Is it an advantage to be raised bilingually?

Transcription

1 Is it an advantage to be raised bilingually? Simone van Slooten Anne Offringa 10 January 2014

2 Preface For our research project we were very interested in doing something with language. Anne has lived in Hong Kong and spoke two languages on a daily basis and generally, we are interested in foreign languages and its cultures. Hence, we wanted to write this project focusing on bilingualism and whether it is beneficial. We decided to look into the research question Is it an advantage to be raised bilingually?. Over the past months we have explored many aspects of bilingualism. For example, we have looked into the various definitions it holds and the cognitive advantages it creates. Furthermore, we have investigated some disadvantages and attitudes towards bilingualism. For our own research, we have interviewed twenty people who were either bilingually raised, raising bilingually or being raised bilingually. We have discovered so much and we enjoyed doing this project because our subject was very interesting. There was an overload on literature written about our subject, which was daunting but also helpful. We would like to thank our first supervisor, Marijke Heijloo, for always checking our material and noting things we could improve. She was always eager to help, even at the end of her supervision. Furthermore, we would like to thank Beatrijs Blom, our second supervisor, for agreeing to help us on such a short notice. To add to that, we are thankful to Lisa Cheng, a linguist who has provided us with a large amount of useful information. Also, we want to thank all the interviewees who were kind enough to provide us with their answers and thereby giving us the ability to do a small research project. Lastly, we want to thank our parents for connecting us with bilinguals and for making coffee at the final stage of the project. 2

3 Contents 1 General introduction 2 Exploring bilingualism 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Types of bilingualism 2.3 Why does bilingualism exist? 2.4 Conclusion 3 How does a bilingual upbringing develop? 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Ways to raise a child bilingually 3.3 Phases 3.4 Language acquisition 3.5 Bilingual behaviour 3.6 Conclusion 4 What are the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism according to literature? 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Advantages Cognitive advantages Task-solving advantages Cultural advantages Communication advantages 4.3 Disadvantages 4.4 Conclusion 5 How do bilinguals/multilinguals experience their bilingualism/multilingualism? 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Method 5.3 Results 5.4 Relation between results and literature findings 5.5 Conclusion 6 Conclusions and recommendations 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Conclusion of the entire project 6.3 Recommendations 6.4 Reflection 6.5 Summary 6.6 Bibliography 7 Attachments 7.1 Interviews bilinguals 7.2 Interview Lisa Cheng 7.3 Log 3

4 1 General introduction Bilingualism can be defined in various ways, which we will discuss extensively in the following chapters. It can be described as the ability to speak two languages fluently, or as the habitual use of two languages. In the latter case, fluency isn t necessarily important. In this project, we will research the variety of advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism, the different aspects of the phenomenon and how it develops. To gather the information that we need in order to answer our questions, we will interview bilinguals of various age groups. The obtained results will give us a clear view of the advantages and disadvantages that they experience every day. Not only will we interview these people, but we will also get in touch with Lisa Cheng, linguist at Leiden University. She is very interested in language development of children and can tell us a lot about our subject. She is a great source of information to us. The meaning that of bilingualism that we refer to throughout this project is that it is the ability to speak and understand two or more languages at a high level. Another criterion is that the bilingual has to use the languages frequently. The majority of the people we will interview to obtain more knowledge of bilingualism are raised bilingually. Some are parents, who raise their children bilingually. Our research question is: Is it an advantage to be raised bilingually? We expect that there are many advantages to being raised bilingually, because it gives you the ability to communicate with a larger group of people. This could be useful for acquiring new (job-related) positions in your life. We believe that because of this, bilinguals have advantages as opposed to monolinguals. Since communicating with people all over the world is becoming more of a necessity than just a bonus, people that are raised bilingually and have an excellent knowledge of two languages will probably have many advantages. We have made several sub questions in order to answer our research question: - What types of bilingualism are there and why does it exist? We have created this sub question in order to obtain more knowledge about bilingualism and the chapter it belongs to serves for the same purpose. We think there are different sorts of bilingualism, since there are various ways one could become bilingual. We expect the phenomenon exists because of migration and the history of a country. - How does a bilingual upbringing develop? We expect that a child will encounter two languages on almost a daily basis in order to acquire it. Perhaps, a mother solely speaks English with the child and a father speaks French. Another possibility could be that a child learns one language at home and a different one at school. - What are the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism according to literature? 4

5 We expect to find a vast amount of advantages and few disadvantages. We suppose bilingualism is helpful for the brain, since speaking multiple languages is more challenging; thus there would be cognitive advantages. Furthermore, we expect bilinguals to communicate easier and thereby have social/ communicational advantages. Lastly, we think bilingualism would be appealing for an employer, since it would give an extra. We assume that there are not many disadvantages to bilingualism, as being bilingual potentially creates many opportunities. We can t think how being bilingual could eventually impact your life in a negative way. Therefore, we are interested to find out what possible disadvantages are by looking at literature, interviewing Lisa Cheng and bilinguals. - How do bilinguals/multilinguals experience their bilingualism/multilingualism? We presume bilinguals and/or multilinguals experience the phenomenon positively. We suppose it broadens their horizon because they are able to communicate with a larger group of people than monolinguals and they learn to embrace multiple cultures. Hence, we think bi-/multilinguals experience bi-/multilingualism optimistically. Image 1. Source: 5

6 2 Exploring bilingualism 2.1 Introduction Bilingualism is a broad term and can be defined in different ways. In order to get a clearer view of the exact kinds of bilingualism we are dealing with, we need to characterise them. In the following chapter we will distinguish five different types of bilingualism. 2.2 Types of bilingualism The following five types of bilingualism need to be distinguished: 1. Simultaneous bilingualism In this case a person is taught two languages from birth, enabling this person to eventually speak both languages fluently. The languages are interdependent. 2. Compound bilingualism This is when a person learns two languages in the same context. It occurs when parents of a child have a different mother tongue. For instance, the French mother speaks French and the English father speaks English to the child. The languages are interdependent. This could be considered as a variant of simultaneous bilingualism. 3. Coordinate bilingualism When a person is co-ordinately bilingual, it means that they have obtained knowledge of two languages in different environments. This could be, for example, an English person that learns French in school. The result is that both languages are associated with different contexts. The languages are independent. This form usually develops in early childhood. 4. Sub-coordinate bilingualism A person is sub-co-ordinately bilingual if he is able to speak two languages, but one of them is the dominant language that acts as a filter for the second, recessive language. This occurs (for example) when a child speaks a certain language at home and another at school. However, the languages are being spoken to a different extent, which causes the dominance of one language. 5. Sequential bilingualism This is when a child is taught a particular language starting from birth and learns to speak other languages later in life. This type of bilingualism only applies if a person is at least three years old before being introduced to the second language. (Romaine, 1989; Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). 6

