Tutor HuntResources English Resources
Multilingualism
Multilingualism - the role of the linguist
Date : 15/03/2022
The linguist had a multi-faceted role. One of the main roles as a linguist is changing the perspective surrounding multilingualism. The mix of attitudes towards multilingualism within our society can reveal a lot about the barriers we face in language teaching and learning. The role of a linguist here is to encourage multilingualism within our society and promote positive attitudes towards individual monolingualism (be it folk or elite). Additionally, we can apply the same work and attitudes in schooling and attempt to change the negative attitudes that underpin language education in schools. In practice this means a revamp of the education system as the way we are currently teaching is not encouraging many students to pursue languages further than they are required. As stated previously there is a clear problem with the number of children pursuing other languages, this is evidenced in Haggar-Vaughan (2016) where it states fewer than 50% of secondary school students attain a GCSE in a modern foreign language. The argument Hagger-Vaughan makes is that language learning needs to become an integral subject in the secondary curriculum.
This research also highlights the need for long term education policy in relation to language learning. With education policy constantly being adapted, it is time for some consistency and what Haggar-Vaughan describes as a long-term national languages policy , this is for children aged 0-19 and would extend the current policy that is aimed at students aged 11-15. This is the type of policy we as linguists need to be supporting. On the other hand, we also need to value those people who have brought new languages into our society and appreciate the effort it takes them to learn English. Within multilingualism is this idea of folk and elite multilingualism. These terms were first coined by Cooper and Fishman (1977) and then further developed in 1999 by Romaine. The term folk multilingualism refers to individuals who have acquired or learned two languages through their childhood or having it as part of their heritage. Contrastively, elite multilingualism refers to being taught a second or additional language by means of payment, e.g. a paid tutor or learning it at university. There are so many different attituded throughout our society about perceptions on folk versus elite multilingualism. And despite these essentially having the same outcome: an individual with two or more languages, there is a significant attitude divide between the two types.
A prime example of the difference is how various people are portrayed in the media when relating back to multilingualism. Natalie Portman can speak five languages, her native are Hebrew and English, with German, Spanish and Japanese as additional languages. At the end of the biographical paragraph for Portman, Babbel.com posted the sentence Quite the role model. This may also be relating to her degree in psychology as well, but at the same time, they are praising her multilingualism. If she learned Hebrew first as a family language and then learned English as she went to school, her second language there would be considered folk multilingualism, contrasting highly with her prestige as a very successful actress.
Contrastively, those who learn a language without paying for it have a far worse outtake on it all. A few of these opinions had been captured in a study by Jaworska and Themistocleous (2018: 3-5): some opinions were discussing legitimate versus illegitimate language usage or looking at the speaker s social class and background and whether or not those factors quantify as a legitimate use. It s odd that the UK public would convey such an opinion considering how often is it that you would go to a different country and hear staff in cafes, restaurants, shops and on public transport speaking fluent English, or even being able to speak multiple languages other than their native language and English, and being impressed at the time, or even expecting it. But as soon as you look at HOW those people acquired those languages, opinions change and degrade the validity or prestige of those languages. Many multilingual individuals face negative attitudes displayed towards them on a regular basis and it is arguably one of the roles of a linguist to attempt to educate those who in turn may discriminate. A study conducted by Jaworska and Themistocleous (2018) shows the differing attitudes of parents and children towards multilingualism in Pakistan. The results of the study found that children present the same attitudes as they parents which indicates that parents play a large role in shaping their children s attitudes towards multilingualism. Interestingly, the results also suggested that attitudes towards language can be dependent on what languages the individual can speak. For example, the study found that the respondents had positive attitudes towards the use of both English and Urdu, whereas a whole 23% displayed negative attitudes towards Punjabi. It has been argued that this is because this is a language with a considered lower status than Urdu and English.
It is clear from the research that a lot has to be done in order to change attitudes around multilingualism, and they are not just opinions in the UK or about English, take the negative opinions towards Punjabi noted above, for example. It is the 10th most spoken language in the world, the third most spoken language in England, and is a native language to around 130 million people (The Economic Times). Yet even after all of these stats, the opinion against it is still negative. As linguists, we should be enlightening those who have contrasting opinions against different languages. Why are European languages more prestigious than Indo-Aryan languages? Trying to change the attitudes of those around us is where we begin.
References: Hagger-Vaughan, L., 2016. Towards languages for all in England: the state of the debate. The Language Learning Journal, 44(3), pp.358-375.
Cooper, Robert L., and Joshua A. Fishman. A STUDY OF LANGUAGE ATTITUDES. Bilingual Review / La Revista Biling e 4, no. 1/2 (1977): 7 34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25743707.
