BILINGUALISM MULTILINGUALISM Multilingualism Bilingualism Literally speaking speaker of

BILINGUALISM & MULTILINGUALISM

Multilingualism & Bilingualism • Literally speaking, speaker of two languages is called bilingual whereas speaker of more than two languages is called multilingual. • Used interchangeably with bilingualism.

Multilingualism & Bilingualism • Monolinguals are rare. • Individual multilingualism vs Societal multilingualism • The knowledge or use of more than one language by an individual or a community.

A Day in the life of a Spice Merchant A Gujarati spice merchant in Bombay uses Kathiawadi (his dialect of Gujrati) with his family, Marathi (the local language) in the vegetable market, Kacchi and Konkani in trading circles, Hindi with the milkman and at the train station, and even English on formal occasions.

Verbal Repertoire The total range of linguistic resources available to an individual or a community. • Monolinguals: Range of regional, social, functional & stylistic varieties • Bi-multilingual: Varieties of same language & different languages

Characteristics of Multilingualism • Multilingual not necessarily have native like competence in all languages. • Selective Functionality develop competence in each code to the extent that they need it and for the contexts in which each of the languages is used.

Influential theory A multilingual’s facility in moving from one language to another as the occasion demands is but an extension of the monolingual’s capacity to shift registers and style. (Gumperz, 1971)

Reasons for Multilingualism 1. Migration 2. Cultural Contact 3. Annexation and Colonialism

Types of Societal Multilingualism Territorial Principle of Multilingualism • A country that consists of several language groups, each of which is primarily monolingual. Personality Principle • Bilingualism is the official language of the country and most individuals are multilingual

Bilingualism “ where the speaker of one language can produce complete meaningful utterances in the other language. ” (Haugen, 1953)

Bilingualism Different views – Perfect speakers of two different languages(ambilingual -Native competency). – Function, at some level, in more than one language. – Used as a euphemism for ‘ poor’ or ‘uneducated’ by Americans.

Continuum of classification of bilingualism Minimum Bilingualism Maximum Bilingualism

BENEFITS OF BILINGUALISM (California Department of Education, Language Policy and Leadership Office) • Development of skills in collaboration & cooperation • Appreciation of other cultures and languages • Cognitive advantages • Increased job opportunities • Expanded travel experiences • Lower high school drop out rates • Higher interest in attending colleges and universities

Bilingualism is better than multilingualism, more vocabulary at command, may switch from one language to another. In a situation where a person can bring words or phrases from other languages to 1 st language is a great ability. It is an asset.