7 As we see above, apparently there is a great variety in types of bilingualism. Therefore it is important to clarify to which form of bilingualism we will be referring throughout this project. The type of bilingualism that we will research is simultaneous bilingualism (1) and coordinate bilingualism (3). Since compound bilingualism (2) can be regarded as a variance to simultaneous bilingualism, there will be compound bilinguals amongst the interviewed people. We want to research these types as in both cases a child obtains knowledge of two languages at a very young age. We want to know if this has advantages as opposed to learning a second language at an older age. We will interview both simultaneous (and compound) bilinguals and coordinate bilinguals to get a clear view of both of them and see whether there are differences. We will possibly interview people that are multilingual in order to obtain more results and expand our research. Simultaneous and sequential bilingualism (5) differ significantly. When a child is raised sequentially bilingual, it already knows something about language acquisition and builds on the knowledge when obtaining a second language. The disadvantage is that the child will use rules that are used in one language in the other too, which allows for mistakes to occur. Simultaneous bilingualism, as we have previously noted, is a situation in which a child learns to speak two different languages from birth. When the child starts to learn these two languages, it has no knowledge of language whatsoever, making it as difficult for the child to learn two languages as it is for a child to learn one language. Eventually, the child will have an excellent knowledge of both languages. Being raised simultaneously bilingual prevents the child to make linguistic mistakes that a sequential bilingual would make. (Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). There are many ways one can become bilingual, just as there is a wide variety of social conditions, which determine how it happens. There are societies where languages flourish alongside each other, even though that rarely happens in equality (Miller, 1989). Type Parents Context Home language 1 T1+T2 T2 T1+T2 2 T1+T2 T2 T1 3 T1 T2 T1 4 T1+T2 T3 T1+T2 5 T1 T1 T1+T2 6 T1+T2 T1+T2 T1+T2 Table 1: Types of early bilingualism (by: Narain en Verhoeven, 1994) T1 is the first language, T2 the second language and T3 the third. The context is the language that is spoken most in the linguistic society and the person s surroundings. The table shows how bilingualism could occur. Bilingualism has often been defined and described in terms of categories, scales and opposites, which are related to factors such as proficiency and function. 7

8 There are many differences between linguists views. At one end there is Leonard Bloomfield s one, which states that native-like control of two languages is the criterion for bilingualism (Romaine, 1989, p.10). Then, at the very other end, we ve got Einar Haugen s view; he claims that bilingualism begins when the speaker of one language can produce meaningful utterances in the other language (Romaine, 1989, p.10). Thus, anyone who knows how to say hello in another language qualifies as a bilingual. Richard Diebold, however, uses the term incipient bilingualism to classify the early stages of contact between two languages. In this case, the definition leaves open the question of the absolute proficiency in order to be defined as a bilingual. Linguists call a person who might not have productive control over a language, but is able to understand some of it, a passive or receptive bilingual (Romaine, 1989, p.10). Charles Hockett uses the term semibilingualism (Romaine, 1989, p.10). William Mackey (1968: 555) suggests there are four questions, which a description of bilingualism must address: degree, function, alternation and interference. Degree focuses on the proficiency a speaker possesses of a language. Function focuses on the uses a bilingual speaker has for the languages (writing, speaking, reading, listening). Alternation treats the extent to which the user alternates between the languages. Interference concentrates on the extent to which the user manages to keep the languages separate. These four questions are interdependent, because the knowledge of the language will determine the use of it. Furthermore, proficiency and manner in which the languages have been acquired are correlated with the kind and degree of alternation one engages in. Mackey also lists a number of factors such as age, sex, intelligence, memory, language attitude and motivation, which are likely to influence the bilingual s ability. These factors are indispensable for learning a language because the cognitive ability is linked with age. Motivation toward learning a different language evidently varies with the different stages in one s life (Romaine, 1989, p.11). 2.3 Why does bilingualism exist? Determinants of the need for bilingualism 1. Geographical proximity Geographical proximity of two communities naturally leads to the need for communication for the purpose of trade. The members of the two communities learn each other s languages, which inevitably leads to bilingualism. For example, The Netherlands and Germany have traded with each other for a long time and many Dutch people are able to speak German since it is offered in school. 8

9 2. Historical factors Historical events such as conquests and colonialism often determine the national language. The most powerful groups in any society are able to force their language upon the less powerful (Romaine, 1955: 23). Examples of this factor are the countries Suriname, Congo, Algeria and Morocco. 3. Migration Migrants have fled to foreign linguistic environments, bringing their own language while having to acquire the host language; thus becoming bilingual. This is very common in the Netherlands, which is a multicultural country. It hosts many Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese immigrants, who all brought their own language while having to adapt to the Dutch life and the Dutch language. Since freedom of movement has been established in the European Union, it is significantly easier to move to a different country and by doing so bringing a new language. Image 2. This image shows a map of the languages in Europe. It is evident that many countries are multilingual, maybe due to migration. Source: 4. Religion Some religions like Islam consider the language of their sacred scriptures pure and holy. As such, priests in such religions have to learn the language in which the sacred books were originally written. 9

10 Source: accessed on 15 October Globalisation Over the past years, communicating on a global basis has become much more relevant. It is possible to travel to the other side of the world in the matter of a day and due to the Internet, instant connections can be made. Since this opens the door to communicating worldwide, it could be important and necessary to speak more than one language for the sake of proper interaction. 6. Different mother tongues When a child is born into a family with different mother tongues, it will automatically call for the need for bilingualism. If the mother is Spanish and the father is Dutch, it is plausible that they both want to pass on their native tongue, thus enabling the child to be raised bilingually. Social perspectives of bilingualism Bilingualism is a social phenomenon; it cannot be excluded from political context, because the values of a person or a country, for example, influence it greatly. (Miller, 1983, p. 110) In most societies where bilingualism is the norm, issues of status, access to education and literacy and international usefulness are likely to affect attitudes to the value attaching to one language rather than another (Miller, 1983, p.111). People have different opinions on which language is the most important one and this can cause problems. An example is the situation in Canada, where some find bilingualism (French and English) to be significant, whereas others are not interested in it. Image 3. This image shows the percentage of Canadians with knowledge of English and French. Source: Differences in the effects of language contact are subject to questions of status, group allegiance and particular social uses. 10

