Bilingualism and Multilingualism


ABSTRACT
          The concept of bilingualism as applied to individual children and to educational programs is discussed, and the history of research on bilingual children and bilingual education programs in the United States is reviewed. Bilingualism has been defined predominantly in linguistic dimensions despite the fact that bilingualism is correlated with a number of nonlinguistic social parameters. The linguistic handle has served policymakers well in focusing on an educationally vulnerable population of students, but the handle is inadequate as the single focus of educational intervention. Future research will have to be directed toward a multifaceted perspective of bilingualism as a phenomenon embedded in society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)


Bilingualism and Multilingualism
    A.   Bilingualism
1. Definition Bilingualism according to Experts :
a.       Sociolinguistics In general, Bilingualism defined as the use of two languages ​​by a speaker in interaction with other people in turn
(Mackey 1962:12, Fishman 1975:73)
b.      Bilingualism is the ability to speak two languages ​​with equal or nearly as good. Technically, this opinion refers to the knowledge of two languages​​, how the level by one.
 (Robert Lado (1964-214)
c.       Bilingualism is an alternate use of two languages. Formulate bilingualism as a habit of using two or more languages ​​by an individual (the alternative use of two or more languages​​ by the same individual). Expansion of this opinion expressed        by the level of bilingualism in terms of mastery of grammatical elements, lexical, semantic, and style are reflected in the four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Mackey (1956:155)
d.      Bilingualism is the usage of two languages ​​by a speaker or speech community.
Hartman and Stork  (1972:27).
e.       Bilingualism is the ability to use two languages ​​equally well by a speaker. Formulate bilingualism as equally good mastery of two languages ​​or native like control of two languages​​. Mastery of two languages ​​with fluency and accuracy are the same as native speakers is very difficult to measure. Bloomfield (1958:56)


2 . The division of Bilingualism      :
As for some kind of division based on the typology Bilingualism, namely:
A.    Compound Bilingualism
Bilingualism indicating that the ability to speak one language better than another language proficiency. Bilingualism is based on the relation between the B1 to B2 is controlled by the bilingual. Both languages ​​mastered by bilingual but stands on its own.

B.     Bilingualism coordinative / parallel.
Bilingualism is shown that the use of two languages ​​equally well by an individual. Bilingualism balanced level of mastery associated with B1 and B2. People who are equally capable in both languages​​.

C.    Bilingualism Sub-oordinatif (complex)
Bilingualism indicating that an individual at the time of wear often include B1 B2 or vice versa. Bilingualism is connected with the situation faced by B1. Is a small group that surrounded and dominated by a large community of a language is possible so that small communities could lose his B1.
There are some other opinions by experts in language typology Bilingualism include   :
1.      Baeten Beardsmore (1985:22)
Baeten adds one more degree of initial Bilingualism (inception Bilingualism) Bilingualism is owned by an individual who is in the process of mastering B2.
2.      According to Pohl (in Baetens Beardmore, 1985; 5)
Language typology based more on status of language that exist within society, then Pohl Bilingualism divide into three types, namely          :

a. Horizontal Bilingualism
Is a situation of using two different languages ​​but each language has equal status both in formal situations, culture and family life of the wearer.
b. Vertical Bilingualism
Is the use of language when the standard language and dialects, whether related or separate, is owned by a speaker.

c. Diagonal Bilingualism
Is the use of two languages ​​or non-standard dialects together but they have no genetic relationship with the standard language used by the community.
Type bilingualism on language skills, so the Bilingualism classified into two namely :

a. Productive Bilingualism or symmetric (symmetrical Bilingualism), namely the use of two languages ​​by an individual against all aspects of language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
b. Receptive or passive or a simetrical Bilingualism is being able to understand two languages but express oneself in only one. Children who had high expore to asecond language thr4oughout their lives, but have had little oppurtunity to use the language would fall in this category.
For example, many children in Chinese or Mexican imigrant household hear English in communication. When they enter pre school or kindergarten, his children are likely to make rapid progress in English because their receptive language skill in English has been developed.


B.      Multilingualism
Multilingualism in the World
Contrary to what is often believed, most of the world's
            population is bilingual or multilingual. Monolingualism is characteristic only of a minority of the world's peoples. According to figures cited in Stavenhagen (1990) for example, five to eight thousand different ethnic groups reside in approximately 160 nation states. Moreover, scholars estimate that there are over 5000 distinct languages spoken in that same small number of nation states. What is evident from these figures is that few nations are either monolingual or mono-ethnic. Each of the world's nations has groups of individuals living within its borders who use other languages in addition to the national language to function in their everyday lives.
  Guadalupe Valdés

Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness.  Thanks to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is getting more and more frequent, and triggering therefore the need to acquire more and more languages.
A multilingual person, in a broad definition, is one who can communicate in more than one language, be it actively (through speaking, writing, or signing) or passively (through listening, reading, or perceiving). More specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A multilingual person is generally referred to as a polyglot. Poly (Greek: πολύς) means "many", glot (Greek: γλώττα) means "language".

Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals one language usually dominates over the other.
A further possibility is that a child may become naturally trilingual by having a mother and father with separate languages being brought up in a third language environment. An example of this may be an English-speaking father married to a Mandarin Chinese speaking mother with the family living in Hong Kong, where the community language (and primary language of education) is Cantonese. If the child goes to a Cantonese medium school from a young age, then trilingualism will result.

1.     Definition of multilingualism
One group of academics argues for the maximal definition which means speakers are as proficient in one language as they are in others and have as much knowledge of and control over one language as they have of the others. Another group of academics argues for the minimal definition, based on use. Tourists who successfully communicate phrases and ideas while not fluent in a language may be seen as bilingual according to this group.
However, problems may arise with these definitions as they do not specify how much knowledge of a language is required for a person to be classified as bilingual. As a result, since most speakers do not achieve the maximal ideal, language learners may come to be seen as deficient and by extension, language teaching may come to be seen as a failure.
Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions. Cook calls these people multi-competent.


2.     Multilingualism at the linguistic level
1.      Models for native language literacy programs
Sociopolitical as well as socio-cultural identity arguments may influence native language literacy. While these two camps may occupy much of the debate about which languages children will learn to read, a greater emphasis on the linguistic aspects of the argument is appropriate. In spite of the political turmoil precipitated by this debate, researchers continue to espouse a linguistic basis for it. This rationale is based upon the work of Jim Cummins (1983).
2.       Sequential model
In this model, learners receive literacy instruction in their native language until they acquire a "threshold" literacy proficiency. Some researchers use age 3 as the age when a child has basic communicative competence in L1 (Kessler, 1984).[18] Children may go through a process of sequential acquisition if they migrate at a youn`g age to a country where a different language is spoken, or if the child exclusively speaks his or her heritage language at home until he/she is immersed in a school setting where instruction is offered in a different language.
The phases children go through during sequential acquisition are less linear than for simultaneous acquisition and can vary greatly among children. Sequential acquisition is a more complex and lengthier process, although there is no indication that non language-delayed children end up less proficient than simultaneous bilinguals, so long as they receive adequate input in both languages
3.       Bilingual model
In this model, the native language and the community language are simultaneously taught. The advantage is literacy in two languages as the outcome. However, the teacher must be well-versed in both languages and also in techniques for teaching a second language.
4.      Coordinate model
This model posits that equal time should be spent in separate instruction of the native language and of the community language. The native language class, however, focuses on basic literacy while the community language class focuses on listening and speaking skills. Being a bilingual does not necessarily mean that one can speak, for example, English and French.

3.     Potential multilingual speakers
  • Natives under a state in which they do not share the predominant language, such as Welsh people within the United Kingdom.
  • People with a strong interest in a foreign language.
  • People who find it necessary to acquire a second language for practical purposes such as business, information gathering (Internet, mainly English) or entertainment (foreign language films, books or computer games).
  • Language immersion children (or any adult who chooses to immerse in a foreign language).
  • Immigrants and their descendants. Although the heritage language may be lost after one or two generations, particularly if the replacing language has greater opportunity.
  • Children of expatriates. However, language loss of the L1 or L2 in younger children may be rapid when removed from a language community.
  • Residents in border areas between two countries with different languages, where each language is seen as of equal prestige: efforts may be made by both language communities to acquire an L2. Yet, in areas where one language is more prestigious than the other, speakers of the less prestigious language may acquire the dominant language as an L2. In time, however, the different language communities may be reduced to one, as one language becomes extinct in that area.
  • Children whose parents each speak a different language, in multilingual communities. In monolingual communities, when parents maintain a different-parent/different-language household, their children may become multilingual. On the other hand, in monolingual communities, where parents have different L1s, multilingualism in the child may be achieved when both parents maintain a one-language (not the community language) household.
  • Children in language-rich communities where neither language is seen as more prestigious than the other and where interaction between people occurs in different languages on a frequent basis. An example of this would be the city of Montreal, Canada and some border towns in the Canadian Province of Québec.
  • Children who have one or more parents who have learned a second language, either formally (in classes) or by living in the country. The parent chooses to speak only this second language to the child. One study suggests that during the teaching process, the parent also boosts his or her own language skills, learning to use the second language in new contexts as the child grows and develops linguistically.
  • People who learn a different language for religious reasons. (see: Sacred language)
  • People who marry into families where their first language is not commonly spoken.

