双语主义被定义为传达或流利的两种语言的能力。多语言主义(相关术语)是指交流或流利的三种或更多语言的能力。可以追溯到1930年代的早期定义将双语主义称为对两种语言的“本地式”控制。然而,语言学,心理学,社会学,教育,神经病学和政治领域的研究扩大了双语主义的概念,远远超出了两种语言交流的简单观点。当前的定义与双语个人选择交流的每种语言一样复杂。
开始理解双语概念所需的一个重要区别是能力(或双语程度)与使用(或双语的功能)之间的差异。为了用给定的语言进行熟练的交流,个人必须具备四个基本技能:聆听,说话,阅读和写作。有些人主张将思考作为第五语言能力。要正确使用能力,必须在所谓的语言社区中存在双语个体,因为这些能力不会在真空中发展。此外,不同语言社区之间的联系为双语个人提供了上下文,以了解何时聆听,讲话,读,写和思考哪种语言。
Language Ability
Human beings are uniquely equipped for language production. The brain performs all the executive functions (such as information processing and controlling the physical aspects of speech). The diaphragm muscle, lungs, nose, mouth, lips, tongue, and vocal cords are all involved in speech production and regulation. The ear, ear bones, cochlea, brain stem, and auditory cortex are involved in hearing. Facial expressions and hand gestures also play a role in spoken language as well as sign language.
These actions of language performance represent the outward evidence that an individual has language competence. Language competence is the general term that lets us know an individual is proficient in a given language (e.g., that an individual has a mental system established for that particular language and can analyze and produce it). Language abilities are the more specific, direct, and quantifiable evidence that an individual can communicate in a given language.
Language abilities are multidimensional in nature. They include active skills (e.g., speaking and writing) and passive skills (e.g., listening and reading). A person may speak a language but not be able to read in that language or understand the spoken language. An individual may understand others who speak in a given language but not be able to speak it themselves. These abilities can be developed formally (e.g., school, continuing education classes), informally (e.g., contact with another language community such as friends or the media), or through a mixture of both formal and informal methods (e.g., language immersion programs, living abroad).
An individual who can only communicate in one language is referred to as a monolingual (or monoglot). An individual who has developed an approximately equal level of proficiency in her or his language abilities across a variety of situations in both languages is commonly referred to as a balanced bilingual. This is what most people typically think of when referring to bilingual individuals: a person who is equally fluent and has the same knowledge base in two languages. It is important to note that being monolingual may not necessarily be a good reference point to compare with or understand bilinguals.
Dominant bilingualism is another type of bilingual-ism used to describe a person who can communicate in two languages but is partial to one of them because she or he is more proficient in it. Although not always the case, this more proficient language is usually the one the person learned first (e.g., their first language, native language, or mother tongue). Another type of bilingual-ism is called semilingualism (or distractive bilingual-ism). This controversial term describes an individual who has some deficiencies in both languages when compared with monolinguals in each of those languages. These deficiencies typically include a smaller vocabulary, incorrect grammar, lack of creativity and spontaneity with both languages, and a difficulty with thinking and expressing emotions in either language. The term has been wrought with controversy because of its negative connotations and its emphasis on expectations of failure and underachievement.
语言使用
双语个人的经历并非独立于她或他的背景。不同语言社区之间的联系有助于语言成长,帮助个人更好地学习语言,并帮助社区彼此之间的联系更好。研究功能性双语主义有助于在其语言社区的背景下对双语个人语言使用的理解。
Understanding language use in bilingualism entails exploring the following questions: (a) Who is the speaker? (b) Who is the listener(s)? (c) What is the situation or context? (d) What is the specific topic of conversation? and (e) What is the purpose of language use? For example, why does speaker A change from Spanish to English when talking to listener B at location C about topic D? How is it that speaker E can talk in English to speaker F when the topic is G but not when the topic is H? Understanding bilingual communication thus moves beyond the concept of language proficiency and language skills.
The term diglossia refers to the notion of a community having more than one language available for use. The situation typically involves a majority (or high language variety) and a minority (or low variety) language. Language communities often perceive a majority language as more prestigious and as the key to upward mobility. They thus tend to use it in formal or official contexts (e.g., school, business, correspondence with the government). Minority languages are more often used in informal or personal situations (e.g., home, family, correspondence with friends). For example, a television reporter in Hawai’i may talk about a football game during a broadcast in standard English but discuss it with her friends at home in pigeon English (a form of English that retains its basic grammatical rules while integrating those of other languages such as Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese).
这种语言转移现象通常在移民人群中可见。第一代移民在尝试学习托管语言的同时保持自己的语言。第二代移民打算吸收多数文化,拥抱托管语言,并开始在一旦为他们的母语保留的上下文中使用它。到第三代移民选择一种可以交流的语言时,大多数语言可能是他们唯一可用的选择。
当双语个体在语言之间交替时,代码切换是一种常见现象。它可以以完整的句子,一个句子或单词级别的形式发生。“ Voy A Printear El作业”(我要打印作业)是代码切换的一个例子。代码转换是西班牙语英语双语社区的一些成员所说的Spanglish。
双语主义Myths and Cognitive Advantages
The predominant belief during the “period of detrimental effects” (early 1800s to 1960s) was that bilingualism had a negative impact on individuals. It was thought that learning more than one language could confuse a child in the learning of their first language, could cause a decrease in intelligence (e.g., lower IQ), could decrease spiritual growth, and could cause cultural identity or split personality problems in children. Some also argued that two languages were learned independently of each other and that the knowledge of learning one did not transfer into the other. Others believed that as more was learned in one language, less could be learned in the other.
The “period of additive effects” (1960s-present) represented a shift in the understanding of bilingual-ism and its effects in cognitive development. Recent research has demonstrated that being mindful that there is more than one way to communicate enhances a number of cognitive skills. Flexibility, creativity, concept formation, memory, analogical reasoning, classification skills, divergent thinking, and inhibitory control are some of the advantages of bilingualism. Research has also shown that bilinguals develop increased metalinguistic skills (e.g., the ability to talk about language, analyze it, think about it, separate it from context, and judge it). This analysis of one’s own knowledge of language and control over this internal language process has been shown to facilitate earlier reading acquisition, which can lead to higher levels of academic achievement. Independent of academics, being able to communicate in two or more languages increases career opportunities and options for places to live, as well as a range of options for interpersonal interactions (which in turn enhances interpersonal skills). Finally, recent research has also shown that the increased cognitive activities inherent in bilingualism delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders.
References:
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- Baker,C。和Jones,S。P.(1998)。双语和双语教育百科全书。英国克莱维顿:多语言事务。
- Bhatia, T. K., & Ritchie, W. C. (2004). The handbook of bilingualism. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
- Bialystock,E。(2001)。发展中的双语:语言,识字和认知。马萨诸塞州剑桥:剑桥大学出版社。
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- Wei,L。(2000)。双语读者。英国牛津:Routledge。