Issues of Multilingualism - Essay Example

Issues of Multilingualism Some of the most common theories of multilingualism include cognitive and communication theory. Cognitive theory states that for a second language to be acquired, one needs to take classes for some time before grasping it, this makes it a complex cognitive phenomenon in the field of socio-linguistics (Jones, Backledge & Creese, 2012, p. 238). Apart from cognitive theory, multilingualism can also be learnt from communication approach theory where the learner takes part in interacting with fluent language speakers. This method is faster to learn because errors are easily identified (Jones, Backledge & Creese, 2012, p. 237). According to Nguyen (2008), multilingualism is the ability to speak more than two languages whereby it could be because the person has a heritage language that he speaks while at home in addition to other languages probably learnt at school. Personally am a multilingual speaker, I speak Sylheti, which is a dialect of Bengali, the official language of Bangladesh. I started learning Sylheti while still a small child and not old enough to Attend school. Later own when I moved to England, I realized that nobody could speak my language hence it was upon me to take private English lessons to catch up with the rest. According to Vertovec (2007), by 2004, the number of Bangladesh citizens residing in UK was 69000 hence ranking at position 12 out of the top 25 nations. Apart from elaborating on my language profile, the essay will shed more light on multilingualism, its effects both individually, socially and economically. The spread of multilingualism started back during the old war when people were fleeing their nations in search for refuge in other countries (Field, 2011). The Braj Kachru theory also explains the spread of multilingualism where the inner circle of English speaking nations like the US and UK gradually merged with the outside circle and eventually the expanding circle. Bangladesh is normally regarded as a monolingual state because Bengali language is the most spoken language; English is also spoken but only among middle and upper class people. For instance, I learnt English as an additional language in school although I was never fluent both in spoken and written. The choice of language while disregarding others proof that there are those more superior to others, hence prompting numerous schools result to learning at least two foreign languages (Altarribe and Heredia, 2011). Multilingualism is of great help to the society because it enables one understand what others are saying. For instance, during 9/11 in the US, the terrorists easily blended with Americans because they spoke fluent English in public while used Arabic to plan the attack and since no American understood Arabic, they never comprehended what was happening and in the end it resulted to massive loss of lives (Busines Week, 2012). Another importance of multilingualism is to ease communication during business transactions. For instance, a company such as Airbus has branches in nations like German, Spain and France. Both nations normally come together during general meeting that could be hosted in any of the three states and this implies that the nation hosting normally uses its national language, therefore non-multilingual people normally have difficulties when other languages are used (Business Week, 2012). Based on research so far conducted between 1920 and 1961, multilingualism resulted to adverse mental disorders like low IQ (LEAP, n.d). The research concluded that bilingualism or multilingualism is disadvantageous especially to children who are bilinguals because usually they are three years behind monolingual children. However, in early 1960’s many scholars greatly discredited this research citing its basis was on incorrect comprehension of how the brain of a human being works (LEAP, n.d). Apart from enriching the society, multilingualism plays a significant role in representing state’s cultural diversity and its richness (Blommaert et al 2012, p. 1). A research conducted by Dr. Ellen Bialystok contended frequent use of two languages aids in the delay of diseases like Alzheimer that normally affects the brain (Dreifus, 2011). Multilingualism has a number of advantages both individually socially and economically. It not only takes part in enhancing individual intellectual capacity but also promoting social unity and integration (Languages Teaching, 2013) Individual benefits of multilingualism are that it facilitates intellectual development and mastery of the mother tongue especially for children. Socially, multilingualism is known to facilitate proper relations and the exchanging of constructive ideas. Economically, multilingualism facilitates trade between nations hence good international relations (Languages Teaching, 2013). People residing along borders normally benefit from multilingualism because it aids in solving language barrier issues (Wei, Dewaele and Housen, 2002). Multilingualism can also be very dangerous to both citizens of a given state and globally. This happens when people of different cultures start competing because each community sees its culture more important than the other and if not solved it could result to tribal clashes (Wei, Dewaele and Housen, 2002, p. 3). Through both bilingualism and multilingualism, numerous people have not only been able to experience two or more cultures but also appreciate diverse behaviors, religions, cultures and traditions (Llamas and Watt, 2010). There has also been generation of developments not only among individuals but also at societal level. Currently, economy of a nation is measured on how many multilinguals the state has hence it acts as a bridge to a prosperous economy (Sneddon,2008). Apart from acting as a bridge, multilingualism enables states to evaluate their relationships based on both diversity and unity (Wei, Dewaele and Housen, 2002, p. 3).This enables states to come up with measures meant to ensure peaceful co-existence and proper understanding among people of diverse languages and cultures (Wei, Dewaele and Housen, 2002). Through linguistic diversity, states not only achieve tolerance among their citizens but there is also a higher level of understanding and respect. With the vast benefits that come along with multilingualism to a nation, so do also challenges. In many institutions such as schools, companies and corporations there is heightened level of discrimination based on diverse languages that people speak (Ray, 2009, p. 10). For instance, when I came to England for the first time, I rarely knew any English and was subject to racial discrimination because of my language and poor communication skills especially in English whereby I could not get proper assistance from English speaking people unless the person was of Bangladeshi origin. According to linguistics point of view, all languages are equal and important. It is because of this reason that UNESCO set aside 21st February as the International mother language day in a move to promote and embrace language diversities (Salverda, 2002, p. 2). Unfortunately, this is not what many people understand (Wei, Dewaele and Housen, 2002). Research shows that languages given first priority are usually high-ranking international languages. These