Bilingualism
Ami Tamura
1. Introduction
Over half the population of the world is bilingual, and there are a lot of types of bilingual.
We cannot definite one typical model of bilingual, because there are quite a large number of
bilingual kinds if we look at different aspects. Also, There are different ways to become bilingual,
so I’d like to think about these some kinds of bilingual aspects.
2. Definition of bilingualism
There are many definition of bilingualism, and most people think that a bilingual is
someone who has mastered two languages perfectly, so it’s a special skill. However, bilinguals
speak part of two languages and they use two languages as different tools for different purposes, so
it is difficult to say the bilingual’s abilities in two languages are completely perfect and the same.
We should consider a bilingual from different aspects and regard to be a bilingual. I’d like to see the
criterion from Origin, Competence, Function and Attitudes.
Criterion
The mother tongue is the
（基準）
language …
Origin
（起源）
.. first learned (the speaker has
established her first lasting
linguistic contacts in)
Competence
Level of
proficiency
command
.. best known.
（能力）
A speaker is bilingual who …
a.
has learnt two languages in the family from native
speakers from the beginning
b. has used two languages in parallel as means of
communication from the beginning
a.
complete mastery of two languages
b.
native-like control of two languages
c.
equal mastery of two languages
d.
can produce complete meaningful utterances in the other
language
e.
has at least some knowledge and control of the
grammatical structure of the other language
f.
Function
Use
has come into contact with another language
.. uses (or can use) two languages (in most situations) (in
… most used.
accordance with her own wishes and the demands of the
（機能）
community)
Attitudes
a.
Identity and
Identification
（態度）
a.
identified with by self
(internal identification)
b. identified by others as a
identifies herself as bilingual/with two languages and /or
two cultures (or parts of them)
b.
is identified by others as bilingual/ as a native speaker of
two languages
native speaker of
they can be classified these four types
(external identification)
1. dominant bilingual
2. subtractive bilingual
1
3. additive bilingual
4. sequential bilingual
Dominant bilingualism(偏重バイリンガズム) occurs when a speaker has a better skill in one
language than the other.
Subtractive bilingualism(消滅的バイリンガリズム) occurs when a second language has higher
social and economical status than a first language. In this case, a second language replaces a first
language.
Additive bilingualism(付加的バイリンガリズム) occurs when two languages have high status
both socially and economically so that a speaker places positive values to both languages. In this
case, both two languages are developed.
Sequential bilingualism(継続的バイリンガリズム) occurs when a person becomes bilingual by
first learning one language and then another.
3. Different kinds of bilingualism
Natural bilingualism is used to refer to an individual who has learnt two languages without formal
teaching in the course of her everyday life as her natural means of communication, and often learnt
them relatively young.
School bilingualism is the result of learning a foreign language at school by formal teaching, and it
implies that the learner has not had much opportunity, or indeed any, to use the language as a
natural means of communication.
Cultural bilingualism largely coincides with school bilingualism, but the term is more often used
to refer to adults who learn a foreign language for reasons of work, travel, and so on.
4. Official and individual bilingualism
The fact that a nation is officially bilingual is not usually a good guide to the proportion of
its citizens who are bilingual, because many monolingual countries have a high percentage of
speakers who use two or more languages, while many bilingual countries have few bilinguals. For
example, in officially bilingual Canada, only thirteen percent of the population uses both French
and English, whereas in officially monolingual Tanzania, some 90per cent of the population
regularly uses at least two languages. Again, in officially bilingual Finland, only about seven per
cent of the population is bilingual.
Officially monolingual nations
A country which the official language is the mother tongues of most of the inhabitants.
e.g.) France, Germany, Japan
Officially bilingual nations
A country which two or more languages have full official recognition, one of the language being
invariably that of a minority group
e.g.) Finland (Finnish and Swedish), Canada (English and French). Belgium (Dutch,
2
French and English), Rumania
5. Bilingual individuals
We can distinguish the bilingual at the personal level with these four categories: each group
under a different kind of pressure to be bilingual, with different prerequisites for it, needing to
pursue a different route (method) to achieve bilingualism, and facing quite different consequences if
it fails.
ⅰElite bilinguals-Folk bilingualism
Elite bilingualism: The privilege of middle-class, well-educated members of most societies.
Folk bilingualism: The conditions of ethnic groups within a single state who have to become
bilingual involuntarily, in order to survive.
ⅱChildren from linguistic majorities
These are children who learn a foreign language at school. Another group of children in
immersion programmes, children from a linguistic majority with a high status mother tongue, taught
through the medium of a foreign language.
ⅲChildren from bilingual families
These are children whose parents have different mother tongues. There are many reasons
why a family chooses to be bilingual. The child will experience considerable societal pressure to
become fluent in the official language, but there will be no external compulsion to become
bilingual.
ⅳChildren from linguistic minorities
These children have parents who belong to a linguistic minority; they are under intense
external pressure to learn the language of the majority, particularly if the language of the minority is
not officially recognized.
Conclusion
Seen from some aspects, there are various kinds of bilingualism. People become bilingual
for a lot of reasons and with many aims. Some people want to become bilingual; other people have
to become bilingual because of social or political situations. In any case, there are no clear
definitions of a bilingual, because their origin, competence, function and attitudes toward L2 are
different. I was really surprised that there are so many kinds of bilingualism, and it’s interesting that
the concept of bilingualism is too large to define it.
Comprehension Questions
Can you explain the definition of bilingualism and four criterions?
How are the official and individual bilingualism divide into six parts?
3
Reference
Charlotte Hoffmann. An Introduction to BILINGUALISM first ed. New York: Longman Inc. 1991
Tove Skutnabb-Kangas. Bilingualism or Not: The Education of Minorities first ed. Great Britain
1981
Edith Harding and Philip Riley. The Bilingual Family A handbook for parents Cambridge
University Press 1986
Wikipedia tagengo http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Wikipedia multilingualism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilingualism
4