BILINGUALISMDefinitions, Aspects and Types

DEFINITIONS Leonard Bloom: Bilingualism means to have

“native-like control of two or more languages”.

Haugen: “Bilingualism begins when the speaker of one language can produce meaningful utterances in another language.”

Mackey: “Bilingualism is entirely relative, the point at which a speaker of a second language becomes bilingual is either arbitrary or impossible to determine.”

ASPECTS OF BILINGUALISM Degree – how well does the bilingual

know each of the languages? Function – the uses a bilingual has for

the languages, do they have different roles?

Alternation – the extent to which an individual alternates between the two languages.

Interference – The extent to which the individual manages to keep the languages separate.

INDIVIDUAL BILINGUALISM AGE: Early bilingualism, late bilingualism

CONTEXT: Natural bilingualism, secondary bilingualism

ACQUISITION: Coordinated bilingualism, subordinate bilingualism, compound

COMPETENCE: Maximalist/minimalist views, semilingualism

USE/FUNCTION

ATTITUDE

ACQUISITION Coordinate bilingualism – learning the

languages in two separate environments where the words are kept separate and each word has a specific meaning.

Compound bilingualism – learning the languages in the same context, therefore there is a fused representation of the languages in the brain.

Sub-coordinate bilingualism – where the learner interprets words of his weaker language through words of their stronger language.

COMPETENCE The speaker must be able to master two

mother tongues equally well, as well as the comparable monolingual speaker.

Criterion used by linguists.

Is it possible to know all the shades of meaning of both languages?

FUNCTION AND ATTITUDE What situations and/or domains are

either language used in?

What language does the individual think in?

Which language do they identify with?

COMPLETE BILINGUALISMBertil Malmbeg:

“A bilingual is an individual who, in addition to his mother tongue, has acquired from childhood onwards or from an early age a second language by natural means (in principle not by formal instruction), so that he has become a fully competent member of the other linguistic community within the sphere, the occupational or social group, to which he naturally belongs.”

Knowledge of a second language does not result in bilingualism.

Bilingualism=natural bilingualism=complete bilingualism

Double semilingualism: Someone who falls short of the monolingual norm in both of their languages.

SOCIETAL BILINGUALISM Societal bilingualism

(multilingualism) denotes the characteristic linguistic situation in a particular speech community, i.e. in a particular society or nation, in which more than one language is used.

Historical factors: invasion, political marriages, immigration

Contemporary factors: bilingual press and administration, mass communication and immigration.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BILINGUALISM Natural Bilingualism: individual who has

learnt two languages without formal teaching in the course of their everyday life as their natural means of communication , and often learnt from relatively young age.

School Bilingualism: Learning a foreign language by formal teaching without much opportunity to use language as a natural means of communication.

Cultural Bilingualism: Adults who learn a foreign language for work purposes.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BILINGUALISM Elite Bilingualism: a highly educated

person who has had part of their education in another language and had the opportunity to use the languages naturally.

Folk Bilingualism: Those who are forced to learn another language in a practical contact with people who speak it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Romain, S. Bilingualism Skutnabb-Kangas, T. Bilingualism or

Not?

DIGLOSSIA

Individual linguistic item has its own unique social distribution among circumstances of use

Or

Social restriction on items expressed in terms of large scale varieties rather than item by item

– ‘the uneven coexistence of 2 languages or varieties of language, within a single community.’

– expanded this definition to include unrelated languages as high and low varieties

FISHMAN 1967

FERGUSON 1959

VARIETIES• May be totally different language• May be a distinct but related version• May be an ancient version of the same

language • Each does still have its own distinct vocabulary

and grammar• May be stable language situation – items all

vary together so can be generalised on a large scale

• Not necessarily class-determined• Unequal arrangement of language varieties,

but not necessarily in competition for linguistic hegemony

PROCESS OF LANGUAGE SHIFT (MAY)

Initial contact, minority status established

Increasing pressure on minority speakers to speak the majority language, particularly in the formal domain (this therefore is an example of diglossia)

Period of bilingualism: both language spoken concurrently: firstly original language retained, new language acquired, followed by recessive use of original language, fewer fluent speakers, fewer functions

Replacement of minority language by majority language. May take place over several generations.

