Bilingualism
Julia Litz
Dina Friderich
Jada Dasser
Thorben Such
Daniel Glaubitz
Rachel Van Zandt
Jassamin Ulfat
LN
LN
LN
LN
LN
TN
TN
HS
GS
HS
GS
GS
GS
HS
Bilingualism
 What is bilingualism?
 What are the pros and cons of bilingualism?
 Are bilinguals two monolinguals in one person or a
complete linguistic entity?
 How are the two languages organised in the brain?
 What are reasons for foreign accents?
 What is code switching?
 What are the speach patterns of bilingual families like ?
 What are the aims of bilingual educational systems?
Defining Bilingualism
 Julia Litz LN HS
Defining Bilingualism
 What is bilingualism?
 It is a quite difficult task to define who is and who is not
bilingual. Bilingualism involves a number of dimensions.
 there is a distinction between ability in language and use
of language
 people’s ability or proficiency in two languages may be
separate from their use of two languages
  the difference between degree (= proficiency or
competence in a language) and function (= actual use
of two languages)
Defining Bilingualism
 A person’s proficiency in a language may vary across the four
language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
 A person who is able to understand a language in its spoken or
written form, but may not be able to speak or write it well (if at all)
can be said to have a passive or receptive competence in a
second language.
 Few bilinguals are equally proficient in both languages, even though
it is often thought to be the case.
  One language tends to be stronger and better developed. This
is described as the dominant language
 Few bilinguals possess the same competence as monolingual
speakers in either of their languages: This is because bilinguals use
their languages for different functions and purposes.
Defining Bilingualism
 Minority Language:
A language is a minority language when it has less power
and status than a majority language.
 Majority Language:
Consequently the majority language is the language with
more power and a higher status in a given area.
 Example: Catalan can be perceived as a minority
language in Spain, despite its 6 million or more
speakers, because it has less status at a national level
than Spanish. Spanish is of course the majority language
in Spain.
Defining Bilingualism
A bilingual person’s competence in a
language may vary over time and
according to changing circumstances.
Thus there is no overall definition for the
term bilingualism, but we can see that
many degrees of bilingualism do exist.
Bilingualism
-Advantages and Disadvantages Jada Dasser LN HS
Advantages
Disadvantages
Communication
Culture
Cognition
Language
Education
Identity
Communication Advantages
Relationships with parents
Extended family relationships
Community relationships
Transnational communication
Language sensitivity
Cultural Advantages
 Experience of more
than one culture
 Economic advantages
in trade
Cognitive Advantages
 Creative and flexible
thinking
 Greater sensitivity in
communication
 Awareness of
language
Disadvantages of Bilingualism
Language:
Underdevelopment
Education:
Monolingualism vs.
Bilingualism
Identity:
Conflicts and crises
Two Views on Bilinguals
 Dina Friderich LN GS
Two Views on Bilinguals
The fractional
view
The holistic view
Two halves
Two monolinguals
in one person
One whole
Bilingual person
Unique linguistic
profile
The Fractional View
 Definition Bilinguals here:
people, who are equally fluent in
their two languages, with
proficiency comparable to
monolinguals
 Tests
Bilinguals normally compared to
monolingual averages and
norms
Don‘t take into account that
bilinguals use their two languages
in different situations and with
different people
Dominant View of the World
 monolingual is seen as
normal
 although: between 1/2 - 2/3 of
the world‘s population is
bilingual
 Monolingual view of
bilinguals:
negative consequences in
cognitive processing
Effect on bilinguals: being critical of
their own language competence
The Holistic View
 François Grosjean (1946 - )
 Professor of Psycholinguistics
at the University of Neuchâtel in
Swizerland
 is bilingual: English and French
 consistently advocated a
holistic view
Bilingual = complete linguistic
entity, an integrated whole
 book:
Life With Two Languages
Book: Life With Two Languages
 Def. Bilingualism here:
 Use of two (or more)
languages in one‘s
everyday life
 NOT: knowing two
languages equally well
and optimally
 The bilingual uses two
languages -separately or
together- for different
purposes, in different
domains of life, with
different people
The book isn‘t only
succesfull because of
its clarity, but because it
is written by a bilingual
 rooted in authentic
experiences, written in
a personal way
What does this mean for testing a
bilingual‘s language proficiency?
