In the name of God

Multilingualism

By Iman Kadkhodaei

Introduction

Origin

Causes

Individual vs. societal

Language choice

Language shift and death

Multilingualism in modern

world

Introduction :

Definition:

The ability of an individual speaker or community of speakers to use

multiple languages .

A person being able to speak multiple

languages is called multilingual or polyglot .

Around 5000 to 7000 live languages and just 200 nations

Being a normal necessity for world population

Grosjean: half the world population are bilingual

One society - two languages - not having the same function

Origin :

Curse of Babel (Babylon) :

4000 years ago in Mesopotamia- after the global flood- God told people to spread out and populate the earth, they united and built The Tower of Babel. God decided to punish them by confusing their languages.In the upper room people came together to pray, God decided to reverse the curse and gave them the gift of tongue, since then, they could understand each others.

Causes of Multilingualism

1. War2. Trade3. Religion4. Globalization5. Education6. Tourism7. Media8. Migration

Individual vs. Societal multilingualism

Individual:A psychological state of an individual who has access to two language codes to serve communicative purposes

Societal:A society that has two or more than two official languages.

Examples : 1. Canada with two official languages; French

& English 2. Switzerland with four official

languages; German, French, Italian and Romansch

Language Choice

Definition : It is considered as an act of choosing one language by an individual in multilingual communities

Not arbitrary Example: Hyderabad; Telegu at home

Sanskrit at the temple

English at the university Urdu in business

Other aspects of language choice

Domain of Use

Diglossia

Code-switching

Domain of Use

is an abstraction which refers to a sphere of activity representing a combination of specific time, settings and role relationship

Existence of FIVE domains

1. Family2. Friendship3. Religion4. Employment5. Education

According to different domains you try to choose different

languagesCongruent domains = Consistent use of languages Example: new York, Spanish & English

Diglossia

Definition: A situation in which each language or variety in a multilingual community serves a special function and is used for particular purposesTwo varieties of the same language: 1. HIGH 2. LOWExample: Egypt; local Arabic (L) & standard form (H)Different languages as different varieties : 1.

HIGH

2. LOWExample: Paraguay; Spanish (H) Guarani (L)

Differences of HIGH and LOW varieties

1.Grammar2.Phonology3.Vocabulary

Other factors :

1.Function2.Prestige3.Literary heritage4.Acquisition5.Standardization6.Stability

Further examples of high and low function :

Religious service

H

University lectures

H

Conversation with family

L

New broadcast

H

Instruction to servants

L

Code switching

The practice of moving back and forth between two languages or between two dialects or registers of the same language

Example:

1. Conversation between people in new York Spanish & English 2. Conversation between people in Ahwaz Arabic & Farsi

Types of Code-

switching

Inter-sententia

l

Intra-sentential

Inter-sentential:

Por eso cada, you know it’s nothing to be proud of, porque yo no estoy, as a matter of fact I hate it, pero viene Vierne y Sabado yo estoy… Intra-sentential: (code-mixing)

This morning I hantar my baby tu dekat babysitter tu lah.“This morning I took my baby to the babysitter.”

Causes of code-switching

1. Hide fluency or memory problem in second language

2. From informal to formal

3. Exert control (parent & children)

4. To show a member of a specific

group

5. To show specific identity

Language shift and language death

Language death :

It is common when a monolingual becomes bilingual as a result of contact with another usually socially more powerful group and it’s become transitionally bilingual in the new language until their own language is given up altogether

Language shift :

It is common when a person because of some reasons has to change his language to the language of a society for better or effective communication

Types of an individual exposure to the new language:

Immersion

Submersion

Immersion: (positive)

When you expose to another language in a different context and you try to add that new language to your ability.

Submersion : (negative)

When you are in different context and a result your native language is ignored and have to sink in a completely different environment.

Causes of language (shift and death)

1. Forced or voluntary immigration

2. Religious and educational background

3. Homeland

4. Attitudes of majority and minority

5. Extend of exogamous marriage

6. Government policies (language &

education)

Multilingualism in the modern world

Increasing in bilingualism in metropolitan language, particularly English and minor languages are dying out as a result

Increasing linguistic and cultural diversity in parts of Europe and the USA through new waves of immigration

Thank you