For multilingualism in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Multilingual coordination

The term multilingualism can refer to an occurrence regarding an individual speaker who uses two or more languages, a community of speakers where two or more languages are used, or between speakers of different languages. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them

Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Monoglottism ( Greek monos, "alone solitary" + glotta, "tongue language" or more commonly monolingualism or unilingualism ^[1]

Multilingual individuals

A multilingual person, in the broadest definition, is anyone who can communicate in more than one language, be it active (through speaking and writing) or passive (through listening and reading). More specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. A generic term for multilingual persons is polyglot.

Multilingualism could be rigidly defined as being native-like in two or more languages. It could also be loosely defined as being less than native-like but still able to communicate in two or more languages.

Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth First languages (sometimes also referred to as mother tongue) are acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two first languages since birth are called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals one language usually dominates over the other. This kind of bilingualism is most likely to occur when a child is raised by bilingual parents in a predominantly monolingual environment. It can also occur when the parents are monolingual but have raised their child or children in two different countries.

Definition of multilingualism

One group of academics argues for the maximal definition which means that speakers are as native-like in one language as they are in others and have as much knowledge and control over one language as they do the others. Another group of academics argues for the minimal definition, based on use. Tourists, who successfully communicate phrases and ideas while not fluent in a language, may be seen as bilingual according to this group.

However, problems may arise with these definitions as they do not answer the question regarding how much knowledge of a language is required to be classified as bilingual. As a result, since most speakers do not achieve the maximal ideal, language learners may come to be seen as deficient and by extension, language teaching may come to be seen as a failure. One does not expect children to "speak chemistry" like Nobel prize winners or to have become a professional athlete by the time they have left school, yet anything less than fluency in a second language by graduating school children is somehow inadequate.

On the other hand, arguing that someone who can say "hello" in more than one language is multilingual trivializes the language learning process.

Since 1992, Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers are somewhere between these minimal and maximal definitions. Cook calls these people multi-competent.

Learning language

A broadly held, yet nearly as broadly criticised, view is that of the American linguist Noam Chomsky in what he calls the human language acquisition device—a mechanism which enables an individual to correctly recreate the rules (grammar) that speakers around the learner use. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields Avram Noam Chomsky (noʊm ˈtʃɑmski born December 7 1928 is an American linguist, Philosopher, cognitive scientist, Political The Language Acquisition Device (LAD is a postulated "organ" of the brain that is supposed to function as a Congenital device for learning Symbolic This device, according to Chomsky, wears out over time, and is not normally available by puberty, which explains the relatively poor results adolescents and adults have in learning aspects of a second language (L2). A second language (L2 is any Language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1

If language learning is a cognitive process, rather than a language acquisition device, as the school led by Stephen Krashen suggests, there would only be relative, not categorical, differences between the two types of language learning. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought Stephen Krashen is Professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, and is a linguist educational researcher and activist

Comparing multilingual speakers

Even if someone is highly proficient in two or more languages, his so-called communicative competence or ability may not be as balanced. Linguists have distinguished various types of multilingual competence, which can roughly be put into two categories:

• For compound bilinguals, words and phrases in different languages are the same concepts. That means, a 'chien' and a 'dog' are two words for the same concept for a French-English speaker of this type. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States These speakers are usually fluent in both languages.

• For coordinate bilinguals, words and phrases in the speaker's mind are all related to their own unique concepts. That means, a bilingual speaker of this type has different associations for chien and for 'dog'. In these individuals, one language, usually the first language, is more dominant than the other, and the first language may be used to think through the second language. These speakers are known to use very different intonation and pronunciation features, and sometimes assert the feeling of having different personalities attached to each of their languages.

• A sub-group of the latter is subordinate bilingual which is typical of beginning second language learners.

The distinction between compound and coordinate bilingualism has come under scrutiny. When studies are done of multilinguals most are found to show behavior intermediate between compound and coordinate bilingualism. Some authors have suggested that the distinction should only be made at the level of grammar rather than vocabulary, others use "coordinate bilingual" as a synonym for one who has learned two languages from birth, and others have proposed dropping the distinction altogether.