11 2.4 Conclusion Over the course of this chapter, it has become clear that there is a variety of ways one can define bilingualism. It can be classified based on the age of language acquisition, on the proficiency one possesses of a language, or the context in which a language is acquired. Furthermore, it is evident that degree, function, alternation and interference are inter-reliant concerning the phenomenon bilingualism. However, those factors do not solely determine the degree of bilingualism: factors such as social conditions, intelligence and age are important to take into account too. Bilingualism can be needed for trade, incorporating a country s past into the present day and communicating globally. Furthermore, migrants can bring their own language with them while also having to adapt to the new country and language; thus creating a bilingual environment. Lastly, the social conditions of a country can add to the need for bilingualism. However, some can also encounter problems with that since their values and principles lie elsewhere. 11

12 3 How does a bilingual upbringing develop? 3.1 Introduction As one can imagine, a bilingual upbringing can differ significantly from a monolingual upbringing. The child has to acquire more than one language and figure out the different words and grammar that come with each language. In this chapter we will attempt to capture the phases and development of a bilingual upbringing. 3.2 Ways to raise a child bilingually Most of the examples that can be found as to why parents would choose to raise their child bilingually concern parents that both have different nationalities. They want their child to be able to speak both of these languages fluently because it is important for them to be able to fully express oneself towards their child and they want the child to be able to communicate with their family without struggles. Other examples describe children that are raised bilingually because the language they speak at home is not the same as the language they need to master outside of it. (Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). My mother tongue allows me to pass down a piece of my identity. In my own language I have various associations with a word. In my own language there are certain memories and meanings to a certain word, which I miss in my second language. It is important for me to pass down this burden behind the words to my children. (Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). There are certain ways of raising a child bilingually: 1. One parent-one language. This speaks for itself. Both parents have a different nationality and a different mother tongue. They teach the child to speak to each parent in their own mother tongue. Consequently, the child will be fluent in both of the languages when this method is done consistently. 2. Minority language at home. The language that is spoken at home is not the same as the language that is spoken outside. For instance, English at home and French at school. Image 4. This image shows the situation in Belgium; French and Dutch. Very often, French is spoken at school and Dutch at 12

13 home (especially in Flanders). Source: 3. One situation-one language. This is when both parents communicate with their child in two languages, but the situation or place they are in determines which language they use. This could be speaking English in the living room and speaking Dutch in the kitchen. 4. The first sentence counts. Whatever language a conversation is started in, is the language in which it should be ended (Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). 3.3 Phases Babies start hearing in the 26 th week of pregnancy. They start to listen and recognize voices long before they learn to speak a language itself. By teaching a child to speak two languages from birth, a child s lips, tongue and vocal cords are able to develop in a way that enables it to speak in both languages without an accent. Before a child can learn to speak a language, various senses have to develop themselves. First of all, there is a sensor-motoric development. At the age of about four weeks, a baby will start to point its head towards the source of the sound that it hears. Then, after about seven weeks, it will start to try and copy the sounds they hear (mummy, daddy). The lips, tongue and vocal cords need to learn how to make the right movements to pronounce words correctly. Crying and babbling helps develop the vocal cords, while sucking on a baby s comforter or thumb will practise the mouth muscles. Seeing is a very important part of developing a baby s speech, because it gives the child information about everyday things and stimulates the child to name objects and events (Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). As a child hears, sees and feels more and more, the brain will further develop itself. The child recognizes objects, distinguishes events and situations and it becomes clear what certain facial expressions, vocal sounds and signs mean. Among language researchers, it is generally agreed that the present critical window for learning a language closes around puberty. Conversely, the critical period for language acquisition, especially with second language acquisition, is still a point of controversy. It has been debated for many years whether the person s linguistic knowledge of the second language is processed like the one of the native language (Gregg, 2003; White, 2003). Since proficiency and age of acquisition are probably correlated, it can be assumed that second language learners can accomplish a higher proficiency level at an early age, when the child is extremely sensitive to its surroundings and the languages it gathers. Lisa Cheng, the linguist we interviewed, told us that native proficiency of a language could only be acquired before the age of ten. After that, a near-native 13

14 proficiency can still be reached and the grammar and structure can be learned very well, but fluency probably shan t be touched. There are several phases to a bilingual upbringing: 1. When the child is being taught two different languages from birth, it will alternate both languages and use separate words in the first phase. For every object the child will have only one certain word, so it could name one object in English while naming another in Dutch. 2. Secondly, separate words will be put together to form a sentence in both languages. It will occur that words from both languages will be put together in one sentence. 3. The child will start to understand the one parent-one language or the one situation-one language principle. It s important for the parents to strictly follow the rules in this phase, or the child will be confused and not understand when it is to use one language, and when it is to use the other. This phase develops in the third year after birth. The sentences a child makes will become longer and more difficult and it will still use words from both languages. This is also referred to as the mixing -period. The level of interference in this phase is high. By using both languages, they are both able to develop itself and the child will be able to reach a certain level in the languages; it will start to separate language and person, enabling it to use the languages separately and independently. 4. From around its fifth until its seventh year the child will master the basic rules of each language. Then, from around the ninth to tenth year, the child masters all the rules of sentence structure in both languages, including its exceptions. It will only mix the languages if, for example, the subject is changed. A bilingual s vocabulary in a certain language will develop slightly slower than a monolinguals vocabulary in that same language since they have to acquire twice as many words as monolinguals (Aarssen, Bos, Burkhardt Montanari, Wagenaar, 2002). 3.4 Language acquisition Linguist Lisa Cheng believes starting to learn another language at a young age is required if one wants to speak that language fluently. If one wants to acquire a new language without actually being taught, it needs to be done before the age of ten. Still, when you re under the age of 25 you will be able to learn the language and its sentence structure very well, but native fluency won t be acquired anymore. That cut-off line is about 9 years old. When we asked Cheng whether a child thinks about linguistics easier than adults, she said: I m not really sure this is the case, because I m not sure the child actually thinks about it. People might think it s good to start teaching English in kindergarten, but there s a study that showed that in comparison to these small kids, kids that learn a language at the age of 8 actually learn the language better 14

