komt van de ene taal, en in de andere taal weet je weer andere dingen. Dit doe ik vooral als
ik iets snel moet uitleggen, vandaag bijvoorbeeld: Met een lack of motivatie. Ik kom dan
even niet op het Nederlandse woord en mensen begrijpen dan toch meestal wel van ik
bedoel. Aan de andere kant lijken Engels en Nederlands wel op elkaar; de zinsbouw is
hetzelfde als je het vergelijkt met bijvoorbeeld Frans, die totaal anders is.
De voordelen zijn dat je makkelijke kan schakelen tussen twee talen. De nadelen zijn dat je
al snel slordig taalgebruik hebt. Het is prima om informeel tussen talen te schakelen (soms
gooi je er ook een Duits of Frans zinnetje tussen (omdat het kan)). Maar in een formele
situatie is het ingewikkelder. Wanneer je moet nadenken over het Nederlandse woord en
het prima in het Engels weet, kan je natuurlijk niet even op Engels overschakelen.
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Participant 3
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
17 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Ik spreek Nederlands, Engels en Frans.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest?
Ik denk Nederlands want dat spreek ik gewoon op school en op werk. Thuis spreek ik ook
Engels en Frans maar het meeste denk ik wel Nederlands. Ik spreek Frans met mijn
moeder dus dat zal wel het minste zijn, en Engels met mijn vader maar ook vaak met
allebei want mijn vader spreekt niet echt Frans. Dus misschien 20% Frans, iets meer
Engels, 30% en de rest Nederlands (50%).
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Ik vind Nederlands de makkelijkste taal omdat ik die het meeste spreek. En ik zit ook op een
Nederlandse school dus die taal ontwikkelt zich het beste. Ook als ik Nederlands vergelijk
met hoe ik Frans spreek dan is er best een groot verschil: Bij Nederlands hoef ik zeg maar
niet 'na te denken' of ik het goed zeg en bij Frans is dat wel het geval.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Ik heb vooral als ik net in een land kom waar ze Frans spreken, nog wel een beetje een
accent, maar als ik het dan langer spreek dan wordt het geleidelijk veel minder. En bij
Engels heb ik helemaal geen accent.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja. Nederlands en Engels gaan wel makkelijker. Frans heb ik vroeger heel veel gelezen, nu
niet zoveel meer maar het gaat ook nog prima; ik kan nog best wel snel lezen in het Frans.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Met schrijven ook Engels en Nederlands het beste en Frans iets minder goed.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Mijn Nederlandse woordenschat is het grootst denk ik, daarna Engels en daarna Frans.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij de leren?
Echt totaal niet eigenlijk. Het is allemaal gewoon hetzelfde geweest; gewoon allemaal
tegelijk heb ik ze geleerd dus ik kan me daar niks van herinneren.
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11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Ja, Engels met mijn vader en Frans met mijn moeder. Nederlands dan met mijn oppassen
of met mijn zusje of gewoon op school. Dat was altijd zo, ik heb bijvoorbeeld nooit Frans
met iemand anders gepraat, behalve als ik familie zag misschien. Dat is nu nog hetzelfde.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Niet zo heel erg.
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Ik denk dat het van Engels naar Nederland en van Frans naar Nederlands makkelijker is dan
vertalen naar een andere taal.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Nederlands. Ik heb wel is een droom in het Frans gehad, maar dat is dan heel af en toe.