are the languages mostly used in businesses and currency transactions such as English, Spanish and Japanese, whereas minority languages are less perceived thus given a lower rank (Wei, Dewaele and Housen, 2002, p. 45). Identity problems normally arise when some language groups isolate themselves and start referring to other languages as economically inferior and underprivileged (Llamas and Watt 2010, p. 14). This normally portrays itself through either symbolic or physical confrontations towards persons speaking a specific language (Vertovec, 2007, p. 13). Because of this, there is a tendency where societies categorize languages depending on their majority or minority (Nguyen, 2008, p. 8). For example, the European Union normally categorizes its member states in terms of major, lesser and minor languages. According to the European Union member state ranking, major languages include Spanish, French and Dutch. Lesser languages include welsh, Irish and Catalan whereas minor languages are comprised of Sicilian, Gaelic and Frisian (Schjerve and Vetter, 2012, p. 23). One of the issue noted with the EU state ranking is that non-European languages that are normally spoken by immigrants have are not included anywhere in their rankings. In many European Union states, languages such as Chinese, Arabic and Turkish rank as minority despite the fact that these languages are spoken by a large population globally than some of the EU languages (Blackledge and Creese, 2010, p. 54). Due to this, it is obvious that the European Union ranks languages based on the respective nations whereby European nations get first priority while other nations not in the EU territory come in the second and third category. Bilingualism also affects the education sector in a number of ways. For instance, it is normally one of the contributing factors towards multilingualism (Nguyen, 2008, p. 12). This is because in many states globally, the evolution of education is known to have moved along monolingual modes of reasoning. Simultaneously, problematic connotations such as lower academic standards, cost effectiveness and managerial problems are linked to bilingual education (Nguyen, 2008 p.12). Governments in many states normally view bilingualism as a problem. This is because communication is normally mandatory if the government has to govern its citizens fairly (Lahteenmaki and Aniszewski, 2010, p.10). According to research, whereas currently there are approximately 6000 languages globally, about 20%-50% of these languages are likely to be extinct in the next 100 years (Baker, 2011, p.43). The main cause of extinction is likely to be society’s frequent isolation of certain languages on basis the basis of majority and minority that results to people switching from these languages to foreign ones, a process commonly known as language shift (Baker, 2011, p.44). For instance, if all Bangladeshi people residing in a particular nation decide not to speak the language due to frequent discrimination and segregation, this will result to gradual extinction of the language because children will not be in a position to learn the language if it is not spoken by their parents. The classification of languages is also the reason why 50% of children born in the 21st century hardly know their mother tongues instead they are taught foreign languages, which according to parents, they are the most marketable languages (Baker ,2011). Children ought to learn languages when they are still children because they easily comprehend it while growing up. While still a child, I found it quite easy to comprehend Sylheti language and I doubt if I would have grasped the language that fast had I learnt it at a much older stage. Some of the common factors that influence language maintenance include development of institutions that teach mother tongue. Common institutions include schools, media and community organizations (Roesch, 2012, p.17). Through such institutions, both language and culture are transferred from one generation to another. Another factor is the frequent hosting of religious and cultural ceremonies using the home languages (Roesch, 2012, p .17). Through this method, people of the same language are united and through music and songs, information is passed to the next generation hence prevention of language shift. Whenever I return to Bangladeshi, such events are common whereby traditional songs and other cultures are passed from one generation to another in events such as weddings and holidays. Through such gatherings, the only language used is Sylheti; this motivates people to learn the language because if you do not know Sylheti, there is high chance that you will not enjoy the event. Language is usually not just an instrument of communication as perceived many people. Apart from a means of communication, language is also a symbol of both group and social identity (Danbolt, 2011). Language also gives persons a feeling of belonging and identity. This is because, when more than two languages are spoken, one language is normally given more attention than the other is (Llamas and Watt, 2010, p.16). Whenever a specific language is under constant attack by speakers of the other language, especially the dominating language group, their attitude normally declines and gradually they start speaking an impoverished language (Danbolt, 2011). Multilingualism normally occurs because of many communities coming and staying together. This is normally in a societal level; multilingualism is more common in continents such as Asia and Africa (Wardhaugh, 2010, p. 33). Many communities reside in these continents hence most of the residents normally speak more than two languages, whereby apart from mother tongue, the other languages are taught either at school or from gradual interaction and communication with people of different language groups (Nguyen, 2008, p. 12). Throughout history, there has been gradual change in the attitude towards multilingualism. This is the main reason why many governments normally ignore linguistic diversities of their communities and only choose one language to be the official language of the state. Many multilingual states normally have only one official language apart from few nations such as Canada and Brussels have two official languages (Nguyen, 2008, p. 12). Although bilingualism and multilingualism are almost similar and only separated by a number of linguistic codes, Multilingualism is the phenomenon of knowing more than two languages, bilingualism is the act of speaking only two languages. Multilingualism is associated with a number of benefits such as promotion of trade between nations that normally result to good international relations. Multilingualism also facilitates harmony between communities living together. Although multilingualism has a number of benefits especially in the education sector where only specific languages are used, multilingualism also has negatives such as can result to conflicts between antagonizing communities or nations, which normally results to enmity. References Altarribe, J. & Heredia, R. R. 2011. An Introduction to Bilingualism: Principals and Processes. United Kingdom: Psychology Press. Baker, C. 2011. Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism: 5th Edition. 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