Multilinguismo prospettive per la ricerca Multilingualism Research Opportunities

Multilinguismo: prospettive per la ricerca Multilingualism: Research Opportunities Rita Franceschini Centro di ricerca lingue Libera Università di Bolzano Freie Universität Bozen Free University of Bozen-Bolzano ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 1

Key concepts 1. diversity: The European area is able to demonstrate its very specific expertise in engaging with great diversity. 2. historical foundation: The European cultural area has been multilingual for centuries. 3. cultural sensitivity: the natural innate capacity of multilingualism is developed through contact, in exposure to real speech. ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 2

The change of perspective driving forces: ﾐ increased sensitivity towards diversity ﾐ linguistic phenomena arising from migratory movements ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 3

• not only economic benefits through multilingualism • enhanced levels in cognitive skills: – changes in perspective – empathy – creative thinking, etc. ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 4

Definition of Multilingualism ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 5

Multilingualism is understood as the ability of societies, institutions, groups and individuals to engage on a regular basis in space and time with more than one language in everyday life. Multilingualism is based upon the fundamental human capacity to communicate in a number of languages. Distinctions may be drawn between social, institutional, discursive and individual multilingualism. In this spirit, multilingualism is used to designate a phenomenon embedded in cultural habits and is therefore characterised by significant cultural sensitivity. ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 6

Main part: Research opportunities ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 7

Some predecessors and pioneers …. . . Adams Janse Swain Simon Ammon Dittmar Mattheier Androutsopoulos Aronin Singleton Auer Li …Backhaus Behrent Berruto Birdsong Bloch de Bot Braunmüller Bybee Hopper Ferraresi Byrnes Weger-Guntharp Sprang …Cenoz Genesee Hufeisen Jessner Gorter Clyne Cook Cornips Nortier …Darquennes De Angelis De. Graff Dentler Hufeisen Lindemann Deppermann Dewaele Dirim …Ehlich Extra Yagmur Kutlay. . . Fase Jaspaert Kroon Fishman Francescato Florida Fusco Orioles Parmeggiani …Goebl Nelde Stary Wölck Gicacalone Ramat Green Grin Grosjean Li Münte Rodriguez. Fornells. . . Herdina Jessner Hoffman Ytsma Hufeisen Lindemann Marx Hyltenstam Obler Jenkins Modiano Seidlhofer Jucker Fritz Lebsanft. . . Kallmeyer Keim Kemp Kecskes Klein Perdue Carroll Coenen Deulofeu Huebner Trévise Krefeld. . . Lambert Tucker d’Anglejan Lamnek Leopold Lüdi Werlen. . . …Marti Mechelli Crinion Noppeney O'Doherty Ashburner Frackowiak Mackiewicz Meisel Miecznikowski Milroy Muysken Müller Kupisch Schmitz Cantone Müller-Lancé Riehl Mondada Maess Koelsch Friederici Meisel Moscovici Mugny Van Avermaet Myers Scotton. . . …Nelde Nicol Pavlenko Pekarek Doehler Petersilka Py Rampton Rinaldi Rindler Schjerve Metzeltin Ronjat. . . …Selinker Schlieben-Lange Schrauf Steiner Schumann Pulvermüller Seidlhofer Singleton Lengyel Steiner von Stutterheim …Taddei Gheiler Taeschner ten Thije Tracy Zeevaert Thomason Kaufman Titone Tomasello. . . Wattendorf Weinreich Wildgen Wode Zappatore Nitsch … etc. … ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 8

0. Underexposed topics 1. the historical dimension of multilingualism 2. the interplay between language learning and acquisition (neurobiological basis, cognitive development, interaction and formal instruction…) 3. Unfocussed language acquisition, e. g. acquisition through exposure 4. the age range between 7 and 14 in bilingualmultilingual acquisition 5. Long-term effectiveness of early acquisition programs of L 2, L 3, Ln… in primary schools. ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 9

1. Historical dimension Questions to investigate • What kind of configurations of multilingualism can we detect in the past? • What can we say about the attitudes toward multiple use of languages? • What was the "awareness" of being multilingual? • How did people deal with one another and how did people learn languages? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 10

towards a historical grammatology: • history of language X as a history of language contact • historical grammar of discourse practices • "migration linguistics" • transition grammars: areas of contact between dialects/regional languages as continuum between varieties ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 11

2. Historical minorities and new minorities “Multilingual individuals and groups, once regarded as peripheral minority groups or exceptions, are therefore located at the focal point. They have become symbols of European communication skills and can be the bridge-builders for a plural European identity. ”(Franceschini 2009, forthcoming) ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 12

• lack of comparative studies for historical minorities and regional languages • need for a Ethnography of multilingual communication in language border regions ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 13

Requirements for language maintenance (historical and new minority languages): • varied input at all levels • attitudinal dimension: enhancing factors of self-consciousness (e. g. by establishing living examples) • gaining new speakers ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 14