Maar ik denk wel altijd in het Nederlands.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Ja misschien de dagelijkse dingen, als ik bijvoorbeeld ik wiskunde maak, dan zou ik dat denk
ik niet in me hoofd allemaal in het Frans kunnen denken. Bijvoorbeeld ook snel even tellen
dat zal vast makkelijker zijn in het Nederlands.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ik denk het wel want mijn moeder heeft bijvoorbeeld heel veel vriendinnen die Spaans
spreken. Die zijn vaak bij ons over de vloer gekomen en nu kan ik het eigenlijk allemaal wel
verstaan. Als ik iets lees bijvoorbeeld in het Spaans, in de vakantie, dan herken je zoveel
woorden uit die andere taal dat het wel sneller gaat.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nou je kan in het buitenland met mensen communiceren en het is denk ik ook wel een
voordeel later met een baan, als je gewoon op je CV kan zetten dat je gewoon vloeiend die
talen spreekt.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Ik weet het niet, niet echt. Ik spreek natuurlijk niet echt Nederlands thuis met mijn ouders
dus dat zal vast wel iets uitmaken. Maar ik spreek ook niet slechter Nederlands dan de rest,
dus voor mij zijn er niet echt nadelen.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Ja al me familie woont natuurlijk in Canada, dus ik voel me wel een beetje Canadees, maar
eigenlijk vind ik niet echt dat de culturen heel veel van elkaar verschillen. Het is allebei
natuurlijk gewoon een westerse cultuur; het zijn allemaal kleine verschillen. Gewoon als je
in Canada komt dan is alles net iets meer volgens het boekje, bijvoorbeeld als je de Douane
doorkomt, moet je echt alles opgeven wat je mee hebt genomen, terwijl ze in Nederland zo
nuchter zijn je kan gewoon naar binnen kan, en dat soort dingen zijn het altijd wel een
54
beetje. Ik weet nog wel vroeger ging ik naar kamp in Canada en dan mocht nooit
boterhammen met pindakaas meenemen omdat ze altijd bang waren dat er mensen waren
met pinda allergie. Maar verder is het allemaal wel een beetje gelijk.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Engelse humor is vaak sarcastisch en erg droog (het slaat vaak nergens op). Nederlandse
humor gaat veel over seks en gaat vaak ten koste van anderen. Ik denk dat over het
algemeen Franse en Engelse humor minder ten koste gaat van anderen dan Nederlandse
humor.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
Ik ervaar vooral verschil tussen Engels, Nederland en Frans. Frans is de taal die ik het minst
vloeiend spreek en ik heb vaker dat ik moet nadenken over wat ik zeg, terwijl ik dat vrijwel
nooit heb in het Engels of Nederlands. Verder heb ik vaak het gevoel dat ik bijvoorbeeld
mijn emoties of hoe ik me voel het beste kan beschrijven in het Nederlands, dan in het
Engels en uiteindelijk in het Frans. Nadelen zijn dus dat ik me minder goed kan uiten in het
Frans. Maar het feit dat ik er andere talen bij spreek is een voordeel in de zin van: 'als ik het
niet weet in de ene taal, weet ik het wel in de andere'. Dus dan kan ik gewoon iets langer
nadenken maar uiteindelijk wel een vertaling vinden.
Een nadeel van het verschil in het vloeiend spreken van meerdere talen is ook dat je minder
focust op het verbeteren van één taal. Ik spreek bijvoorbeeld niet non-stop Frans. Als ik
bijvoorbeeld in Frankrijk zou wonen en alleen maar Frans zou spreken zou de taal meer
verbeteren dan wanneer ik “parttime” Frans spreek.
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Participant 4
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
21 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands en Frans.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest?
Nederlands en Engels.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Ik vind Frans de mooiste taal, Engels het fijnst om te spreken en Nederlands het
makkelijkst.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Dat hangt af van hoe hard ik mijn best doe om zonder accent te spreken. Ik heb zowel met
Engels en Frans meegemaakt dat ze vroegen waar ik vandaan kwam in het desbetreffende
land.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Engels en Nederlands gaat heel gemakkelijk, Frans met iets meer moeite.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Geldt eigenlijk hetzelfde als voor de vorige vraag. Dus Engels en Nederlands gaat heel
gemakkelijk, Frans met iets meer moeite.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Als ik er een cijfer voor zou moeten geven krijgt Nederlands een 8, Engels een 7 en frans
een 6.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij de leren?