Many theorists are now beginning to view bilingualism as a "spectrum or continuum of bilingualism" that runs from relative monolingual language learner to highly proficient bilingual speakers that function at high levels in both languages (Garland, 2007)

Cognitive proficiency

Main article: Cognitive advantages to bilingualism

Those bilinguals that are highly proficient in two or more languages, such as compound and coordinate bilinguals, are reported to have a higher cognitive proficiency, and are found to be better second language learners at a later age, than monolinguals. There are some cognitive advantages to Multilingualism. Old misconceptions It was once thought that learning two languages was detrimental to a child's The early discovery that concepts of the world can be labelled in more than one fashion puts those bilinguals in the lead.

There is, however, also a phenomenon known as distractive bilingualism or semilingualism. When acquisition of the first language is interrupted and insufficient, or unstructured language input follows from the second language, as sometimes happens with immigrant children, the speaker can end up with two languages both mastered below the monolingual standards. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term The vast majority of immigrant children, however, acquire both languages normally.

In Japan, it has been found that a large number of older immigrant children, whose parents have come from other Asian nations or Latin America to work in Japanese factories and whose first language is seen by society at large as less prestigious than Japanese, were able to communicate with other children in the school grounds but were not able to master the language necessary for learning in the school system. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities As a result, thousands of these children have dropped out of the school system, without mastering their first or second language. While community activists have long called for government help, only in the past few years has the Japanese Ministry of Education begun to slowly study this issue.

Literacy plays an important role in the development of language in these immigrant children. Those who were literate in the first language before arriving in Japan, and who have support to maintain that literacy, are able to at the very least maintain and master their first language. On the other hand, without first language support, these immigrant children will likely never fully master either language.

The neuroscientist Katrin Amunts studied the brain of Emil Krebs and determined that the area of Krebs' brain responsible for language—Broca's area—was organized differently than in monolingual men. The brain is the center of the Nervous system in animals All Vertebrates and the majority of Invertebrates have a brain Emil Krebs ( 15 November 1867 in Freiburg in Schlesien – 31 March 1930 in Berlin) was a German Polyglot and Sinologist Broca's area is a section of the human brain that is involved in Language processing, speech or sign production and comprehension On the other hand, the neurolinguist Loraine Obler has suggested a link with the Geschwind-Galaburda cluster, which shows a high coincidence of left-handedness, homosexuality, auto-immune disorders, learning disorders and talents in art, mathematics and, possibly, languages. The Geschwind-Galaburda hypothesis was proposed by Norman Geschwind and Albert Galaburda to explain sex differences in cognitive abilities by relating them Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Autoimmunity is the failure of an organism to recognize its own constituent parts as self, which results in an immune response against its own cells and tissues In the United States and Canada, the term learning disability (LD refers to a group of disorders that affect a broad range of academic and functional skills including Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and ^[2]

Receptive bilingualism

Receptive bilinguals are those who have the ability to understand a language, but do not speak it. Receptive bilingualism may occur when a child realizes that the community language is more prestigious than the language spoken within the household and chooses to speak to their parents in the community language only. Families who adopt this mode of communication can be highly functional, although they may not be seen as bilingual. Receptive bilinguals may rapidly achieve oral fluency when placed in situations where they are required to speak the heritage language.

Receptive bilingualism is not the same as mutual intelligibility, which is the case of a native Spanish speaker who is able to understand Portuguese and vice-versa due to the high lexical and grammatical similarities between Spanish and Portuguese [1]. In Linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between Languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand

Potential multilingual speakers

• People with a strong interest in a foreign language.
• People who find it necessary to acquire a second language for practical purposes such as business, information gathering (Internet, mainly English) or entertainment (foreign language films, books or computer games).
• Language immersion children. Language immersion is a method of teaching a Second language (also called L2 or the target language
• Immigrants and their descendants. Although the heritage language may be lost after one or two generations particularly if the replacing language has greater prestige. Home language is a term widely used for a language spoken in the home that is different from the main language spoken in the society Language attrition is the loss of a first or second Language or a portion of that language by individuals it should be distinguished from language loss within a community (the
• Children of expatriates. An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing However, language loss of the L1 or L2 in younger children may be rapid when removed from a language community. Language attrition is the loss of a first or second Language or a portion of that language by individuals it should be distinguished from language loss within a community (the
• Residents in border areas between two countries of mixed languages where each language is seen of equal prestige, efforts may be made by both language communities to acquire an L2. Yet, in areas where one language is more prestigious than the other, speakers of the less prestigious language may acquire the dominant language as an L2. A prestige dialect is the Dialect spoken by the most prestigious people in a Speech community which is large enough to sustain more than one dialect Linguistic Imperialism is a book by Robert Phillipson, published 1992 by Oxford University Press (ISBN 0 19 437146 8 In time, however, the different language communities may likely become one, as one language becomes extinct in that area. In Linguistics, language death (also language extinction, linguistic extinction, and sometimes pejoratively as linguicide) is a process
• Children whose parents each speak a different language, in multilingual communities. In unilingual communities, when parents maintain a different-parent/different-language household, younger children may appear to be multilingual, however, entering school will overwhelm the child with pressure to conform to the dominant community language. Younger siblings in these households will almost always be unilingual. On the other hand, in unilingual communities, where parents have differentd L1s, multilingualism in the child may be achieved when both parents maintain a one-language (not the community language) household.
• Children in language-rich communities where neither language is seen as more prestigious than the other and where interaction between people occurs in different languages on a frequent basis.
• Children who have one or more parents who have learned a second language, either formally (in classes) or by living in the country. The parent chooses to speak only this second language to the child. One study suggests that during the teaching process, the parent also boosts his or her own language skills, learning to use the second language in new contexts as the child grows and develops linguistically.

Polyglots

A person who speaks several languages is called a polyglot. The following individuals are claimed to be able to speak 10-60 languages:

• Giuseppe Mezzofanti
• Hans Conon von der Gabelentz
• Jose Rizal
• Georg Sauerwein
• Harold Williams
• Emil Krebs
• Uku Masing
• Kenneth Hale
• István Dabi
• Robert Stiller
• Ziad Fazah
• Daniel Tammet

However, there is no clear definition of what it means to "speak a language. Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti ( 17 September 1774 – 15 March 1849) was an Italian cardinal and famed linguist Hans Conon von der Gabelentz ( October 13, 1807, in Altenburg – September 3, 1874 in Lemnitz) was a well-known German Dr José P Rizal (full name José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda) (June 19 1861 – December 30 1896 was a Filipino Polymath, Georg Julius Justus Sauerwein (15 January 1831 in Hannover – 16 December 1904 in Christiania (now Oslo) was a German Publisher, polyglot Harold Williams ( 6 April 1876, Christchurch, New Zealand - 18 November 1928, London, England Emil Krebs ( 15 November 1867 in Freiburg in Schlesien – 31 March 1930 in Berlin) was a German Polyglot and Sinologist Uku Masing (formerly Hugo Masing August 11, 1909 - April 25, 1985) was an Estonian philosopher translator theologist and folklorist Kenneth Locke Hale ( August 15, 1934 – October 8, 2001) was a linguist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who István Dabi Sr ( June 12, 1943) is a Hungarian translator He became famous at the age of 18 for attaining mastery of 18 languages and corresponding with Robert Reuven Stiller (born Warsaw, Poland, January 25 1928) is a Polish Polyglot, writer poet translator and editor Ziad Youssef Fazah (born June 10, 1954 in Monrovia, Liberia) is a Lebanese Polyglot who has at least some notions of almost Daniel Paul Tammet (born 31 January 1979 is a British high-functioning Autistic savant gifted with a facility for mathematical and Natural language " A tourist who can handle a simple conversation with a waiter may be completely lost when it comes to discussing current affairs or even using multiple tenses. A diplomat or businessman who can handle complicated negotiations in a foreign language may not be able to write a simple letter correctly. A four-year-old French child usually must be said to "speak French fluently", but it is possible that he cannot handle the grammar as well as even some mediocre foreign students of the language do and will surely have a very limited vocabulary despite having perfect pronunciation. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

