Multilingual
learning
The topic of this composition is going to deal with is
the process of multilingual learning. First, this essay is going to start by
defining the term of multilingualism, using the definition of professor
Franceschini. Secondly, it is going to be seen the relations between
multiculturalism and multilingualism. Thirdly, it is going to be discussed the
advantages and disadvantages of having multilingual learning and the benefits
and issues that can be produced, if someone becomes multilingual. Finally, I
will use my personal experience to show the influence that multilingual
learning can have on an individual student.
The term multilingualism is usually addressed in many
books, but nevertheless, it is difficult to define it. Professors Aroni and
Hufeisen (Aroni and Hufeisen, 2009) use the definition of Franceschini to
define it:
‘The capacity of societies, institutions, groups, and
individuals to engage on a regular basis in space and time with more than one
language in everyday life…
Multilingualism is a product of the fundamental human ability to
communicate in a number of languages. Operational distinctions may then be
drawn between social, institutional, discursive, and individual multilingualism.
(Franceschini, 2009, p.33–34)’
In order to better understand Franceschini’s
definition, both authors made a few necessary comments on it. The first one is
that the term ‘language’ needs to be considered in a neutral way, this means
that it can refer to our everyday language or to the standard language, as well
as, regional languages or dialects. The second and third comment they make
refers to the moment this term is already established in the society,
institutions, and individuals, and it is related to the scientific analysis of
multilingualism. In their second comment, they explain that this term cannot be
applied to everyday interactions and treat two interlocutors as two separate
individuals, they say that researchers must consider the context of the
interaction and each example must receive specific consideration. In the
third comment, they assert that multilingualism needs to be distinguished from
bilingualism in order to do this type of analysis because they assert that
there are some times in which researchers have only focused on the two
languages they are analysing in question, but they do not ask the participants
about the possibility of speaking more than two languages. (Aroni and Hufeisen,
2009)
Once having exposed the term of multilingualism, this
essay will relate it to the concept of multiculturalism. According to Goral and
Conner (Goral and Conner, 2013) individuals who speak or use more than one
language usually, belong to–or are familiar with – more than one culture. As a
consequence, they can be also considered multicultural. Moreover, cultural considerations
can be determinant for the evaluation of multilingual individuals and they will
be taken into account. It is, thus, obvious that the study subjects of these
types of researchers are highly heterogeneous.
However, there are times in which multiculturalism and
multilingualism do not go together, particularly in the case of language and
cultural minorities. It is for this reason that in the 21st century,
multilingual and multicultural competencies will be necessary to function
completely. For the UNESCO International Commission on Education for the twenty-first century, quality education – including the multicultural and
multilingual ones– cannot be fully achieved without understanding some previous
tensions, such as the tension between the universal and the individual or the tension between the need for competition and the concern for equality of
opportunity, among others (Alidou et al., 2011).
In environments where multilingualism and
multiculturalism are well seen and represent education resources, the tensions
are reinterpreted, different languages and cultures do not represent an
obstacle and they can be related to each other. Thus someone starts by learning
one’s own language within a particular cultural setting, such as family and
community, and in the case, one continues to learn other languages, he or she
will be learning other cultures at the same time. Furthermore, by doing this,
one expands one’s capacity to learn and understand the connections between
global and local knowledge and communities, changing the world's point of view
through communication and multilingual competence (Alidou et al., 2011).
Consequently, there should be a general awareness of the language aspects of learning. To do that, there must be a definition of a multilingual country and plurilingual student in order to see the different
perspectives that can be taken. With this, the aim is to remember facts that
teachers are familiar with and begin with representations that they have
already experienced themselves. The dimensions they should later include in
these experiences are, for instance, the levels of language competence, or a comparative approach to language and linguistic aspects, among others
(Hansen-Pauly, 2012).
The next stage in this process is to create
challenging situations that teachers will have to cope with. This can be
performed by analysing different views on multilingual learning and find the
possible difficulties they may confront, such as considering that foreign
languages for subject learning can involve extra effort and require more time
for learning. Another fact to take into account is that the acquisition of a
multilingual learning is equally successful than a monolingual one, so there
must be an option for those who want multilingual learning and another for
those who do not want one. It is also
required for this multilingual learning, an additional concentration on the
learner’s parts, having an active involvement in the subject, because teachers
generally do not have time to focus on a deeper analysis of learning materials
due to the shortness of the school year, so it is a learner’s task to make this
deeper and closer analysis. Finally, motivation is also essential: teachers,
parents and learners must be aware of the advantages of language development in
subject learning (Hansen-Pauly, 2012).