Er werd door mijn moeder vaak in het Frans gesproken. En mijn tante heeft ons ook nog
lessen gegeven toen ik zes was. Daarbij was dit de taal die ik sprak met familie in Marokko
en dan gaat het vanzelf. Hoewel grammaticaal misschien niet altijd even correct, maar
verstaanbaar maken lukte al toen ik klein was.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Toen ik klein was, was het voornamelijk mijn moeder die Frans met ons sprak, nu is dat erg
veranderd. Ik doe een internationale studie waardoor ik ook Franse vrienden heb. En ik ga
ook vaak richting Frankrijk om die vrienden op te zoeken.
56
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Dit gaat wel vrij gemakkelijk maar als het schakelen is tussen Engels en Frans merk ik dat ik
het soms door elkaar haal.
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
-
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Nederlands en Engels. Dit is vaak verschillend. Ik leer in het Engels en soms blijf ik dan
thuis ook in het Engels denken. Is vaak minder vermoeiend.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Werkwoorden vervoegen in het Nederlands en Engels gaat mij gemakkelijker af dan in het
Frans.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ja, ik leer vaak veel van een taal door gewoon te luisteren en er logica in proberen te
vinden. Zoals Spaans, Duits en Italiaans. Hier herken ik vaak dingen in uit het Frans, Engels
of Nederlands.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Ik kan in veel landen terecht met deze 3 talen. Hierdoor krijg je meer van een land mee
omdat je ook kan communiceren met de mensen uit het land zelf. Iets wat ik erg leuk en
interessant vind.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Geen.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
De Marokkaanse en Franse cultuur heb ik wel goed meegekregen en voel mij hier in die zin
mee verbonden dat ik mijzelf rijk voel; dat ik mij op totaal verschillende plekken toch heel
erg thuis kan voelen.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Extreme verschillen! Franse zijn ontzettend droog en hebben vaak ook meer zwarte humor.
Nederlanders zijn nuchter en houden over het algemeen wel van een sarcastisch grapje (in
mijn omgeving). Marokkanen hebben vaak grappen/moppen die te maken hebben met een
één of andere mythe of verhaal uit het verleden. Je zit meestal even voor die grappen maar
uiteindelijk kan je wel lachen.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
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57
Participant 5
1. Geslacht?
Man.
2. Leeftijd?
16 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands, Engels en Frans
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest?
Nederlands.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vind dat de andere, zoja welke? En
kan je aangeven waarom?
Nee, ligt aan de situatie.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Niet waar ik me van bewust ben.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja, ik alle drie de talen lezen. Engels lezen vind ik het fijnst maar vaak zijn Engelse boeken
ook simpelweg beter.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zoja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja, ik kan alle drie de talen schrijven. Engels is weer het makkelijkst omdat ik daar niet op
werkwoord vervoegingen hoef te letten (die gaan vanzelf).
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Mijn Nederlandse woordenschat is op dit moment het grootst.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij de leren?
Ja, toen ik 10 was ging ik van een Internationale (Engels sprekende) school daar, naar een
lokale (Franse school). Ik kon toen al redelijk Frans maar toen werd het echt vloeiend.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzicht van
nu?
Met mijn ouders sprak ik altijd Nederlands, met mijn vrienden van school Engels en met
mijn vrienden uit de omgeving Frans.
Nu ik in Nederland woon spreek ik met iedereen Nederlands behalve met mijn broer
waarmee ik nog Engels praat. Frans spreek ik alleen nog met mijn oude vrienden uit
Zwitserland.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Dat gaat meestal vanzelf. Behalve als iemand je ineens in een andere taal aanspreekt dan je
op dat moment mee bezig bent. Dan moeten ze het vaak twee keer zeggen voordat ik het
begrijp.