In addition there is no clear definition of what "one language" means. The Scandinavian languages are so similar that a large part of the native speakers understand all of them without much trouble. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages This means that a speaker of Danish, Norwegian or Swedish can easily get his count up to 3 languages. On the other hand, the differences between variants of Chinese, like Cantonese and Mandarin, are so big that intensive studies are needed for a speaker of one of them to learn even to understand a different one correctly. A person who has learned to speak five Chinese "dialects" perfectly has achieved something cromulent, but his "count" would still be only one "language".

Another example could be that a person who learnt five different languages like French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian and Portuguese, all belonging to the closely related Romance languages, has accomplished something less difficult than a person who learnt Hebrew, Standard Mandarin, Finnish, Navajo and Welsh, of which none is remotely related to another. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Standard Mandarin, also known as Standard Spoken Chinese, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Navajo or Navaho ( native name: Diné bizaad) is an Athabaskan language (of Na-Dené stock spoken in the southwest United States by Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic

Furthermore, what is considered a language can change, often for purely political purposes, such as when Serbo-Croatian was assembled from Serbian and Croatian and later split after Yugoslavia broke up, or when Ukrainian was dismissed as a Russian dialect by the Russian Czars to discourage national feelings. The Serbo-Croatian language or Croato-Serbian language (cрпскохрватски језик srpskohrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic Diasystem Serbian (sr-Cyrl српски језик sr-Latn ''srpski jezik'' is a South Slavic language, Croatian language ( hrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in neighbouring See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian Ukrainian (in Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova,) is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. ^[3] Another such example is Romanian and Moldovan, which are almost the same, barring a few spelling differences. Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance History and politics

Multilingualism within communities

Further information: List of multilingual countries and regions

This 1896 calendar from Thessaloniki, Greece, is printed in Ottoman Turkish, Ladino, Armenian, Greek, Bulgarian and French, and uses the Islamic, Hebrew, Julian and Gregorian calendars. See also Multilingualism This is an incomplete list of areas with either multilingualism at the community level or at the personal level Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Ottoman Turkish (Osmanlıca or tr ''Osmanlı Türkçesi'' Ottoman Turkish ota-Latn ''lisân-ı Osmânî'' is the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar ( Arabic: التقويم الهجري at-taqwīm al-hijrī; Persian: تقویم هجری قمری ‎ The Hebrew calendar (הלוח העברי ha'luach ha'ivri) or Jewish calendar is a Lunisolar calendar used by Jews for predominantly religious The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today

This is a multilingual sign at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. A bilingual sign (or by extension multilingual) is the representation on a panel ( Sign, usually Traffic sign, safety sign and informational sign For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES The two at the top are Portuguese and Chinese, which are the official languages of the region. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory The two at the bottom are Japanese and English, which are common languages used by tourists. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Chinatowns and other communities that are multilingual often make use or try to make use of multilingual signs, like this one in Brisbane (which, however, inconsistently mixes the Traditional and Simplified scripts). A Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of Chinese outside the majority-Chinese countries of Greater China. Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland

A caution message in English, Kannada and Hindi found in Bangalore, India

A trash can in Seattle with a label in 4 languages: English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Kannada (kn [[wiktಕನ್ನಡ ಕನ್ನಡ]] Kannaḍa) is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Bangalore ( officially Bengaluru ( Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country 'Wastebin' redirects here For the temporary deletion of a computer file see Recycle bin (computing. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam)

The three language (Tamil, English and Hindi) name board at the Tirusulam railway station in South India

Traffic sign near Koper Slovenia. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union The city of Pula (in Croatia) is written in Slovene and Italian (official languages of the region) and in Croatian (official language of Croatia)

