Lecture 2 Notes: Multilingualism in Society and Education

Lecture 2 Outcomes: Aims

  • Examines how societal changes affect ideas of language and multilingualism.

  • Reconsiders previous definitions of multilingualism and who is a multilingual person.

Language and Globalization

  • Globalization leads to contact situations, labeled 'super-diversity.'

  • These contacts impact languages, cultures, individuals, and societal structures.

  • Language contact may influence language boundaries.

Implications & Traditional Definitions of Multilingualism

  • Language contact has consequences for describing language and multilingualism.

  • Traditional definitions:

    • Complete, equal mastery of two or more languages.

    • Fluency characteristic of a native speaker.

  • Recent developments challenge these definitions.

Recent Developments Affecting Multilingualism

  • Traditional/essentialist views of language:

    • Language as an independent object with clear borders.

  • Contemporary/late-modern views:

    • Language as a dynamic, situated process or practice.

    • Languaging: using a mixture of language features for communication.

    • Individuals are referred to as languagers.

    • Example: Awe, my bru, how are you today?

Language as Situated Practice

  • Traditional view: knowing a language means knowing the 'whole' language.

  • Multilingual individual can use each language to discuss any topic.

  • Language as practice: competence is limited to specific domains.

Naming and Counting Languages

  • Traditional view: naming and counting languages to describe multilingualism.

  • Recent scholarship reveals issues with this practice, e.g., the Invention/Disinvention paradigm.

  • Some languages are colonial/missionary inventions.

  • Example: Sesotho sa Leboa, Sesotho, and Setswana.

Reflection on Definitions of a Multilingual Person

  • Traditional definitions: a multilingual person is often seen as someone who can communicate effectively in two or more languages, but this understanding may overlook the complexity of language use in different social contexts.

    1. Active, completely equal mastery of two or more languages.

    2. Fluency characteristic of a native speaker.

  • More recent/late-modern definition:

    1. Ability to use three or more languages, separately or with code-mixing; competence varies by register, occupation, and education.