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13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Nee, maar vertalen is altijd lastig. Je moet de hele tijd nadenken welk woord precies
dezelfde betekenis heeft en veel woorden zijn moeilijk te vertalen. Dus is het vaak ook
vervelend als mensen vragen of je iets in het Engels of Frans kan zeggen.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Dat ligt helemaal aan het moment. Nu ik in Nederland woon is dat meestal Nederlands maar
als ik tijdelijk bij Franse vrienden logeer in Genève (waar ik vroeger woonde) wordt dat
Frans.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Nee niet echt.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ja het is meestal even wennen aan begrippen en zo, maar na een tijdje is het alsof je nooit
anders hebt gedaan.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Ik heb een soort gevoel voor taal gekregen. Talen gaan me over het algemeen heel
gemakkelijk af op school, ook degene die ik niet spreek.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Af en toe heb je het gevoel dat je géén één taal echt vloeiend spreekt.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Aangezien ik altijd in Europa heb gewoond verschilden de culturen niet zo erg. En als er
verschillen zijn dan voel ik me er niet echt mee verbonden.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Ja, heel erg. Natuurlijk heb je grappen die iedereen begrijpt maar sommige opmerkingen
vallen in sommige talen wel goed en in andere niet.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
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59
Participant 6
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
17 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Engels (Amerikaans) en Nederlands.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest? (verdeling
in percentages)
75% Nederlands en 25% Engels.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Ik prefereer geen taal, maar Nederlands is wel makkelijker omdat je dit veel meer spreekt
en je in Nederland woont dus dit veel meer tegenkomt.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Nee, ik spreek allebei de talen vloeiend.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ik kan beide talen lezen, maar Nederlands is toch iets makkelijker omdat je om je heen in
Nederland veel meer dingen in het Nederlands leest dan in het Engels.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja ik kan beide talen schrijven, qua grammatica is Nederlands wel wat makkelijker te
schrijven dan Engels omdat je dan beter op je gevoel af kan gaan.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Ik denk het wel, maar misschien is de Nederlandse woordenschat iets groter.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij te leren?
Niet bewust, het is allemaal zo gebeurt toen ik een baby was denk ik.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Met mijn moeder sprak ik Nederlands en met mijn vader Engels. Nu is dat nog steeds wel
zo, alleen praat ik soms ook met mijn vader Nederlands en met mijn moeder Engels. Toch
blijft het eigenlijk automatisch met mijn vader Engels en met mijn moeder Nederlands.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Eigenlijk kost het bijna geen moeite, misschien heel even een paar seconden nadenken
maar zodra ik geschakeld heb merk ik het niet meer.
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13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Voor mij gaat vertalen van Engels naar Nederlands makkelijker dan vertalen van Nederlands
naar Engels.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Als ik in Nederland ben en dus met heel veel Nederlands sprekende mensen omga droom ik
in het Nederlands en als ik in Amerika ben en dus met heel veel Engels sprekende mensen
omga droom ik vaak in het Engels.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Nee, die dingen gaan allemaal even gemakkelijk.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ja, ik denk wel gemakkelijker dan anderen omdat je een soort basiskennis hebt.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Dat het leren van andere talen makkelijker is en dat je met Engels eigenlijk heel makkelijk
overal in de wereld overweg kan.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Er zijn geen nadelen denk ik.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Niet zo erg, want ik denk niet dat de culturen van Amerika en Nederland heel erg
verschillen. Alleen vieren wij bijvoorbeeld wel Amerikaanse feestdagen en Nederlandse
feestdagen.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Nee, niet dat ik weet.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
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Participant 7
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
16 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands en Frans.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest? (verdeling
in percentages)
Frans 40% en Nederlands 60%.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Nederlands, omdat ik dat als ik niet thuis ben altijd spreek.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Nee.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ik kan beide goed lezen, Nederlands soms makkelijker.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ik kan beide schrijven, Nederlands wel veel beter.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Ja, ongeveer wel.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij te leren?
Helemaal niet, ik heb beide talen tegelijk geleerd. Namelijk vanaf mijn geboorte.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Mijn moeder is Frans en sprak toen ik geboren werd nog niet zo goed Nederlands. Zij sprak
dus altijd Frans tegen me. Dat is zeker veranderd, want mijn jongste broertje van 8 jaar
oud spreekt veel minder goed Frans dan ik. Dit komt doordat mijn moeder nu wel goed
Nederlands spreekt en dat dus ook meer heeft gedaan.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Wel veel. Als iemand mij vraagt wat een niet al te makkelijk woord betekent in het Frans of
Nederlands moet ik wel goed nadenken en heb ik wel moeite te schakelen.
