Bilingualism:
Put simply, bilingualism is the ability to use two languages. However, defining
bilingualism is problematic since individuals with varying bilingual characteristics
may be classified as bilingual. Definitions of bilingualism range from a minimal
proficiency in two languages, to an advanced level of proficiency which allows the
speaker to function and appear as a native-like speaker of two languages. A
person may describe themselves as bilingual but may mean only the ability to
converse and communicate orally. Others may be proficient in reading in two or
more languages (or bi-literate). A person may be bilingual by virtue of having
grown up learning and using two languages simultaneously (simultaneous
bilingualism). Or they may become bilingual by learning a second language
sometime after their first language. This is known as sequential bilingualism. To
be bilingual means different things to different people.
Bilingualism encompasses a range of proficiencies and contexts. A young child
entering school may be called bilingual but it may be that she uses her first or
home language for domestic and familial purposes and that English is her
preferred language for communication outside the home. Or she may be largely
monolingual in her first language only when she starts school. A child who has
recently arrived in England from overseas may have a good level of literacy in
English but may be unable to converse or use spoken English in the classroom
context. On the other hand, many pupils described as bilingual routinely use three
languages or more and thus 'plurilingual' would be a better description. In terms
of competence, a bilingual may have very high levels of proficiency in both
languages or may have only limited proficiency in one and be far more proficient
in the other. The use of the term ‘bilingual’ is thus dependent upon: context;
linguistic proficiency and purpose.
In bilingualism an issue of proficiency has been debated on the questions that
how much proficiency is required in each language for a person to be called a
bilingual? Bloomfield defines bilingualism as “a native – like control of two
languages”, Diebold gives a minimal definition when he uses the term “incipient
bilingualism” to mean “the initial stages of contact between two languages”.
So the two polar views of bilingualism are: The first goes back to Bloomfield
(1933) and Halliday/Strevens (1964). According to them bilingualism occurs when
an individual can use each of the two languages in communication in such a way
that s/he will be considered a native speaker in each of the respective speech
communities. The degree of competence in each of the two languages thus has to
be very high, native or native-like, and largely the same in the two languages
involved. According to this maximalist definition bilingualism is an exotic,
exceptional phenomenon which hardly occurs in reality.
The second concept of bilingualism is extremely wide and thus largely the
opposite of the one mentioned above. According to it bilingualism occurs when “a
speaker can (...) produce complete meaningful utterances in the other language”
(Haugen 1956), or has skills in one of the four modalities (speaking, listening,
writing or reading).
These two definitions imply that we are forced, in studying bilingualism, to
consider it as something entirely relative because the point at which the leaner of
a second language becomes bilingual is either arbitrary or difficult to determine.
TYPES OF BILINGUALISLM:
Though bilingualism may be classified according to the pairing up of the languages
spoken, Weinreich (1963) discussed three types bilingualism in terms of the ways
in which it was thought that the concepts of a language were encoded in the
individual’s brain (Romaine, 1995).
a) Coordinate Bilingualism: In this type, the person learns the languages in
separate environments, and words of the two languages are kept separate
with each word having its own specific meaning. An instance of this is seen in a
Cameroonian child learning English at school. This may also be referred to as
subtractive bilingualism.
b) Compound Bilingualism: Here, the person learns the two languages in the
same context where they are used concurrently, so that there is a fused
representation of the languages in the brain. This is the case when a child is
brought up by bilingual parents, or those from two different linguistic
backgrounds. This is additive in nature.
c) Subordinate bilingualism: In the sub-coordinate type, Bilinguals interpret
words of their weaker language through the words of the stronger language.
Thus, the dominant language acts as a filter for the other. If English is the
weaker language of an Urdu/English bilingual, the English word ‘book’ will
evoke the Urdu word ‘kitab’.
Types of bilinguals:
Partial bilinguals:
This form of classification was offered by Fishman and Lovas(1970). A level of
bilingualism at which individuals attain native-like proficiency in the full range of
understanding, speaking, reading, and writing skills in one language but achieve
less than native like skills in some or all of these skills in the other language.
This is a level of bilingualism in which the student attains social and academic
skills in one language, but achieves only fluency or conversational language skills
in the other. For Example: Student in a Bilingual Program is able to speak, read,
listen, and write in English but not in Spanish.
Positive bilinguals:
A person may be able to understand the language but not able to speak or write.
Balanced bilinguals:
People who are able to use their two languages equally or with equal levels of
proficiency are sometimes referred to as balanced bilinguals.
Incipient bilinguals:
A person who is in the initial stage of bilingualism.
Graphical representation of three bilingual storage representations.