15 because they have the so-called meta-linguistic ability. Meta-linguistic awareness basically means that you can recognise language as a process and an object with specific rules. An eight-year old child knows that a word actually has a meaning and they know how to fragmentize sentences. An infant does not have this ability yet. This ability that children possess of at the age of eight years enables them to link up a new language with their original language. When a child is still very young, confusion can rise when multiple languages have to be acquired simultaneously, unless the child is put in a totally different environment. It is easier to acquire a new language when you are still a child, because you re more flexible. Lisa Cheng said: we can compare this to imprints. Imagine you walk a particular way. A fifteen year old or an adult would have a certain way they always walk. If someone would tell them to walk differently, it s going to be hard for them. We re just talking about walking now. But you can imagine that for a child it s much easier to change the way they walk because they haven t fallen into a certain habit yet. Furthermore, adults have more inhibitions and are more conscious about how and what they say. An eight-year old won t mind if it makes a mistake or if it has an accent, whereas an adult will. She says: when you speak another language, you hear yourself speaking and try to correct yourself. Before you make a mistake you try to stop the mistake. There are studies that show that when a person is drunk, he/she speaks a second language better, because the inhibitions are gone and they speak more freely. A dominant language is always present when bilingualism occurs. Usually, this is the native/mother language, but it is possible for dominancy to shift. For example, if you move to a different country and you are immersed in a different language than your native one, the second language can become your dominant one. Lisa Cheng also mentioned that habitual use of languages is very important. If one language is clearly the dominant one, even the skills that a person has in their mother tongue can easily reduce. This was confirmed in an interview we had with a parent that raises their child bilingually, who was raised German. Now that she lives in Holland and speaks English to her husband and Dutch to her children and in society, German is no longer the easiest language for her, even though that is what she has been speaking as from her youth. There have been different explanations for age effects in language besides the meta-linguistic ability Lisa Cheng mentioned: - The loss of language-specific learning mechanisms (Bley-Vroman, 1989). Cognitive ability declines over the years and other factors that are relevant for learning another language are social and psychological variables such as educational level, intelligence, motivation, strategies etc. These factors determine the degree of success or failure. ( accessed on 13 November 2013). 15

16 - The less is more hypothesis (Newport, 1990). This hypothesis suggests that a language is easier to acquire at a young age, because of the small cognitive abilities in the brain. A child has cognitive limitations and is forced to generalize more than adults. Adults, however, have a greater cognitive capacity and cannot generalize as much as children. This is caused by their increased intelligence, which leads them to memorize rather than generalize. This will make it harder to learn a language, because adults cannot generalize all of the difficulties and significances of a language and it will take longer to learn. - Declarative memory versus procedural memory (Ullman, 2001, 2004). Ullman s model is very influential among neurobiologists. The model focuses on the declarative and the procedural memory, which serve the mental lexicon and the mental grammar. The procedural memory is responsible for the mental grammar and the declarative memory focuses on the lexical-semantic (relation between the word and its meaning) knowledge. The brain can add in new knowledge to procedural memory effortlessly in childhood, but this ability weakens in favor of declarative memory after puberty occurs. Hence, the complexities second language learners experience with syntax (grammatical rules, principles and processes) can be interpreted as a consequence of the reduction of the procedural memory s capacity. It is more difficult for the grammatical system to acquire new knowledge. 3. How separate do bilinguals keep their languages? How the brain organizes languages in bilingual individuals has been an intensely investigated question in the last years. Is each language located in Processing different languages Neurocognitive research shows that processing different languages occurs mainly in the same brain tissue (Kim et al. 1997; Perani et al. 1998; Díaz et al. 2011). Differences between languages correlate with differences in proficiency and the acquisition age of each language. These factors of language acquisition have been researched the most out of all the relevant factors and though the acquisition age and proficiency have been studied separately, it has become more and more clear that these factors and the grammatical similarity are very likely to be connected with each other. separate areas of the brain or in overlapping regions? Studies of whole-brain functional neuroimaging show that highly proficient bilinguals activate the same brain regions when they use any of their two languages (Kim et al. 1997; Perani et al. 1998). Hernandez et al. (2001) run an fmri study of six Spanish/English early bilinguals, all of whom had acquired both languages before the age of five, and found that the two languages were represented in overlapping regions of the brain. That is, given the degree of detail that current neuroimaging techniques allow for, it emerges that early and proficient bilinguals use the same neural circuits for the two languages they know. To what extent do bilinguals separate their languages? A lot of research has been done on how bilinguals store their languages in the brain. Do they keep them in separated areas or overlapped regions? Research on whole-brain functional neuro-imaging suggests that highly proficient bilinguals activate the same brain regions when they use either of their two languages (Kim et al. 1997). However, when a bilingual starts learning a second language later in life (sequential bilingualism), linguistic tasks that engage the second language activate broader areas of the brain. The areas partially overlap each other but are still distinct from the native language. However, when a bilingual has learned the second language later in life, linguistic tasks involving this second language activate broader areas of the brain, partially overlaping but distinct from the native language. Kim et al. (1997) run an fmri study comparing early and late bilinguals while processing their two languages. Results revealed distinct physical loci for native and non-native languages in the case of languages that languages along the periphery of Broca s and Wernicke s regions in the case of late learners, but not in the case of early learners. Image 5. The image above shows a dissimilar location for native and non-native languages along the 16 Fig 1. Differences between early (left) versus late (right) bilinguals and brain activations during language processing in the two languages (from Kim et al. 1997)

17 border of Broca s and Wernicke s region within the brain of the sequential bilingual, whereas in the simultaneous bilingual s brain the two languages are located in nearly the same regions. Source: (Itziar Laka, 2012) Other findings concern the grey matter of the brain (tissue that contains fibers and cells that process information). Mechelli et al. (2004) discovered an increase in the density of the grey matter of bilinguals as opposed to the grey matter of monolinguals. This is particularly significant for early bilinguals (before the age of five) and for those who are most proficient at both languages. The density of the grey matter increases with proficiency of the second language and decreases as the acquisition age increases. 3.5 Bilingual behaviour 1. Interference This occurs in a case where a speaker consciously or inadvertently brings in pronunciation, sentence formation and vocabulary of the source language while using a target language. Thus, when a bilingual speaking both French and Spanish uses a (slight) French accent while speaking Spanish or replacing the correct Spanish word with a French version, it is called interferential behavior. 2. Code switching This occurs when a speaker drops into his target language a word or phrase from his source language. This sometimes makes up for inadequacies, especially stylistic, in the first language. This can be seen when the Franco-English bilingual wishes his guests Bon appétit, an expression considered absurd by users of English. 3. Translation Since a bilingual person masters two languages, he becomes a translator. The problem with translation is that any translation loses some of the original content. A standard expression or a fine detail of the original sentence can lose meaning when being translated; simply because the nuance cannot be copied into the other language. Especially in poetry, one is actually dealing with a new work and not just a translation of the original work. Source: accessed on 15 October How do bilinguals control what language they speak in? Since interferential and code-switching behaviour is not something that is admirable and must be limited as much as possible, bilinguals must have some sort of mechanism that controls the language to engage in speaking. An effect named the asymmetrical switching cost has been the most notable evidence for controlling mechanisms in bilinguals (Costa and Santesteban, 2004; Costa et al. 2006). The asymmetrical switching cost shows that low-proficient 17