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Nee.
62
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Als ik in Frankrijk ben bij mijn familie en vrienden ben dan denk ik in het Frans. Als ik de
hele dag met mijn moeder ben geweest ook. Anders meestal in het Nederlands.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Nee.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ja, ik merk wel dat ik het gemakkelijker leer dan de gemiddelde leerling.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Een vak minder op school, de mogelijkheid om in Frankrijk te studeren zonder enig
probleem, met mijn Franse familie kunnen communiceren, het sneller leren van andere
talen.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Dat ik op de basisschool veel moeite had met begrijpend lezen.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
De Franse cultuur is wel degelijk anders, ik voel me hier wel mee verbonden door mijn
moeder en familie uit Frankrijk.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Ja, dit heeft ook weer met het verschil tussen culturen te maken denk ik.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
Ze hebben me tot nu toe bijna geen nadelen opgeleverd, alleen dus op de basisschool af en
toe. Voordelen zeker wel, namelijk op de middelbare school tijdens Franse les en ik merk
dat ik andere talen dankzij mijn tweetaligheid snel oppak. Ook kan ik als ik in Frankrijk ben
gemakkelijk met mensen (o.a. familie) communiceren en vrienden maken.
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Participant 8
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
17 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands en Hebreeuws.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest? (verdeling
in percentages)
70% Nederlands en 30% Hebreeuws.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Nederlands. Ik woon mijn hele leven in Nederland en heb ook het grootste gedeelte van
mijn educatie in het Nederlands gehad.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Als ik in Israël op vakantie ben merken mensen vaak wel aan mijn accent dat ik daar niet
vandaan kom, alhoewel ik wel vloeiend de taal beheers.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja ik kan beide talen lezen, maar een geheel boek lezen in het Hebreeuws zal mij heel veel
tijd kosten en ik zal er minder van begrijpen dan van een Nederlands boek.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ik heb op een joodse basisschool gezeten, hierdoor kan ik ook Hebreeuws schrijven. Zowel
blokletters als schrijfletters. Toch gaat ook hier het Nederlands mij gemakkelijker af.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Doordat ik tweetalig ben opgevoed is mijn Nederlands woordenschat niet heel breed.
Alhoewel ik toch denk in het Nederlands een grotere te hebben.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij te leren?
Vrijwel niet, alhoewel ik ieder jaar wanneer ik in de zomervakantie naar toe Israël ga, toch
wel steeds nieuwe woorden er bij leer.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Mijn moeder komt uit Israël en zij is degene die ons het Hebreeuws heeft bijgebracht.
Terwijl mijn vader als Nederlander ons Nederlands heeft leren spreken. Ik woon al mijn hele
leven in Nederland dus naast mijn vader heb ik ook school en mijn omgeving om mij te
specialiseren in de Nederlandse taal.
64
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Doordat ik het natuurlijk gewend ben om dagelijks Nederlands te spreken en te schrijven,
moet ik de eerste twee dagen als ik in Israël ben vaak wel een beetje inkomen. Maar dat is
daarna ook gelijk verdwenen en heb ik er totaal geen last meer van.
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Het vertalen van het Hebreeuws naar het Nederlands gaat makkelijker dan het vertalen van
het Nederlands naar het Hebreeuws. Maar het verschil is niet al te groot.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Voor zover ik weet, altijd in het Nederlands.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc.).
