Native bilingualism as a

strategy to promote language

diversity

Roberto Criollo

Language diversity

Number of world languages: over 6,000

Source: UNESCO

Language death

Mexico: 297 languages

Official language?

A language dies when it is no longer

learnt as a mother tongue.

Mother tongue

What is it?

How many?

Bilingualism

The ability that some individuals

have, in varying degrees, to use two

languages (Baker, 2001).

There is a ‘strong’ and a ‘weak’

version of bilingualism (Baker, 2001;

Elmiger, 2000; Gleason & Ratner,

1998; Moreno 1998).

Individual Bilingualism

Coordinate Bilingualism: 2 languages, 2 contexts.

Compound Bilingualism (“pure”): 2 languages, 1 environment.

Subcoordinate Bilingualism: 1 language dominates.

(Baker, 2001; D’Acierno 1990; Moreno 1998)

Social Bilingualism

Additive Bilingualism

Subtractive Bilingualism

(Baker, 2001; Diebold, 1966; Moreno,

1998)

Native Bilingualism

Bilingualism dating from simultaneous learning of two languages during the initial stages of language acquisition (Arnberg, 1987; Kessler, 1984; Taeschner, 1983).

“Producing native bilingual children is not easy, and neither is maintaining their bilingual skills when they are living in an environment that uses only one of the languages (Gleason & Ratner, 1998)

Children need at least 20 hours of

exposure to a language per week to

acquire productive skills in it

(Pearson, Fernandez, Lewedeg, &

Oller, 1999).

“Passive” bilingualism (Kamada

1997).

Language Planning at home

Languages to be used at home

Monolingual families

Bilingual/plurilingual families

What language(s) for the children?

Strategies

1. One person, one language

2. Language of home vs language of the

community

3. Mixed languages

Issues in Native Bilingualism

Language Delay & Low Achievement

Children’s linguistic production can be delayed in native bilinguals, or they may do poorly in school (Baker 2000).

Children learning two languages may show low vocabulary scores during preschool years (Baker, 2001; Gleason & Ratner, 1998).

However, Doyle et al. (1977) found that bilingual preschoolers are not delayed.

Bilingual programs are not as effective as expected (Amsell, 1996; Gonzalez, 1981)

Some researchers, however, think that bilinguals have advantages over monolinguals (Baker, 1998, 2000 and 2001; Diaz, 1985; Garcia, 1990; Hakuta, 1984, 1985, and 1990; Kloosterman & Diaz, 1995; Saunders, 1982).

Among these, abstract thinking, immediate translation, metalinguistic ability, and non-verbal/abstract thinking are mentioned.

Some other studies also argue that early bilingualism can have a positive effect on subsequent adult language learning Doyle et al., 1977).

There is also serious criticism regarding bilingual education policies (Campoverde 1985; Charter, 1991; Gonzales 1993; Hakuta, 1990).

Code Switching

Utterances where elements of both languages are used; i.e. Spanglish (Baker, 2000; Diaz, 1985 Taeschner, 1983; Fantini, 1985; Zentella, 1981).

Considered by some as evidence that bilinguals speak neither language really well (Gleason & Ratner, 1998).

Some researchers have found that CS may be due to inconsistencies in the input(Doyle et al, 1977).

Unitary Language System Hypothesis

Related to Code-Switching, it argues that in bilingual children there is only one system underlying production in both languages (Baker, 2001; Kessler, 1984).

Some researchers (Bergman, 1975; Kessler, 1984) believe that, in fact, there are two stages of development, single and differentiated.

Language Attrition/One Language

Dominance Losing one language through disuse

(Gleason & Ratner, 1998; Kamada, 1997)).

In bilinguals, term referring to the fact that bilinguals will tend to lose one language in time (Kamada, 1997-mother’s language).

Dominance refers to the fact that bilinguals are unlikely to be equally good in all aspects of both languages (Grosjean, 1982).

Metalinguistic Awareness

Ability to reflect on one’s language use and knowledge (Gleason & Ratner, 1998; Genesee, Boivin, & Nicoladis, 1996; Hakuta, 1990; Hakuta & Diaz, 1985; Kessler, 1984; Reynolds, 1990).

For example, children know when and with whom they should use each language, can identify the two languages, and are ‘experts’ in translation.

Advantages of Native bilingualism

Natural process, free of

sociolinguistic prejudice.

Language preservation or

revitalization.

Multilingual/multi-cultural individuals

that can function in a variety of

contexts.