 Should competence only be
compared with other bilinguals ?
 Not realistic
 In the real world (e.g. job market)
bilinguals also have to compete with
monolinguals
 BETTER: Move away from
traditional language tests
 Emphasis on form and correctness
 To an evaluation of the general
communicative competence
 Based on the totality of the bilingual‘s
language use
Bilingualism and the Brain
 Daniel Glaubitz LN GS
2nd Language Learning Ability and IQ
2nd language learning ability is
independent of general intellectual ability
Patient referred to as “Christopher” (Smith
and Tsimpili) who has an IQ of 60-70
He knows 16 languages well enough to
provide translations into English
Bilingual Aphasics
Linguists argue about whether bilingual
information is stored in joined or separate
spatial systems
 If the systems were joined one would
expect equivalent deficits in each
language when there is damage to the
language area in the brain
This is not always the case
Bilingual Aphasics
Languages which have been equally
deficited by brain injury recovered to the
same extent in more than the half of the
cases (Paradis 1987)
Non-parallel recovery in the other cases
Leads to the suggestion that there might
be differential processing of the two
languages in the brain
Bilingual Aphasics: Non-Parallel Recovery
Some patients recover one language after
the other, some patients never recover
one of their languages
Famous case of a Swiss-born patient
investigated by Minkowski
1st language: Swiss-German; further
languages: Italian, German, French
After a stroke all of his languages
recovered except his native one
Bilingual Aphasics: Non-Parallel Recovery
The most recently used language(s) is
(are) likely to recover
NB: This does not necessarily have to be
one's native language
Bilingual Aphasics: Non-Parallel Recovery
 Paradis also demonstrated a pattern of
recovery referred to as “alternate
antagonism”
 A patient is able to speak one language, e.g.
for a day; the next day he is able to speak
only the other
 Green (1986) suggested that the patient has
not lost the ability of using one language but
is not able to switch back and forth between
the languages anymore
Lateral Dominance
 Monolinguals tend to have left-hemisphere
dominance
 Vaid (1983) found out that age of acquisition
is most crucial in determining lateral
organization for bilingualism
 Wuillemin and Richardson (1994) suggest a
left-hemisphere dominance for those who
learned the 2nd language before the age of
4; rather more right-hemisphere participation
for those who learned it later
Conclusion
2nd language learning ability is
independent of general intellectual ability
Bilingual aphasics: Languages might
recover parallel; one after the other;
“alternate antagonism”
Some languages might never recover
Conclusion
Monolinguals tend to have left-hemisphere
dominance like those who acquire a
language before the age of 4 whereas
rather more right-hemisphere participation
is found in those who learned it later
Some Features of Bilingual Speach
– Foreign Accent and Codeswitching
 Thorben Such LN GS
“Foreign Accent“ and Bilingual Phonology
 A child easily acquires two languages
simultaneously
 If children learn two languages early in life, they
sound like native speakers in both of them
 As a comparison, adults often struggle to learn a
second language
 Adults as learners of a second language will in
most cases be distinguishable from native
speakers
 There are many differences between adult
language learners and native speakers
 we will focus on the phonological system!