Widespread multilingualism is one form of language contact. Pula (Pietas Iulia Pulj Istriot Pula; Pola is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria Slovene or Slovenian ( slovenski jezik or slovenščina, not to be confused with Slovenčina) is a South Slavic language Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Croatian language ( hrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in neighbouring Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact Multilingualism was more common in the past than is usually supposed; in early times, when most people were members of small language communities, it was necessary to know two or more languages for trade or any other dealings outside one's own town or village, and this holds true today in places of high linguistic diversity such as Sub-Saharan Africa and India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Linguist Ekkehard Wolff estimates that 50% of the population of Africa is multilingual. ^[4]

In multilingual societies, not all speakers need to be multilingual. When all speakers are multilingual, linguists classify the community according to the functional distribution of the languages involved:

• diglossia: if there is a structural functional distribution of the languages involved, the society is termed 'diglossic'. In Linguistics, diglossia is a situation where in a given society there are two (often closely-related languages one of high prestige, which is generally used Typical diglossic areas are those areas in Europe where a regional language is used in informal, usually oral, contexts, while the state language is used in more formal situations. A regional language is a Language spoken in an area of a Nation state, whether it be a small area a federal State or Province, or Frisia (with Frisian and German or Dutch) and Lusatia (with Sorbian and German) are well-known examples. Frisia ( West Frisian: Fryslân; North Frisian: Fraschlönj, Freesklöön, Freeskluin, Fresklun, and The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500000 members of Frisian Ethnic groups who live on the southern The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Upper and Lower Lusatia Upper Lusatia ( Oberlausitz or Hornja Łužica) is today part of the German state of Saxony except for a small part east of Some writers limit diglossia to situations where the languages are closely related, and could be considered dialects of each other.
• ambilingualism: a region is called ambilingual if this functional distribution is not observed. In a typical ambilingual area it is nearly impossible to tell which language is used when in a given setting. True ambilingualism is rare. Ambilingual tendencies can be found in Luxembourg, Singapore, Catalonia, some places in Canada or in border regions with many cross-border contacts. Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Singapore Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page
• bipart-lingualism: if more than one language can be heard in a small area, but if the large majority of speakers are monolinguals, who have little contact with speakers from neighbouring ethnic groups, an area is called 'bipart-lingual'. The typical example is the Balkans.

Multilingualism between different language speakers

Whenever two people meet, negotiations take place. If they want to express solidarity and sympathy, they tend to seek common features in their behavior. If speakers wish to express distance towards or even dislike of the person they are speaking to, the reverse is true, and differences are sought. This mechanism also extends to language, as has been described by Howard Giles' Accommodation Theory.

Various, but not nearly all, multilinguals tend to use code-switching, a term that describes the process of 'swapping' between languages. Code-switching is a term in Linguistics referring to using more than one language or variety in conversation In many cases, code-switching is motivated by the wish to express loyalty to more than one cultural group, as holds for many immigrant communities in the New World. Code-switching may also function as a strategy where proficiency is lacking. Such strategies are common if the vocabulary of one of the languages is not very elaborated for certain fields, or if the speakers have not developed proficiency in certain lexical domains, as in the case of immigrant languages.

This code-switching appears in many forms. If a speaker has a positive attitude towards both languages and towards code-switching, many switches can be found, even within the same sentence. If, however, the speaker is reluctant to use code-switching, as in the case of a lack of proficiency, he might knowingly or unknowingly try to camouflage his attempt by converting elements of one language into elements of the other language. This results in speakers using words like courrier noir (literally mail that is black) in French, instead of the proper word for blackmail, chantage. Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public a family member or associates unless a demand made upon the