Wood, E. M. (2016) Who are the most multilingual celebrities in the world? Babbel. https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/who-are-the-most-multilingual-celebrities-in-the-world
Jaworska, S. and Themistocleous, C., 2018. Public discourses on multilingualism in the UK: Triangulating a corpus study with a sociolinguistic attitude survey. Language in Society, 47(1), pp.57-88.
This research also highlights the need for long term education policy in relation to language learning. With education policy constantly being adapted, it is time for some consistency and what Haggar-Vaughan describes as a long-term national languages policy , this is for children aged 0-19 and would extend the current policy that is aimed at students aged 11-15. This is the type of policy we as linguists need to be supporting. On the other hand, we also need to value those people who have brought new languages into our society and appreciate the effort it takes them to learn English. Within multilingualism is this idea of folk and elite multilingualism. These terms were first coined by Cooper and Fishman (1977) and then further developed in 1999 by Romaine. The term folk multilingualism refers to individuals who have acquired or learned two languages through their childhood or having it as part of their heritage. Contrastively, elite multilingualism refers to being taught a second or additional language by means of payment, e.g. a paid tutor or learning it at university. There are so many different attituded throughout our society about perceptions on folk versus elite multilingualism. And despite these essentially having the same outcome: an individual with two or more languages, there is a significant attitude divide between the two types.
A prime example of the difference is how various people are portrayed in the media when relating back to multilingualism. Natalie Portman can speak five languages, her native are Hebrew and English, with German, Spanish and Japanese as additional languages. At the end of the biographical paragraph for Portman, Babbel.com posted the sentence Quite the role model. This may also be relating to her degree in psychology as well, but at the same time, they are praising her multilingualism. If she learned Hebrew first as a family language and then learned English as she went to school, her second language there would be considered folk multilingualism, contrasting highly with her prestige as a very successful actress.
Contrastively, those who learn a language without paying for it have a far worse outtake on it all. A few of these opinions had been captured in a study by Jaworska and Themistocleous (2018: 3-5): some opinions were discussing legitimate versus illegitimate language usage or looking at the speaker s social class and background and whether or not those factors quantify as a legitimate use. It s odd that the UK public would convey such an opinion considering how often is it that you would go to a different country and hear staff in cafes, restaurants, shops and on public transport speaking fluent English, or even being able to speak multiple languages other than their native language and English, and being impressed at the time, or even expecting it. But as soon as you look at HOW those people acquired those languages, opinions change and degrade the validity or prestige of those languages. Many multilingual individuals face negative attitudes displayed towards them on a regular basis and it is arguably one of the roles of a linguist to attempt to educate those who in turn may discriminate. A study conducted by Jaworska and Themistocleous (2018) shows the differing attitudes of parents and children towards multilingualism in Pakistan. The results of the study found that children present the same attitudes as they parents which indicates that parents play a large role in shaping their children s attitudes towards multilingualism. Interestingly, the results also suggested that attitudes towards language can be dependent on what languages the individual can speak. For example, the study found that the respondents had positive attitudes towards the use of both English and Urdu, whereas a whole 23% displayed negative attitudes towards Punjabi. It has been argued that this is because this is a language with a considered lower status than Urdu and English.
It is clear from the research that a lot has to be done in order to change attitudes around multilingualism, and they are not just opinions in the UK or about English, take the negative opinions towards Punjabi noted above, for example. It is the 10th most spoken language in the world, the third most spoken language in England, and is a native language to around 130 million people (The Economic Times). Yet even after all of these stats, the opinion against it is still negative. As linguists, we should be enlightening those who have contrasting opinions against different languages. Why are European languages more prestigious than Indo-Aryan languages? Trying to change the attitudes of those around us is where we begin.
References: Hagger-Vaughan, L., 2016. Towards languages for all in England: the state of the debate. The Language Learning Journal, 44(3), pp.358-375.
Cooper, Robert L., and Joshua A. Fishman. A STUDY OF LANGUAGE ATTITUDES. Bilingual Review / La Revista Biling e 4, no. 1/2 (1977): 7 34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25743707.
Wood, E. M. (2016) Who are the most multilingual celebrities in the world? Babbel. https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/who-are-the-most-multilingual-celebrities-in-the-world
Jaworska, S. and Themistocleous, C., 2018. Public discourses on multilingualism in the UK: Triangulating a corpus study with a sociolinguistic attitude survey. Language in Society, 47(1), pp.57-88.
This resource was uploaded by: Lucy