The “Foreign Accent“
 Example 1
 Speakers whose two languages share a particular sound
may give that sound the same phonetic realization in
both of their languages
 For instance, Italian and English both have a phoneme
/t/
 The English [t] is generally articulated with the tongue tip
at the alveolar ridge whereas the Italian [t] has a more
dental articulation
The “Foreign Accent“
 Example 2
 Another reason for “foreign accent“ is a difference in the
phoneme inventory of two languages
 A sound which is not in the first language may be
substituted for by a phonetically similar sound from the
first language
 Example: Speakers of English as second language will
often substitute other sounds which are close in place
and / or manner of articulation
 [s] and [z] or [t] and [d]
The “Foreign Accent“
 Example 3
 If both languages have the same sounds with the same
phonetic status, the second-language learners will
experience the foreign accent phenomenon if the
phontactic conditons of the two languages differ
 Example: Spanish and English have the phonemes /s/,
/t/ and /r/
 English permits syllable-initial consonant clusters like /st/
or /str/, Spanish does not permit such clusters
 A Spanish speaker might have no problems to
pronounce the word estrogen but he might have difficulty
to pronounce stress
Codeswitching
 Codeswitching is a change of language within
conversation, most often when bilinguals are in the
company of other bilinguals
 When bilinguals converse together, they consciously or
subconsciously select the language in which the
conversation will take place
 This selected language is called base language, items
that are introduced from a second language are called
donor language or embedded language
Codeswitching
 Codeswitching may occur in large blocks of speech,
between sentences or within sentences
 Codeswitching within sentences may involve single
words or phrases
 Example: “You didn´t have to worry que somebody te iba
a tirar con cerveza o una botella or something like that.“
 “You didn´t have to worry that somebody was going to
throw beer or a bottle at you or something like that.“
The Monolingual and the Bilingual Mode
 Grosjean (1992) distinguishes between the monolingual
and bilingual mode
 The monolingual mode: when biligual speakers use one
of their languages with monolingual speakers of that
language
 The bilingual mode: when bilinguals are in the company
of other bilinguals and have the option of switching
language
The Bilingual Mode
 One language may influence the other, and
often the bilingual´s dominant language
influences his or her less dominant language
 Such influence is called interference (transfer)
 Grosjean (1992) distinguishes between ‘static
interference‘ and ‘dynamic interference‘
Static Interference
 Static interference occurs when influence from
one of the bilingual´s language is present
relatively permanently in the other language
 Accent, intonation and pronunciation of
individual sounds are areas where static
interference may be present
 Example: A native German speaker may speak
English with a German accent and intonation,
and pronounce various sounds in a ‘German‘
way, such as hardening soft consonants at the
end of words (like ‘goot‘ instead of ‘good‘)
Dynamic Interference
 Dynamic interference occurs when features from
one language are transferred temporarily into
the other language
 Interference can occur at any level of language
(syntax, phonology,vocabulary) and in either
written or spoken language
 Example: A native English speaker who also has
some competence in French using the word
librairie to mean library
Language Borrowing
 Language borrowing is the term used to indicate foreign
loan words or phrases that have become a permanent
part of the recipient language
 Examples: “le weekend“ from English into French or
“der Computer“ from English into German
 All languages borrow words from other languages and
codeswitching may often be the first step in this process
Speach Patterns in Bilingual Families
Rachel Van Zandt TN GS
Speach Patterns in Bilingual Families

Children form
language boundaries:
boundaries for subconcious language choice
Language target
mental boundary: which language to speak to which person
Language domain
mental boundary: which language to speak in which
place or situation or about which topic
Speach Patterns in Bilingual Families
 Example:
Spoken in the community: Germanmajority language
Spoken at home: English minority language
Mother
Father
English speakers
minority
German Community
Child 1
Child 2
majority
Speach Patterns in Bilingual Families
 Example:
Grandma
Oma
Grandpa
Opa
Elliot
Uncle
Tante
Mom
Papa
English
German
Bilingual Speach in the Monolingual Mode
 Example: Elliot (2 ½ years old)
-What are you playing?
-I’m at work. I have some tools and (am) working
with tools.
-Are you fixing something?
-Yeah, the door. I’m fixing the door.
-Oh look, its Opa on the phone.You talk to Opa.
-Ja, ich spiele Opa. Ja. (Ich) will runter. Down,
Mama. Hallo, hallo.