Bilingual interaction can even take place without the speakers switching. In certain areas, it is not uncommon for speakers to consistently each use a different language. This phenomenon is found, amongst others, in Scandinavia. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well Speakers of Swedish and Norwegian can easily communicate with each other speaking their respective language. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language It is usually called non-convergent discourse, a term introduced by the Dutch linguist Reitze Jonkman. A non-convergent discourse (NCD is a discourse in which the participants do not accommodate on the language level which results in the use of different languages The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands This phenomenon is also found in Argentina, where Spanish and Italian are both widely spoken, even leading to cases where a child with a Spanish and an Italian parent grows up fully bilingual, with both parents speaking only their own language yet knowing the other. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Another example is the former state of Czechoslovakia, where two languages (Czech and Slovak) were in common use. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the The Slovak language ( slovenčina, slovenský jazyk, not to be confused with Slovenščina) sometimes referred to as "Slovakian" Most Czechs and Slovaks understand both languages, although they would use only one of them (their respective mother tongue) when speaking. For example, in Czechoslovakia it was common to hear two people talking on television each speaking a different language without any difficulty understanding each other. Another example would be a Slovak having read a book in Czech and afterwards being unsure whether he was reading it in Czech or Slovak. This bilinguality still exists nowadays, although it has started to deteriorate after Czechoslovakia split up.

The now-defunct magazine High Fidelity once published an article about a classical recording session where everyone spoke several languages. (It is not unusual for classical musicians to speak French, German, Italian, and English. ) People addressed people in each other's languages: a Frenchman would ask a German a question in German, and the German would reply in French. This was apparently customary among highly-educated Europeans and Asians, as well as between Americans and Europeans; an American who speaks German and a native German might speak to each other this way. This is the reverse of non-convergent discourse (where the speaker speaks in the listener's language instead of his own), and is meant to show respect for the listener.

Multilingualism at the linguistic level

Models for native language literacy programs

Reasons for native language literacy include sociopolitical as well as socio-cultural identity arguments. While these two camps may occupy much of the debate behind in which languages children will learn to read, a greater emphasis on the linguistic aspects of the argument are necessary. In spite of the political turmoil precipitated by this debate, researches continue to espouse a linguistic basis for this logic. This rationale is based upon the work of Jim Cummins (1983).

Sequential model

In this model, learners receive literacy instruction in native language until they acquire a "threshold" literacy proficiency. Some researchers use age 3 as the age when a child has basic communicative competence in L1 (Kessler, 1984). ^[5] Children may go through a process of sequential acquisition if they immigrate at a young age to a country where a different language is spoken, or if the child exclusively speaks his or her heritage language at home until he/she is immersed in a school setting where instruction is offered in a different language.

The phases children go through during sequential acquisition are less linear than for simultaneous acquisition and can vary greatly among children. Sequential acquisition is a more complex and lengthier process, although there is no indication that non language-delayed children end up less proficient than simultaneous bilinguals, so long as they receive adequate input in both languages.

Bilingual model

In this model, native language and the community language are simultaneously taught. The advantage is literacy in two languages as the outcome. However, teacher training must be high in both languages and in techniques for teaching a second language.

Coordinate model

This model posits that equal time be spent separately in both instruction of the native language and the community language. The native language class however focuses on basic literacy while the community language class focuses on listening and speaking skills. Being a bilingual does not necessarily mean that you can speak, for example, English and French.

Outcomes

Cummins' research concluded that the development of competence in the native language serves as a foundation of proficiency that can be transposed to the second language—the common underlying proficiency hypothesis. His work sought to overcome the perception propagated in the 1960’s that learning two languages were two competing aims. The belief was that the two languages were mutually exclusive and that learning a second required unlearning elements and dynamics of the first in order to accommodate the second (Hakuta, 1990). The evidence for this perspective relied on the fact that errors in acquiring the second language were related to the rules of the first language (Hakuta, 1990). Clearly, how this hypothesis holds under different types of languages such as Romance versus non-Western languages has yet to undergo research.

Another new development that has influenced the linguistic argument for bilingual literacy is the length of time necessary to acquire the second language. While previously children were believed to have the ability to learn a language within a year, today researchers believe that within and across academic settings, the time span is nearer to five years (Collier, 1992; Ramirez, 1992).

An interesting outcome of studies during the early 1990s however confirmed that students who do successfully complete bilingual instruction perform better academically (Collier, 1992; Ramirez, 1992). The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 These students exhibit more cognitive elasticity including higher analytic performance of abstract visual patterns. Students who receive bidirectional bilingual instruction where equal proficiency in both languages is required perform at an even higher level. Examples of such programs include international schools and multi-national education schools such as French-American, Korean-American, and Swiss-American schools.