18 bilinguals have a harder time switching from their non-native language to their native language than substituting their native language for their non-native one. The explanation for this result is as follows: when a bilingual engages in the less dominant non-native language, the native language that is activated has to be restrained severely. Subsequently, when the bilingual switches to the native language, the restraint has to be undone, which takes up a lot of effort and time. In opposition to this, when swapping the native language for the non-native language, the restraint on the non-native language doesn t have to be very severe; therefore it is easier to switch. Furthermore, a remarkable discovery the researchers found was that highly proficient bilinguals revealed having symmetrical switching costs; it took them the same time to switch to either of the languages, dominancy did not interfere. Additionally, they also applied the symmetrical switching cost they possessed when they had to switch to a third language (learned much later and had low-proficiency of). 3.6 Conclusion As it can be concluded from this chapter, the development of bilingualism commences very early on in life. Even in the first weeks, a baby is already sensitive to the sound it hears and various names a definition can have. Various ways of raising a child bilingually exist; the language that is spoken can depend on which parent is engaged in the conversation or the situation it is being used for. It has become clear that language acquisition is related to age and native fluency shan t be reached after the age of ten. The metalinguistic ability that children possess at the age of eight enables them to see the structure of a language and match their first language with a different one. Hence, it is easier for an eightyear old to acquire a new language than for a younger child. Habitual use of the acquired languages is important if not required for speaking proficiently. Acquisition age and language proficiency are important determining factors in the manner the brain manages the languages. It has become clear that early and highly proficient bilinguals do not separate the languages in multiple regions of the brain. However, when the acquisition age of a non-native language increases and the proficiency decreases, the non-native language is apt to be located in more individual areas of the brain. Bilingual behaviour can be divided into interference, code switching and translation. These are inaccuracies and often happen among bilinguals. 18

19 4 What are the advantages and disadvantages of being bilingual according to literature? 4.1 Introduction We presume that bilingualism has its advantages and disadvantages. There are certain attitudes towards bilingualism that we have listed below; to get an idea of the situations that bilingualism is used or useful in. The research that we have done and found on the different aspects of bilingualism is stated in the following chapter. Attitudes towards bilingualism Source: accessed on 15 October Linguistic basis Monolinguals often view bilinguals as proud. Some of the pure linguists detest bilingual behaviour because it can eventually lead to a shift in languages and the end of minority languages, merely because they are not being spoken widely enough anymore because of the different possibilities that lie within speaking more languages. Image 6. This image shows locations in the world where languages are in danger of becoming extinct. This could be a consequence of bilingualism, since a minority language is present and could be spoken less and less. Source: 2. Political basis Conflicts involving language are usually not about languages but about fundamental inequalities between groups that happen to speak different languages. A language can become the focus of loyalty for a minority group that feels it is suppressed, persecuted or subjected to discrimination. If one speaks in their language, they feel supported and everyone who speaks the favored language is the opponent. Secondly, a 19

20 language may become a target for attack or suppression if the authorities associate it with what they consider a rebellious group. This political attitude is still very relevant in today s society; Arabic can be associated with Muslim extremists, while certainly not everyone who speaks Arabic is Muslim or an extremist. In the past decade, this has been a target of attack. However, the language has been less of a focus than the Islamic religion. 3. Educational basis Bilingualism in education is generally a matter of public policy. Many critics, however, usually hold that children brought up bilingually perform poorly in other subjects, as the knowledge of two languages takes up much effort, leaving less for the actual subjects. While the Cameroon government viewed its introduction of French at the primary school as a move towards national integration, Anglophone critics regarded it as a move to alter them by confusing their children. 4. Religious basis Although Islam to a certain extent promotes bilingualism; it also wants to stop it on the grounds that translation makes a text lose something of the author s original intent, which we have previously mentioned. The Qur an, for instance, is written in a form of Arabic that Muslims consider pure. Consequently, it is considered offensive to use its translated version for prayers and other rituals. This makes many Muslims, especially extremists; treat translators of the Qur an with contempt and disregard. 4.2 Advantages In this subchapter, we will dive into the variety of advantages bilingualism brings along. We will look into brain-related, task solving, cultural and communication advantages bilingualism empowers Cognitive advantages As many people can imagine, there are differences between brains that use only one language and brains that use two or more languages. Some differences involve cognitive abilities that are not responsible for the linguistic systems, such as the capacity to ignore irrelevant information when performing a task. Other differences between bilinguals and monolinguals concern the interaction between the two linguistic systems in the brain: their simultaneous activation and the need to select or constrain one at a time or the cost of having two lexicons (vocabulary knowledge) and grammars instead of just one. Certain aspects of grammar appear to be sensitive to when they are acquired, and to the existing amount of exact knowledge of the grammar that was present before, which means that native and non-native speakers of a language have different levels of grammatical knowledge. However, the lexicon seems to be insensitive to the previously named factors; when in possession of a high 20

21 proficiency of the language, native and non-native speakers are alike. Over the past years, it has become increasingly clear that using more than one language frequently throughout life has cognitive benefits that last from childhood into old age. A study has discovered that being a fluent speaker of two languages, especially from a young age on, enhances the ability to concentrate and ignore irrelevant information and also delays the commencement of dementia and other age-related cognitive deterioration by an average of four to five years (Craik et al. 2010). Bilinguals obtain cognitive benefits in the areas of the brain that institute the executive control system, which is located in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These areas have been discovered to be active during language switching in bilinguals (Hernandez et al. 2004). The cognitive capacities that are being improved by bilingualism are not language-specific; these mechanisms involve general cognitive control processes (Abutalebi and Green, 2008). However, through the acquisition and frequent use of more than one language the mechanisms have been skilled further and strengthened in bilinguals. Broca s area is an area in the brain that is involved in understanding and processing language. It is situated in the left frontal lobe and is indispensable when researching linguistic processes. Image 7. This image shows the parts of the brain that are responsible for language processing and acquisition. Source: html A recent study has found the involvement of Broca s area in language switch in bilinguals. Furthermore, the researchers also discovered significant dissimilarities in cognitive control between monolinguals and bilinguals: while Broca s area (left inferior frontal gyrus) was involved in non-linguistic tasks as well as linguistic tasks within the bilingual brain, monolinguals activated the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which is responsible for go/no go tasks (Garbin et al. 2010). Therefore, these results show that attentional mechanisms are controlled by Broca s area in a bilingual brain, whereas monolinguals use the right IFG. According to Lisa Cheng, balanced bilinguals (mastering both languages at an equal level) have cognitive advantages in the sense that they can focus better. They possess a better attentional control (executive control in psychological 21