Monolingual Mode: German
Monolingual Mode: English
Speach Patterns in Bilingual Families
 Example:
Grandma
Oma
Grandpa
Opa
Elliot
Uncle
Tante
Mom
Papa
monolingual mode: English
monolingual mode: German
bilingual mode: base language English
bilingual mode: base language German
Bilingual Mode - Codeswitching
 „With the Kreisspiegelung a Gerade gets
abgebildet onto a circle“
 „I have to go to the Einwohnermeldeamt to meld
myself um.“
 Base language: English (here: mother tongue, minority language)
 Donor Language: German (here: majority language)
 Situation: bilingual family in Germany with English as the normal
language at home (family members are English language targets.)
 Context: Words concerning special knowledge (sciences) or
administration are in German. (They belong to a German language
domain)
Bilingual Mode - Codeswitching
 Other examples:
 „Meine Mutter war früher immer voll delighted
wenn ein Auto Power Steering hatte.“
(German/English)
 „Man toro abholen mikonam“ (I will pick you up)
 „Mo emruz nohor Kartoffelauflauf chordim“
(We ate Potato Casserole for lunch today)
(Iranian/German)
Bilingual or Multilingual Education
 Jassamin Ulfat TN HS
Bilingual or Multilingual Education
 What does bilingualism or multilingualism mean in the
field of education?
Two or more languages are used in school.
 But how are those languages used in school?
Are both languages used in the classroom?
For how long are the languages being used in school?
Are two languages used by all or some students?
Are two languages used by the teachers or just by the
students?
Is the aim to teach a second language or to teach in a
second language?
Is the aim to support the home language or to move to an
alternative majority language?
Important Distinctions
There are schools where…
…bilingual children are taught.
…bilingualism is promoted.
Schools can…
…teach a second language.
…teach through the medium of a second
language.
Social Aims of Bilingual Education
Assimilating individuals or groups into the
mainstream of society, full participation in
the community
Unifying a multilingual society (multiethnic)
Preserving ethnic and religious identity
 Do we identify through language?
Weak and Strong Forms
Weak and strong forms of bilingual
education have different aims…
Weak: Language minority children are
taught to use the majority language
Strong: Children are given full bilingualism
and biliteracy, where two languages and
two cultures are seen as mutually
enriching
Example of the Strong Eduction Form
European Schools
 Aim:
Children are supposed to become at least bilingual and biliterate in two
languages of the European Union.
 Learning process:
1. step 
Supporting and extending the child’s first language.
Primary years focus on instructing the children in their native languages.
They become literate in their native language and are taught its attendant
culture.
2. step 
All children are taught a second language from the beginning
of primary school by native speakers. Second language is only taught as a
subject the first two years.
3. step 
Second language starts to be used as a teaching language
from Grade 3 on. By the end of primary school, approximately 25 percent of the
curriculum is taught through the second language.
Further Steps of Education
 From Grade 6 on…
 …the second language will be taught as a subject and as the teaching
language in:
 Design Technology
 Music
 Physical education
 and complementary activities.
 From Grade 9 on…
 …the second language is the teaching language in:
 History
 Geography
 and options such as Economics
 or Social Sciences.
 From Grade 7 on…
 …a third language will be taught for a minimum of 360 hours. Another
language can be chosen as well.
European Hours as Communal Lessons
 Seen on www.eskar.org  European School of Karlsruhe
(established in 1960)
 The words of Jean Monnet, which express the essential aims of the
European Schools, have been sealed, in parchment, into the
foundation stones of all the Schools:

"Educated side by side, untroubled from infancy by divisive
prejudices, acquainted with all that is great and good in different
cultures, it will be borne in upon them as they mature that they
belong together. Without ceasing to look to their own lands with love
and pride, they will become in mind Europeans, schooled and ready
to complete and consolidate the work of their fathers before them, to
bring into being a united and thriving Europe."
References
 Baker, Colin: Encyclopedia of bilingualism and
bilingual education. - Clevedon, 1998
 Obler, Loraine K. and Kris Gjerlow: Language
and the Brain. – University Press. Cambridge,
1999
 http://www.unine.ch/ltlp/grosjean.html
 http://www.eskar.org