VARIETIESStandard (High) Vernacular (Low)

Standardised written form

Used in formal and public domain

High status Never conversational

Education, university lectures, sermons, public speeches, news, literature

Spoken form Used in informal

situations with friends and family

Little prestige Can be virtually

unwritten

Domestic interaction, personal letters, conversation, markets

FISHMAN Bilingualism and Diglossia: Everyone

understands both, definite roles established Diglossia without Bilingualism: In less

developed countries with social divide: each group doesn’t fully understand each other e.g. coloniser - colonised

Bilingualism without Diglossia: Societies with social unrest or change

Neither Bilingualism nor Diglossia: Small, isolated communities with no social hierarchy or immigration. There will still be some evolution of the language

BILINGUALISM IN PRACTICE

CATALONIA “Catalan is the official language of

Catalonia, together with Castilian, the official language of the Spanish State. All persons have the right to use the two official languages and citizens of Catalonia have the right and the duty to know them.”

Ley de Normalización Lingüística (1983) Ley de Política Lingüística (1998)

CATALONIA STATS

DIGLOSSIC TENDENCIES

INTERGENERATIONAL LANGUAGE TRANSMISSION Process that is positive for Catalan. Higher % speaking to the eldest son or

daughter in Catalan than to the grandparents.

LANGUAGE IN BUSINESS

CONCLUSION

Catalan: language of prestige. Promoted by Catalan people through the

State and their language planning. Catalonia represents a bilingual

community.

THE BASQUE COUNTRY Basque Autonomous Community (BAC)

1979:Castilian and Basque share co-official

status. Majority language of BAC is Castilian.

71% BAC20% Navarre9% The North

BILINGUALISM IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

DIGLOSSIC TENDENCIES There is some evidence to support the

idea that diglossia is present: Tendency to use Basque with family and

friends, in informal situations and to use Castilian for more formal situations.

Use of Basque varies greatly from region to region.

DIGLOSSIA FROM THE PAST Repression of Basque under Franco and

regime. Influx of Castilian speaking immigrants. Drop in Basque speakers which in turn

caused prestige of Basque to drop.Basque Country not diglossic but…

“fragmentary bilingualism with residual diglossia” Jasone Cenoz

BASQUE BILINGUALISM High rate of bilingualism. Promotion of Basque language:Private schools in 1960s.1982 & 1983 LawsSchool Models, A,B and D. Prestige balance being established as

Basque prestige increases. 2 important factors in the development

of the population:-The aging population-Impact of immigration

CONCLUSION The Basque Country leans to a more

bilingual community than diglossic. No. of bilingual speakers is constantly

growing. No very heavily weighted prestige given

to Castilian over Basque.

DIGLOSSIA IN PRACTICE

SPANISH EXAMPLE Galicia

Catalonia

Basque Country

DIGLOSSIA IN SPAIN - GALICIA The Galician example is seen as the one

that mirrors diglossia the most within Spain.

Galician is the language of preference, especially in informal situations, whereas Castilian tends to be used more formally.

In Galicia – Galician seen as the low language variety (vernacular) whereas Castilian seen as the high variety (standard).

CATALONIA Maybe historically yet in modern-day

Catalonia Diglossia has, more or less, ceased to exist.

Within the region there are slight variations yet there is a standardised form which effectively prevents diglossia.

Tends to be more associated with bilingualism, as both castilian and catalan are effectively shared, neither tends to be significantly inferior to the other.

BASQUE COUNTRY Basque Autonomous Region consists of 3 different

regions. High rate of Bilingualism within the region. Basque country is not an area associated with

Diglossia – the majority language of the region is Castilian.

Essentially, there are not sufficient Basque speakers in the region to label it Diglossic.

Basque tends to be used more informally – Castilian in more academic spheres and in formal situations.

Historically, circumstances in the Basque country – for instance repression, urbanisation and immigration have been key factors in a move away from diglossia in the region.

CONCLUSION In the Spanish case, Galicia is really the

only accurate example of Diglossia. In the other two autonomous regions – it

can be argued that there is far less distinction between Castilian and the minority language.