is clear that some areas of language, such as those covered in this book, relate more directly to social factors than others do. Those who concentrate on other
areas, taking a more or less ‘asocial’ approach, we can call ‘linguists’, as opposed to ‘sociolinguists’. However, although I am not arguing that the topics covered in
this book are the only ones which should be studied, I do believe that all who study language, from whatever point of view, should be much more aware of the
social context of their subject matter than is often the case, and the topics covered here seem most relevant in this context.
3.1 Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Malmkjaer 1991:61 says that bilingual often engages in language mixing when communicating with another person who also speaks both languages. This
may happen for a number of r4easons; for examples, the bilingual may have forgotten the term for something in the language she or he is currently speaking
and use the other language’s term instead; or the other language being spoken may not have the term.
Most of what is true of bilingualism hold also for multilingualism, and except where the context dictates otherwise, it will refer to both states using the former
terms. A bilingual or multilingual person is one whose linguistic ability in two or more languages is similar to that of a native speaker. It is estimated that half
of the population of the world is bilingual. It is as difficult to set up exact criteria for what is to count as bilingualism as it is to describe exactly all that a native
speaker can do with her or his language. Besides, not all native speakers will have the same ability in all aspects of then language: specialist registers, for instances,
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are typically only accessible to specialists. Similarly, most bilinguals will not have access to all registers in both their languages, or to the same registers in both
languages; for instance, if a native speaker of one language leaves her or his native country for another, and learns a new skill through the language of the new
country of residence, she he will typically be unable to converse fluently about this skill in her or his native language: typically, she will not have the required
terminology at her or his disposal. A bilingual may thus have a different preferred language for different activities.
In addition, it is so difficult to say precisely where advanced foreign-language skill ends and bilingualism begins, that many scholars interpret bilingualism, as a
gradable phenomenon. For various attempts at definition, and for definitions of many more types of bilingual than can be given here at this time.
If a bilingual’s ability in both languages is roughly equal, she is known as a balanced bilingual or equilingual; but such individuals are very rare. Often in
situations of stress, pronunciation accuracy in usage will show that an apparent and equilingual is, in fact, less proficient in one language than another language.
Still, a person who can pass as native in more than one language except in situations of stress might be said to be ‘more’ bilingual than a so-called receptive
as opposed to productive bilingual, a person who can understand one of her or his languages without being able to speak or write it well. People who have not
used their native language for a long time often find their ability in it reduced to this type, although they will typically regain fluency after a period of exposure to
the native language. Such persons are known as dormant bilinguals.
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It is also possible to make distinctions between types of bilingual in terms of the process by which they have reached this status. A natural or primary
bilingual is a person whose ability in the languages is the result of a natural process of acquisition, such as upbringing in a bilingual home, or of finding
herself or himself in a situation in which more than one language needs to be used, but who has not learnt either language formally as a foreign language. If
formal instruction in a foreign language has been received, the bilingual is known as a secondary bilingual.
Finally, what one might referred to as a socio psychological distinction may be drawn between additive bilingualism, in the case of which the bilingual
feels enriched socially and cognitively by an additional language, and subtractive bilingualism, in the case of which the bilingual feels that the second language is a
cause of some loss with respect to the first. The latter tends to be when there is tension between the cultures to which the two languages belong to.
A child may become bilingual for a number of reasons. The language of the home may differ from that of the surrounding larger social group, or from that
of the education system of the country of residence, in which case the child can hardly avoid becoming bilingual, and must succeed in the school language in
order to benefit from the education system. Opinions vary about the best way for schools to introduce the language of the school to children whose home language
differs from it, and the debate is typically related to the wider issues of the rights and position of minority groups in multiethnic societies. Two main approaches
predominate: 1 mother-tongue teaching, and 2 teaching in the school language
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exclusively with other languages introduced only as subjects, not as the media of instruction.
In mother-tongue teaching, children are first taught all their subjects in their mother tongue. The school language will be introduced gradually, and may
then either take over completely, or both languages may continue to be used side by side. Only if both languages continue to be used as media of instruction do
such programs fall within the definition of a bilingual education program as ‘any system of school education in which, at a given moment in time and for a varying
amount of time, simultaneously or consecutively, instruction is planned and given in at least two languages’.
The major argument in the favor of mothers tongue teaching arises from research into migrant children’s levels of achievement in Swedish schools. if they
had migrated earlier than the age often, whereas if migration had taken place after that age, the children achieved normally, according to both Swedish and Finnish
norms. This suggests that for children who are not bilingual from birth, the mother tongue must be firmly established before the second language is introduced;
otherwise, the children’s competence in both languages will suffer. It should also be borne in mind when considering the question of mother-tongue teaching, that a
child’s language is closely associated with its cultural identity, and that it can be very disturbing for a child suddenly to have to switch to a new language at the
same time as she is being introduced to the new cultural norms which inform the school system and to that system itself and to all the new information she is
required to assimilate at school indeed, it is only where large groups sharing a
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minority language exist that mothertongue-teaching programme can be instituted in practice, for economic and other practical reasons: it is too expensive to employ
teachers in all languages, and they are, in any case, not usually available. In the 1980s, funding for mother-tongue teaching steadily decreased both
in the USA and in Britain, while resources were diverted on the program to teach English as a second language ESL. Minority groups were encouraged to provide
education in the minority languages themselves leaving the school system monolingual. These programs aim to assimilate children into the mainstream
culture and language as quickly as possible, through the exclusive use in the school of the mainstream language: children are required to cope with the school
language from the start; all instruction is driven in it, with, at best, a bilingual teacher or classroom assistant to assist in the initial stages, or with the help of
extra language classes in ESL. In order to preserve their children’s ability in the home language, many
parents faced with this type of situation choose to interact in the home language only, within the home, in the family group, and in the company of other speakers
of the home language. This policy usually succeeds, and If there is a large, closely integrated community speaking the minority language in question, the child may
remain actively bilingual all its life. However, children of school age may refuse to interact in the home language, speak the language of the larger community
between themselves, and answer their parents in the majority language when addressed in the minority language. This is often because the children do not want
to be different from their peers.
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On the other hand, parents who have decided to aim for total integration in the wider community for themselves and their children, and who have therefore
not tried to maintain their own language or to teach it to their children, sometimes find that the children, usually once they become teenagers, feel cheated of part of
their culture and of the language which they feel they should have inherited. Many such children seek to spend time in and to learn the language of their parents’.
3.2 Code- Mixing and Switching