22 terms) because they are trained to ignore other languages and irrelevant information and select precisely which lexicon they want to use. Bialystok, Craik and Freedman (2006) implied that a cognitive reserve is built in the brain that maybe causes a delay in dementia. Lisa Cheng said that being bilingual or multilingual means you are more challenged every day and you have to pay more attention to which language you have to use. This builds up your cognitive reserve. Though it has not been researched extensively enough, a hypothesis could be that multilinguals get dementia later than monolinguals since they would have a better cognitive reserve. However, it is premature to assume this yet, because there may be other ways to build up cognitive reserve that don t include language acquisition. Image 8. This image shows a delay in the age of onset of dementia among bilinguals as opposed to monolinguals. It is part of a research done by Bialystok, Craik and Freedman. Source: cles/sb Task-solving advantages Recent research with bilingual children has shown that there definitely are links between linguistics and other achievements outside it. Bilinguals are not only very good at judging whether a sentence is formed correctly or not; they are also able to make a correct choice in non-linguistic tasks more often than monolinguals. This especially shows when the information on which the choice is to be made is argumentative. An example is the following card sorting task. Before the children started the task, they are given the instruction to sort the cards according to their colour if there is a star on the card. If there is not a star on the card, the children are to sort the cards according to the figure that it on them. The cards with a star are in conflict with the rule of sorting the card according to their figure. 22

23 Why do bilingual children fulfil this task better than monolinguals? Because the same concept is expressed in different languages, bilinguals are early to know that figure and meaning are arbitrary. They learn to choose from several forms that express the same meaning at an early stage. A bilingual may think of a certain object in English, but suppresses this form in a Dutch context and names the word in Dutch. It is possible that this is why bilinguals are better at analysing information, because at a young age, they are trained to suppress irrelevant information, making them take a correct decision more often. Research on early bilingualism is able to answer various theoretical questions, but there are also some consequences for society. Bilingualism is sometimes seen as a problem for kids that are starting school, because in the early stages of bilingualism, they mix the two languages a lot. However, bilingualism can have a social and emotional function, like speaking to family members in the country of origin, and it could lead to cognitive advantages, which we have already discussed in chapter Source: accessed on 13 November Cultural advantages Access to two cultures A languages has certain aspects; idiom and sayings, folk stories and history, poetry, literature and music, traditional and modern. Being raised bilingually, thus given the ability to fully understand and fluently speak two (or more) languages, allows a person to understand more of the different traditions in both cultures. The advantages of being able to read novels and write letters to family and friends are doubled for a bilingual. Image 9. This image shows a non-smoking sign in Wales. It is evident that Welsh is a lot different from the universally accepted English, which makes being bilingual very immersive in this particular case. Source: 23

24 Tolerance and respect towards other languages and cultures Having been raised bilingually will most probably have taught the child various values in different languages. Having experienced a wide cultural raising, bilinguals have a higher tolerance towards other, new cultures and languages than their own Communication advantages Communication advantages This is an important advantage, especially in families with parents of different nationalities. Raising the child to be fluent in both the father s and mother s native language makes it able to express his/her feelings perfectly and easily to both parents. It gives a sense of belonging when it comes to speaking with the family, making it possible to develop close relationships with everyone in it. Furthermore, it is clearly easier to communicate with more people around the world. Someone who speaks both French and English can obviously correspond with a larger part of the world s population as opposed to someone who only speaks French. Employment advantages A person that has fluent abilities in two languages has a greater choice of jobs, because people like this are becoming more and more needed everywhere. (For example: tourism, transport, public relations, banking, administration, marketing, sales, law and teaching.) Of course being bilingual does not guarantee a person to have a great career, but it gives an extra that most employers would probably find very useful. Source: accessed on 10 October Disadvantages - Children could be slower at starting to speak because they have more than one meaning for an object or situation. At first it will be difficult for them to distinguish the two languages, causing mix-ups. This could be a disadvantage for the child when it starts school at a young age, he/she might not be able to cope with the programme because it simply doesn t understand it yet. - There could be interferences between the two languages; rules that apply to one language are also used in the other, creating mistakes. In this phase it is important for the parents to correct the child so that it won t get into the habit of mixing the words. - One language ends up being dominant. If the dominant language is not the one that is spoken in society, this could give problems. Therefore it is important to make sure that both languages are being used regularly to prevent this situation. If, for example, the child is expected to study a 24

25 subject in a certain language and this language turns out to be the recessive language, this will give the child a hard time at school. - If a parent doesn t master the language he/she is teaching her child well enough, the child may not learn the language fluently and make mistakes. If the child s linguistic skills develop very poorly, it might have problems in school as well, as also mentioned in point one. Understanding the school programme will be an issue. Image 10. This image shows that being bilingual is something that is very positive, if applied and acquired correctly. Parents need to raise and teach their children well so bilingualism doesn t bring on wrong linguistic behaviour. Source: - Parents will struggle more while raising their child, they have strict rules to follow if they want the bilingual upbringing to be successful. They have to be determined to get the child to an acceptable level of speech in both languages as soon as possible. - There could be some confusion about cultural identity. Moving about two identities might make the child feel uncomfortable. The child can incorporate traditions and behavioural aspects of one culture into the other, which can result in uncomfortable situations. Source: ml, accessed on 10 October Conclusion As we presumed, this chapter has brought out a lot of advantages and some disadvantages. The advantages vary from cognitive to cultural ones. Moreover, being a fluent speaker of two languages, especially from a young age on, enhances the ability to concentrate and ignore irrelevant information and also delays the commencement of dementia and other age-related cognitive deterioration. According to Lisa Cheng, bilinguals possess a better attentional control because they are trained all the time to ignore other languages and irrelevant information and select precisely which lexicon they want to use. Other advantages comprise the cultural identity that is doubled in size, which ensures multiple traditions and values. Moreover, a bilingual is used to several principles 25