Multilingualism within communities
http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.17/common/images/magnify-clip.png
This is a multilingual sign at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. The two at the top are Portuguese and Chinese, which are the official languages of the region. The two at the bottom are Japanese and English, which are common languages used by tourists (English is also one of Hong Kong's two official languages).
http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.17/common/images/magnify-clip.png
A caution message in English, Kannada and Hindi found in Bangalore, India
http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.17/common/images/magnify-clip.png
The three-language (Tamil, English and Hindi) name board at the Tirusulam railway station in South India. Almost all railway stations in India have signs like these in three or more languages (English, Hindi and the local language).
http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.17/common/images/magnify-clip.png
Multilingual signage at Vancouver International Airport, international arrivals area. Text in English, French, and Chinese is a permanent feature of this sign, while the right panel of the sign is a video screen that rotates through additional languages.
http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.17/common/images/magnify-clip.png
Multilingual signage found at one of the exit doors of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, Philippines. It is written in three (or either four) languages: Japanese/Chinese (either "deguchi" or "chukou"), English ("exit") and Korean ("chulgu"). Signages like this are posted in public places like malls due to the growing number of Koreans and other foreign population in the Philippines.
Widespread multilingualism is one form of language contact. Multilingualism was more common in the past than is usually supposed[weasel words]: in early times, when most people were members of small language communities, it was necessary to know two or more languages for trade or any other dealings outside one's own town or village, and this holds good today in places of high linguistic diversity such as Sub-Saharan Africa and India. Linguist Ekkehard Wolff estimates that 50% of the population of Africa is multilingual.[16]
In multilingual societies, not all speakers need to be multilingual. Some states can have multilingual policies and recognise several official languages, such as Canada (English and French). In some states, particular languages may be associated with particular regions in the state (e.g., Canada) or with particular ethnicities (Malaysia/Singapore). When all speakers are multilingual, linguists classify the community according to the functional distribution of the languages involved:
  • diglossia: if there is a structural functional distribution of the languages involved, the society is termed 'diglossic'. Typical diglossic areas are those areas in Europe where a regional language is used in informal, usually oral, contexts, while the state language is used in more formal situations. Frisia (with Frisian and German or Dutch) and Lusatia (with Sorbian and German) are well-known examples. Some writers limit diglossia to situations where the languages are closely related, and could be considered dialects of each other. This can also be observed in Scotland where in formal situations, English is used. However, in informal situations in many areas, Scots is the preferred language of choice.
  • ambilingualism: a region is called ambilingual if this functional distribution is not observed. In a typical ambilingual area it is nearly impossible to predict which language will be used in a given setting. True ambilingualism is rare. Ambilingual tendencies can be found in small states with multiple heritages like Luxembourg, which has a combined Franco-Germanic heritage, or Malaysia and Singapore, which fuses the cultures of Malays, China, and India. Ambilingualism also can manifest in specific regions of larger states that have both a clearly dominant state language (be it de jure or de facto) and a protected minority language that is limited in terms of distribution of speakers within the country. This tendency is especially pronounced when, even though the local language is widely spoken, there is a reasonable assumption that all citizens speak the predominant state tongue (E.g., English in Quebec vs. Canada; Spanish in Catalonia vs. Spain). This phenomenon can also occur in border regions with many cross-border contacts.
bipart-lingualism: if more than one language can be heard in a small area, but the large majority of speakers are monolinguals, who have little contact with speakers from neighbouring ethnic groups, an area is called 'bipart-lingual'. An example of this is the Balkans



DAFTAR PUSTAKA
Chaer, Abdul dan Leonie Agustina. 2004. Sosialinguistik Perkenalan Awal. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.
Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. 1993. Pengantar Sosiologi Bahasa. Bandung: Angkasa.
Ohoiwutun, Paul. 2004. Sosialinguistik Memahami Bahasa Dalam Konteks Masyarakat dan kebudayaan. Jakarta: Kesaint Blanc.
Bialystok, Ellen, and Kenji Hakuta. 1994. In Other Words: The Science and Psychology of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Basic Books.
Genesee, Fred. 1987. Learning through Two Languages: Studies of Immersion and Bilingual Education. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Hakuta, Kenji. i986. The Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism. New York: Basic Books.
Krashen, Stephen, R. Sarcella, and M. Long (eds.) 1982. Child-Adult Differences in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House
Zentella, Ana Celia. 1997. Growing up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children in New York. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Komentar

Postingan Populer