Niet waar ik zo één, twee, drie, op kan komen.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Nee, ik heb echt totaal geen talenknobbel. Daarom volg ik ook geen Frans of Duits. Echter
ben ik wel erg goed in het Engels en heb ik zelf ook op het tweetalig onderwijs gezeten op
het Hermann Wesselink College.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Hierdoor kan ik gemakkelijk met mijn familie in het buitenland communiceren. Ook kan ik
mijn moeder daardoor helpen als zij iets van het Nederlands of het Engels niet verstaat of
begrijpt.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Hierdoor heb ik een kleine achterstand in de Nederlandse woordenschat. Verder is deze
vraag niet echt van toepassing op mij.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Mijn moeder is een Joodse vrouw, wat mij ook joods maakt. Ik ben ook Joods opgevoed en
liberaal gelovig.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Niet van toepassing.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
In het Nederlands spreek je hetzelfde voor beide geslachten (bijvoorbeeld: hoe gaat het met
jou?). Terwijl in het Hebreeuws net als bijvoorbeeld in het Frans, woorden worden vervoegd
op het moment dat degene tegen wie je spreekt een man of een vrouw is.
Voor mensen die het Hebreeuws niet kennen, kan daarom deze taal leren moeilijk zijn. Nog
een complicatie voor het leren van het Hebreeuws zijn de nieuwe letters die je moet weten
te herkennen. Terwijl het Nederlands qua schrijven en spreken veel van de wereldtaal, het
Engels, weg heeft.
65
Participant 9
1. Geslacht?
Man.
2. Leeftijd?
17 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Nederlands en Frans.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest? (verdeling
in percentages)
Nederlands: 65%, Frans: 30%.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Nederlands vind ik natuurlijk niet ingewikkeld net als Frans, alleen het schrijven en de
grammatica van de Franse taal vind ik lastiger.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Fransen kunnen wel horen dat mijn Frans een accent heeft maar dit is wel nihil.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ik kan Nederlands voor 100% praten en lezen. Frans kan ik ook lezen maar op een minder
hoog niveau, dit komt omdat ik minder Franse boeken heb gelezen dan Nederlandse.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Nederlands kan ik prima schrijven, Frans kan ik minder goed schrijven.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Nee mijn woordenschat is in het Nederlands wel groter dan in het Frans.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij te leren?
Het leren zelf kan ik me helemaal niet herinneren, van beide talen niet, dit is spelenderwijs
gegaan.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Mijn moeder (Franstalig) kon eerst geen Nederlands en heeft toen altijd Frans tegen mij
gesproken. Mijn vader altijd Nederlands en hierdoor ontstond er een 50/50 situatie en
leerde ik beide talen. Naarmate mij moeder beter Nederlands is gaan spreken, en nu
vloeiend spreekt, praat zij steeds vaker ook Nederlands met mij.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Ik hoef helemaal geen moeite doen om te schakelen, dit gaat automatisch.
66
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Hier heb ik eigenlijk nooit bewust over nagedacht en weet ik ook niet zeker, ik vermoed dat
het ongeveer even makkelijk gaat.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
Ik droom en denk meestal in de taal waar ik mee bezig ben of mee bezig ben geweest. Dit
wisselt keer op keer tussen Nederlands, Frans, maar ook Engels.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Alles gaat me net iets makkelijker af in het Nederlands omdat ik meer Nederlands spreek
dan Frans.
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ik heb gemerkt dat ik Engels zeer snel heb geleerd, maar of dit door mijn tweetalige
opvoeding komt weet ik niet zeker.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Ten eerste kan ik met al mijn familie praten zowel in Nederland als in Frankrijk. Verder kan
ik met veel meer mensen in de wereld praten; zo merk ik op vakantie dat ik snel contact leg
met andere Fransen. Natuurlijk heb ik ook een groot voordeel op school met het vak Frans.
In het algemeen helpt het met alles in het leven.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Geen één.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
De Franse cultuur verschilt wel met de Nederlandse cultuur, deze culturen heb ik beide
meegekregen. Ik voel me met beide verbonden en voel me ook altijd thuis in de openlijke
gezellige Franse cultuur. Ook het eten verschilt bijvoorbeeld enorm.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Fransen zijn misschien iets netter in hun humor maar dit verschilt niet zoveel. Beide landen
maken overigens grappen over de Belgen.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
Ze leveren geen nadelen op. De verschillen die ik verder nog merk; Frans vind ik mooier
klinken en Fransen praten openlijker met elkaar. Nederlands is wat feller en harder.
67
Participant 10
1. Geslacht?
Vrouw.