26 and values; thus is more tolerant of other cultures. Communication-wise, a bilingual can interact with more people and can blend in with both sides of a bilingual family. We have also found some disadvantages, though not as many and expansive as the advantages we encountered. Bilingual children could start speaking a little later on than monolingual ones, because they have to learn a doubled amount of words and rules. Hence, they could be intimidated and postpone speaking. Bilingual behaviour such as interference, which we spoke about in chapter 3, can occur. This allows for mistakes to happen and parents must correct their child so it won t become a habit. Furthermore, parents need to teach the child well and on a constant level, to ensure the child is not too confused and has a good basis. Though a more expansive cultural identity is often seen as an advantage, it can also be seen as a disadvantage. Especially at a young age, different traditions and values are hard to distinguish and that can result in confusion about one s identity. 26

27 5 How do bilinguals/multilinguals experience their bilingualism/multilingualism? 5.1 Introduction To get to know more about what it is like to be raised bilingually, we interviewed twenty people; twelve adolescents that are being raised bilingually, four adults that were raised bilingually and four parents that are raising their children bilingually. The results that we obtained from them can be compared with certain facts we found by doing research before taking the interviews. This way we can either acknowledge these facts or question them. 5.2 Method We made an interview for the three groups of people we interviewed. We asked the adolescents the following questions: 1. How old are you? 2. Why are you being raised bilingually? 3. Which languages? 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? (Which one and why) 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (Which language?) 9. Do you think it is easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? We decided to ask them these questions because we believe they reflect their language use and degree of bilingualism in a good way. Questions 2, 4, 5 and 7 ask for facts about their bilingual life. Comparing everyone s answers on these questions allows us to make assumptions. Questions 6, 9 and 10 are personal questions that enquire whether the interviewed adolescents believe their bilingualism affects them positively. 27

28 We asked the adults the following questions: 1. What is your age? 2. Why were you raised bilingually? 3. Which languages? 4. Which language do you use more often and why? 5. Do you ever mix up the languages? 6. What did you study? 7. Was it an advantage to be bilingual for your study? 8. Did being bilingual influence obtaining jobs in your life in a good way? 9. Do you think being bilingual has affected your social skills in a good way? (Easier to communicate with others?) 10. Do you think bilinguals have certain advantages that monolinguals do not have? 11. Is one of the languages you speak easier for you than the other? 12. Do you speak another language besides the two you were raised in? (Which?) 13. Do you think it was easier for you to learn this language because you are bilingual? 14. What are the most important advantages of bilingualism that you experience everyday? These questions allowed us to obtain a clear view on how bilingualism has affected their life. The first couple of questions are similar to the ones we asked to adolescents, but starting from question 7 they question whether they believe it has affected certain skills and whether, according to them, bilinguals have advantages as opposed to monolinguals. We asked the parents who are raising their kids bilingually the following questions: 1. What is your age? 2. Why are you raising your child bilingually? 3. Which languages? 4. Which language do you use more often and why? 5. Do you ever mix up the languages? Do your children ever mix them up? 6. What kind of study did you do? 7. Do you think bilingualism affects the social skills (communicating with others is easier for example)? Do you notice this for your kids? 8. Do you think that someone that is raised bilingually has advantages in comparison to monolinguals? 9. Is one of the languages easier for you than the other? (And for your children?) 28

29 10. Do you speak another language? If yes, which one? 11. Was it easier for you to learn another language because you are bilingual? (If applicable) 12. What are the most important advantages of bilingualism that you experience in your everyday life? (If applicable) The answers that the interviewed persons provide us will not lead to solid conclusions, however, they do allow us to make certain assumptions. The parents who are raising their children bilingually are also useful for us to interview because they notice the process their child is making and are a reliable source for us to judge whether they experience difficulties or whether there are mainly advantages. We can control facts that we found beforehand with the results the interviews give us. 5.3 Results By interviewing twenty people that are being raised bilingually, have been raised bilingually or are raising their children bilingually we are able to compare their answers to the results we found by doing research. Most of the interviewed persons are or have been raised bilingually either because their parents are from different countries and have a different mother tongue, or because they speak a certain language with their family and another at school or work. What really stands out in all of the interviews is that when asked: Is one language easier for you than the other? all of them answered yes. For all of them, the dominant language is the language that is being spoken around them in society. Even though both languages are being spoken regularly, the language that they socialize in and use in school or work shows to be the easier one for them. This is an example of the disadvantage: One language is dominant, discussed in chapter three. One of the questioned persons said that French used to be the easier language for him, but now it is English and Dutch because he speaks it most frequently at home and at work. He mentions that linguistic skills in a certain language clearly deteriorate over time when not used regularly. This is in line with what linguist Lisa Cheng told us: It s important to keep practicing a language, this is called language attrition. If you don t keep it up, it s gone. However, according to her, if a child learns a language at a young age but then doesn t use it regularly anymore, it won t completely lose the language because they have a certain basis that won t disappear. 29

30 When asked whether they believe that they are better at understanding certain things because of their bilingualism, most of the interviewed minors (8 out of 12 adolescents) answered yes, one of them bringing up the interesting advantage of being able to understand what lost in translation actually means. When translating something into a different language, there is always the chance that some of the original meaning of the sentence or phrase is lost, simply because it is not possible to translate everything literally. Bilinguals have an edge over others in understanding this concept and working towards explaining something in another way to make clear what they want to say. As another person said: There are words that only exist in one language or have a different meaning in the other language. Another idea that was brought up was that it was easier to understand and communicate with others and being open to more cultural diversity. Out of our total group of 20 interviewees, 11 admitted they sometimes mixed up the languages, one of them mentioning that sometimes words in one language can t compensate for words in the other language and vice versa. As Lisa Cheng mentioned in the interview we had with her; certain words sometimes seem to interfere. Especially when you re tired. Which is also something one of the interviewed bilingual adults mentioned in the interview. Another person brought up that he sometimes uses the grammar that is valid in one language in the other. 30

31 The adults that we interviewed all believe that bilingualism has affected their social skills. Communicating with different people from different backgrounds is easier. All bilingual adults mentioned that they could understand differences in cultures and are generally more open to other cultures. Being bilingual means really experiencing two cultures and feeling connected to both. Question Yes No Do you ever mix up the languages? 11 out of 20, most mentioning that this is when certain words in one language cannot compensate for words in the other. This could also occur when tired. 9 out of 20. Do you think it is easier for you to learn another language besides the two you were raised in? (If applicable) 9 out of 20. Someone mentions that sentence structures are similar. Another says that sounds are similar. Of course this depends on the language. 11 out of 20. They feel that their bilingualism does not effect the difficulty of learning another language, or don t know because they are not learning another language. Is one of the languages easier for you than the other? 17 out of 20. The reason that almost all interviewees mention is that they use one of the languages more often. 3 out of 20. These are 3 out of 4 the parents who raise their children bilingually. An advantage that bilinguals have opposed to monolinguals is their possibility to communicate with many all over the world and in general just being open to many cultures as noted before. One person says that acquiring languages at a young age really helps to set a good basis and makes sure you ll speak the languages forever. 5.4 Correlation between results and literature findings We discussed the various sorts of bilingualism in chapter 2.2. A part of the people we interviewed were simultaneous bilinguals, another part compound and some coordinate. Just to refresh the memory: simultaneous bilingualism is when a child learns to speak two languages starting from birth. Compound bilingualism can be seen as a form of simultaneous bilingualism, because this is when two 31