Research questions • How combine the topic of historical and new minority languages? • Which are the concepts bridging the two groups? • Which are the invariants? • Which solutions are preferred for multilingual communication at work, in neighbourhood. , at school, etc. ? • Which practices are associated with aspects of identity, and which not? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 15

3. Statistical basis and legal status • a map of multilingualism (with various "linguistic-tectonic plates” for any country/region) • need of comparative studies of the legal basis for languages ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 16

4. Multilingualism in institutions • include language skills in ‘knowledge balance sheets’ of companies • study multilingual practices which are used to communicate in an daily working environment • verbal and written sub-forms • explore practices along the emerging language industries ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 17

• research on "multilingualism in business" should be expanded, above and beyond the immediate economic benefit • second and third generation: "educational residents” (in Germany: “Bildungsinländer”) represent a potential for business contacts, with side-effects for integration ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 18

Research questions • Are multilingual skills applied systematically in institutions? • Are employees' language skills promoted? • Are companies aware of the networking and mediating potential of second and third generation immigrants? • Is there any common ground and have practices been established? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 19

5. Multilingualism in discourse Forms of multilingual interaction: (besides Code-switching and Code-mixing) • „interalloglottal communication” (Behrent 2007) • „crossing ” (Rampton 1995) • ethnic varieties • linguae francae and emerging varieties ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 20

“Language adoption” • sociolinguistic dimension: majority language speakers use (parts of) languages of minorities • process: “unfocussed language acquisition” (Franceschini 2003) ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 21

European media discourse Research questions • Is there any European communications culture? • Are fragments of a European journalism detectable? • How can European identity be communicated by media? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 22

CMC and the web Research questions • Non-native speaker of English dominate the Internet: which methods are used to be comprehensible worldwide? • How are problems in expressing oneself overcome? • Which approach is taken towards cultural assumptions? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 23

6. Multilingualism in the individual Future matters: • to fill up the gaps in life-spans like: – the age from 4 to approx. 14 – learning in a very advanced age • to assess non formal learning contexts for their learning potential (‘learning outside of school’) ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 24

Multiple language acquisition in early childhood Research questions • Which effects are there if a child acquires two or more languages in succession at the age of 4 -14 (in family and at school)? • Are the forms of acquisition evident as the child grows older? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 25

• At which level does it possibly become apparent (phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary) and are the effects detectable later on? • What influence does starting a foreign language earlier at school, at the age of 7 or 9 or 11, have upon the skills attained when the learner enters working life? • Are some differences measurable? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 26

L 3, L 4… Ln • Continue studies on the acquisition of a third language (or fourth… Lnlanguage) – effects on those languages already mastered (acceleration, feedback effects…) – role of ‘auxiliary’ languages – intercomprehension and enhanced receptive multilingualism ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 27

Research fields • language learning at an advanced age • interdisciplinary co-operation with teachers: bring research and teaching closer together • receptive multilingualism • general "acquisition strategies" used outside school (self-regulation) ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 28

• peer mediation • language biographies • "near-native" skills • study of cases in which multilingualism does not succeed ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 29

Main question: Why some groups of children, above all some sub-groups of migrant children, do not manage to gain positive social capital from the potentially positive conditions which multilingualism entails? – systemic approaches are needed ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 30

Linguistics of Potentiality from the hypothesis of deficit to the view on potentiality • studies of ecosystems and ethnographic analyses to understand heterogeneity • interdisciplinary collaboration (sociology, urban studies, linguistics, communication and educational studies, psychology etc. ) ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 31

Final remarks interconnections between languages • feed-back effects by being or becoming bi- or multilingual • from form–> to function–> to processes • now: interdependence between processes ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 32

Promising fields: • emerging varieties • historical studies ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 33

Theoretical and methodological challenge: Multilingualism as trendy ‘week term’ or Multilingualis as consistent research field, with his own profile ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 34

Future 1. foster theoretical and methodological reflexion, based on a good empirical basis 2. develop multifactorial approaches 3. formalization of complex, non-linear developments 4. promising: orientation on system theory ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 35

Application Necessity to ‘pioneer’ the field of research on multilingualism for useful mediation: – Which findings and concepts are helpful at school and outside formal education? – What can be said to parents, to decision makers and to entrepreneurs? – How the emerging ‘language industry’ can be in touch with research in multilingualism? ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 36

Grazie! Thank you! Merci! Danke! ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 37

Centro di ricerca lingue Freie Universität Bozen - Libera Università di Bolzano - Free University of Bozen Dantestrasse 8, via Dante I-39100 BOLZANO-BOZEN rita. franceschini@unibz. it http: //www. languagestudies. unibz. it/ Report of the High Level Group: http: //ec. europa. eu/education/policies/lang/doc/multireport _en. pdf ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 38

Skipped fields • • • translation and interpreting multi-literacy working memory, SLA and multilingualism musicality and multilingualism …. . ©Rita. Franceschini@ unibz. it Pavia, 19. 5. 2009 39

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