2. Leeftijd?
14 jaar.
3. Welke talen heb je geleerd in je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Duits en Nederlands.
4. Welke taal spreek je in je huidige omgeving en leefsituatie het meest? (verdeling
in percentages)
Nederlands het meest, ongeveer 98 % en 2% Duits.
5. Is er een taal die je prefereert of makkelijker vindt dan de andere, zo ja welke?
En kan je aangeven waarom?
Nederlands omdat ik dat vaker spreek.
6. Is er bij een van beide talen een accent te horen wanneer je spreekt?
Bij Duits.
7. Kan je de talen ook beide lezen en gaat een taal je dan gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Ja maar Duits is wel lastig.
8. Kan je de talen ook beide schrijven en zo ja gaat een je gemakkelijker af dan de
andere?
Nee alleen Nederlands.
9. Denk je dat je woordenschat in beide talen ongeveer even groot is?
Nee, ik denk dat de Duitse kleiner is.
10. In hoeverre kan je je nog herinneren dat je bewust bezig bent geweest een
tweede taal (of een derde) erbij te leren?
Kan me er niks van herinneren.
11. Hoe was de verdeling van de talen tijdens het leren? (bijvoorbeeld was een taal
aan één persoon of omgeving gerelateerd) en is dat veranderd ten opzichte van
nu?
Vroeger heb ik meer Duits gepraat. Mijn moeder praatte Duits en mijn vader en de rest
Nederlands. Nu spreken we thuis bijna alleen nog maar Nederlands.
12. In hoeverre moet je moeite doen om te schakelen tussen de verschillende talen?
Ik vind het soms wel een beetje moeilijk.
13. Gaat het vertalen van bijvoorbeeld taal A naar taal Alfa makkelijker dan vertalen
van taal Alfa naar taal A?
Het is makkelijker om van het Duits naar het Nederlands vertalen.
14. In welke taal droom en/of denk je? Treden daar soms veranderingen in op?
In Nederland in het Nederlands, maar als ik in Duitsland ben veranderd dit naar het Duits.
15. Zijn er bepaalde dingen die je in de ene taal makkelijker afgaan dan in de
andere? (kleuren, tellen etc).
Nee volgens mij niet.
68
16. Gaat het leren van een nieuwe taal (dus buiten de talen die je in je opvoeding
hebt gehad) je gemakkelijk af?
Ja eigenlijk wel. Hoewel woordjes stampen niet zo goed gaat kan ik wel veel horen en
verstaan als ik nieuwe talen hoor. Dus een zeker gevoel voor een taal.
17. Welke voordelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Dat ik andere talen sneller versta en dat ik me in alle Duitstalige landen ook verstaanbaar
kan maken.
18. Welke nadelen heb je ondervonden aan je tweetalige of meertalige opvoeding?
Het zou kunnen dat ik er wat last van heb gehad bij het leren van de Nederlandse spelling,
maar dat zou ook kunnen omdat ik een vorm van dyslectie heb.
19. In hoeverre heb je naast een extra taal in je opvoeding ook een extra cultuur
‘geleerd’? zo ja hoe sterk voel je je met deze cultuur verbonden?
Ja, de Duitse feestdagen, Advent en alles. Maar ik voel me dan niet echt met deze cultuur
verbonden, ik voel me dan niet per se meer Duits.
20. Zijn er verschillen in humor tussen de verschillende talen?
Mijn oma en opa hebben wel verschillende humor, maar ik kan om allebei de soorten wel
lachen.
21. In hoeverre ervaar je verschillen (welke) tussen beide talen en hoeverre leveren
deze verschillen nadelen (of voordelen) op?
Sommige klanken in de ene taal zijn heel anders dan in de andere, daardoor weet ik in het
Duits niet altijd hoe bepaalde dingen moet uitspreken. Maar Nederlands gaat me sowieso
gewoon beter af dan Duits. Deze verschillen leveren niet echt voor- of nadelen op, hooguit
dat ik me in het Duits alleen soms wat minder goed kan uitdrukken.
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