Once the multilingual learning process works and
students become bilingual and subsequently multilingual, it is important to
know the new challenges these individuals are going to deal with. In the case
of multilingual people, they have a special challenge when they hear a new
word, this means that if a monolingual person hears a word, he will only need to
compare it with a single stock of arbitrary phonemes and meaning rules and if
this person wants to utter, he will draw it from that single stock.
Nevertheless, if the subject is multilingual, he or she will need several
stocks separate. The example that the author shows us is the following one, if
a Spanish/Italian bilingual person hears the phonemes b-u-rr-o, he or she will
instantly interpret to be either “donkey”, if the context is Spanish, or
“butter”, if it is Italian. Multilingual people participating in a multilingual
conversation will switch frequently and unpredictably between the stocks they
have. As a result, they are constantly and unconsciously practicing in the use
of the executive function system (Diamond, 2010).
Moreover, far from being a problem, scientific
researchers have shown that multilingualism provides benefits to individuals
along with all their lives, from their childhood to adulthood and even in adults
whose cognitive capacities are declining. Young babies who are in bilingual or
multilingual circumstances are not confused by this, but they develop the
ability to discriminate among the languages they hear and they more open to
learning new languages than their counterparts that are exposed to only one
language. It has also been proved that adult learners are able to acquire
sensitivity to the grammar of a second language despite the age. Furthermore, the
fact of having code-switching reflects a sophisticated cognitive strategy
that enables bilingual and multilingual learners to exploit their multilingual
speech in all the languages they can speak. In the last two decades, it has
been revered all the older false believes about multilingualism, and now for
language scientists, multilingual speakers are seen as the best way for
understanding the way that language experience shapes the mind and brain
(Diamond, 2010).
From personal experience, I am going to explain my
multilingual learning experience. Although I am able to speak three languages
and I am learning a fourth one, I do not consider a multilingual speaker and I
will later explain why. My native language is Spanish and the second language I
started to learn was English. Like most of my classmates, I started at school,
but the difference was that my father was an English teacher, so he started to
teach me English at home. He didn’t exactly teach what I was learning at
school, instead of this, he gave me further material, such as other books or
English films. When I was a little older (still at school) he started teaching
me French, because his idea was that I entered a French Lyceum, but this was
not possible, so at the age of fourteen I continued studying it in the official
language school of my city. Apart from learning both languages at school and at
home, I also travelled to France and to the British Isles. First, I
started by going to summer camps in France, and then I went to an international language
school in both places. I have to point out that this was and still is on
holiday, so it was not for so much time. Finally, three years ago I started to
learn German at the official language school, and even if this year I have not
had the opportunity to continue learning it due to my Erasmus, I will continue
to learn it once the Erasmus has finished.
Having already explained my multilingual experience I
will give my opinion on what I consider a multilingual speaker should be. My
understanding of what a multilingual speaker should be is that person who is
able to speak and think in more than two languages. The reason why I say this
is because if a person who can only speak a foreign language by constructing
her sentences or forming his ideas from its own native language, he or she is
only translating his native language into a different one, but not thinking in
two different languages, thus he wouldn’t be a bilingual or multilingual speaker.
It is therefore why I do not consider myself a bilingual speaker. Some
teachers I have had also told me that you become bilingual or multilingual once
you have dreamt in that foreign language you are studying for and another
teacher told me once that you are able to speak in another language, once you
can get angry speaking it, so in my view, everybody has its own opinion of what bilingual and multilingual is.
Summing up, in this essay it has been discussed what
multilingualism is and how it is related to the notion of multiculturalism. It
has also been analysed the several processes of multilingual learning
education and how teachers and learners should deal with it at school in order
to have a better result. Moreover, it has been exposed the several benefits and
issues that a multilingual education can contribute to us. Finally, I have
explained my multilingual learning education and I have given my own definition
of a multilingual speaker.
References
Alidou,
H., Glanz, C. & Nikièma, N. (2011) “Quality multilingual and multicultural
education for lifelong learning”, International Review of Education Vol. 57, p.
530–531
Aronin, Larissa & Hufeisen, Britta (eds.),
The exploration of multilingualism: Development of research on L3,
multilingualism and multiple language acquisition. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins, 2009.
Diamond,
J. (2010). The benefits of multilingualism. Science 330, 332–333.
Franceschini,
R. 2009. Genesis & development of research in multilingualism: perspectives
for future research. In the Exploration of Multilingualism: Development of
Research on L3, Multilingualism and Multiple Language Acquistion. Aka Applied
Linguistics series 6, L. Aronin & B. Hufeisen (eds), 27-61. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins.
Hansen-Pauly,
M. A. (2012). Teacher education: Language issues in multilingual educational
contexts: Sensitizing subject student teachers for language issues and cultural
perspectives. 13-14. Luxembourg: Council of Europe.