Multilingualism in computing

In computing, software are said to be multilingual when the user interface language can be switched. Translating user interface is usually part of the software localisation process which also include other adaptations such as units and date conversion. In Computing, Internationalization and localization (also spelled internationalisation and localisation, see spelling differences) are means of adapting Many software applications are available in several languages, with a total number of languages usually ranging from a handful (the most spoken languages) to dozens of languages for the most popular applications (like office suite, web browser, etc). This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use In Computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office software suite or productivity suite is a Software suite intended to be used by typical A web browser is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with text images videos music games and other information typically located on a Due to the status of English in computing, software development nearly always requires using it (but see also Non-English-based programming languages) and so, a lack of a software version in this language is very unlikely. English is the Lingua franca in computing and on the Internet, and the computing vocabulary of many languages is borrowed from English Non-English-based programming languages are computer Programming languages that unlike most well-known programming languages do not use keywords taken from or inspired by

While switching from one language to another for an application can be easily and swiftly done (selecting the language and possibly restarting it), doing the same with the desktop environment can be more complicated since it may require to install some additional packages (like MUI for Microsoft Windows) and/or endding the current session and relog in each time one want to select another language (like GNOME). In graphical computing a desktop environment ( DE) commonly refers to a style of Graphical user interface (GUI that is based on the Desktop metaphor which Multilingual User Interface ( MUI) is the name of a Microsoft technology for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and other applications that Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. A gnome is a Mythical creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle

Internet

Main article: Languages on the Internet

See also

Linguistic aspects

• Multialphabetism
• Bimodal Bilingualism in the American Deaf Community
• Cognitive advantages to bilingualism
• Diglossia
• Language attrition
• Heritage speaker
• Monoglottism
• Non-convergent discourse
• Plurilingualism
• Polyglot
• Adamic

Country-level descriptions

• Languages of Belgium
• Languages of India
• Languages in the United States
• List of multilingual countries and regions
• Languages of Switzerland

Policies and proposals

• English-only movement
• European Commissioner for Multilingualism
• Language legislation in Belgium
• Official bilingualism in Canada

Education

• EISP in Thailand
• Multilingual Education

Other

• Bilingual sign
• Linguapax Prize
• Bilingual name
• Economics of language

References

• Bastardas-Boada, Albert (2007). "Linguistic sustainability for a multilingual humanity", Glossa. An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 2, n. 2.
• Bhatia, Tej K. and Ritchie, William C. (2006). Handbook of Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
• Burck, C. (2005) Multilingual Living. Explorations of Language and Subjectivity. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Collier, V. P. (1992). A synthesis of studies examining long-term language-minority student data on academic achievement. Bilingual Research Journal, vol. 16, 187-212.
• De Bot, K and Kroll, J. K (2002). 'Psycholinguistics'. In N. Schmitt (Ed. ) Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press: London.
• Gillespie, M. K. (1993). Profiles of Adult Learners: Revealing the Multiple Faces of Literacy. Tesol Quarterly, 27(3), Fall 529-533.
• Hakuta, K. (1990). Bilingualism and bilingual education: A research perspective. Occasional Papers in Bilingual Education. Washington, DC: Delta Systems & the Center for Applied Linguistics.
• Ramirez, J. D. (1992). Executive summary of the Final Report: Longitudinal study of structured English immersion strategy, early-exit and late-exit transitional bilingual education programs for language minority children. Bilingual Research Journal, vol. 16, 1-62.
• Garland, Stanley (2007). The Bilingual Spectrum. Guirnalda Publishing, Orlando, Fla. , 47-8

External links

• Adult LiteracyPDF (82. 6 KiB)
• Common Questions about a bilingual education for young children
• The benefits of multilingualism
• CBC Digital Archives – The Road to Bilingualism
• Encouraging Childhood Multilingualism
• SLABIB: Second Language Acquisition
• One Language or Two: Answers to Questions about Bilingualism in Language-Delayed Children

Bibliography: SLABIB by Vivian Cook]

• Multilingial virtual keyboard