32 languages are being taught in the same environment (for example, each parents speaks a different language to the child). Coordinate bilingualism is when a child learns to languages in separate environments, for example one at home and one in school, usually developing in early childhood. Of all people we interviewed, eight are simultaneously bilingual and compound bilingual, since all of them were raised bilingually because their parents speak different languages. Eleven are coordinate bilinguals, having learnt to speak their second language in early childhood because they live in a country where the universal language is not the same as their mother tongue. One parent has a both compound and coordinate bilingual child. The way in which children can be raised bilingually was also dealt with in paragraph 3.2. We talked about the One Parent-One Language system, which is the system used for all the simultaneous/compound bilinguals we interviewed. The Minority Language At Home system, where the home language differs from the language outside it, is the situation that all of the coordinate bilinguals are in. One Situation-One Language, where children speak to both parents in two languages but the place or situation they re in determines the language, is a situation that we have not really come across in the interviews. This is the same for the The first sentence counts way of making a child bilingual. In paragraph 2.3 we discussed the determinants for the need of bilingualism. Point 3 pointed out migration. For all of the coordinate bilinguals, this is the reason for their being bilingual. Our interviews confirm that this is a major determinant for bilingualism, seeing as more than half of the bilinguals are migrants. We talked about bilingual behaviour in paragraph 3.4. The information that we found can be linked to the question we asked in our interviews: Do you ever mix up the languages? We discussed the answers to this question in paragraph 5.3. The interview answers and the research we did on this behaviour correspond. Point 1 in paragraph 3.4 mentions interference; a speaker brings in pronunciation, sentence formation and vocabulary of one language into the other. This was also stated in the interviews. Point 2 indicated code switching; when a speaker drops a word or phrase from one language into the other. The interviewed persons confirmed this and clarified it by explaining that sometimes words can t compensate or they don t know how to express something in one language so they use a phrase from the other. The last point is about translation, which is similar to point 2. It states that a standard expression can lose its original content when translated. As said before, one of the interviewed mentioned they are able to understand what lost in translation means because they are bilingual. In the interviews we insinuated certain advantages, for example by asking: Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you are bilingual? Was it an advantage to be bilingual for your study? or Did being bilingual influence obtaining jobs in your life in a good way? and so on. We are able to compare the answers from the interviews to the advantages bilingualism 32

33 has according to the research we have done by looking at paragraph 4.2. In that paragraph the advantages are divided in cognitive, task solving, cultural and communication advantages. We ourselves cannot check whether there really are cognitive advantages, but it has been established by researchers that the use of two languages is beneficial for the brain. We did not test the task solving advantage either, but paragraph states that bilinguals are better at analysing information and suppressing irrelevant information, which we can relate to answers in our interviews. For example, as we can see in the picture above in paragraph 5.3, someone mentioned I am able to look at things from different perspectives. These answers show that bilinguals are good at examining certain things. Furthermore, we analysed the cultural advantages in paragraph The cultural advantages were confirmed in the interviews. Having exposure to different languages creates a better understanding of different cultures, is what a lot of the interviewed persons agree on. Not only the cultural, but also the communication advantages (paragraph 4.2.4) were mentioned in the interviews. Since a lot of the people we interviewed are coordinate bilinguals, the language they speak at home is the mother tongue of their family. The most important reason for them to speak that language is so that they can communicate freely and easily with them. The advantages in education were also noticeable, but not in a way of being able to do better than others. Three out of four adults that were raised bilingually said that their being bilingual was useful for their study, because lots of their books were in a language that they mastered. A large majority of the adolescents also said that being bilingual is useful in their school. To add to this, we asked the adults about employment advantages. One of the adults said it definitely gave an advantage to be bilingual when applying for a job, since he has always wanted to work in an international environment. For the others it was not really applicable. 5.5 Conclusion Our research and the interviews we made definitely had a lot of similarities. Reasons for being bilingual, bilingual behaviour, the way of being raised bilingually and the advantages were comparable to the answers the interviewed persons gave us. What stood out in the interviews was that a very large majority said that one of the languages was easier for them than the other. In almost all cases, this was because they use one of the languages more than the other. When we implied that there are advantages to being bilingual, most interviewees responded positively. Many persons confirmed the cultural and communication advantages that we found in our research. Even though we couldn t check whether there are task-solving advantages in our interviews, we can relate certain answers to them, which are described in paragraph 5.4. We cannot verify the cognitive advantages 33

34 either, but we rely on the information that is provided by professionals who have researched in this area. The manners in which the adolescents are in our interviews were raised bilingually corresponded with 2 out of 4 possible ways we found, which were: One parent-one language and One situation-one language. For all of the coordinate bilinguals in our interviews, migration is the reason for their being bilingual. Our interviews confirm that this is a major determinant for bilingualism, seeing as more than half of the bilinguals are migrants. Furthermore, the bilingual behaviour (interference, code-switching and translation) is applicable for almost all of the interviewees. 34

35 6 Conclusions and recommendations 6.1 Introduction Over the past months, we have immersed ourselves in the phenomenon known as bilingualism. We have found a vast amount of information on the Internet and in several literary works, which we used to get a clearer view of bilingualism. We have done our own research as well, interviewing 20 people who were either bilinguals (whom we divided into adolescents and adults) or raising a child bilingually. Our research question is: Is it an advantage to be raised bilingually? Our sub questions are: - What types of bilingualism are there and why does it exist? - How does a bilingual upbringing develop? - What are the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism according to literature? - How do bilinguals/multilinguals experience their bilingualism/multilingualism? 6.2 Conclusion of the entire project There are many factors that determine the outcome of our research question: Is it an advantage to be raised bilingually? The literature research we did provided us with a fair share of information. With this information, we were able to answer our sub questions. What types of bilingualism are there and why does it exist? The first sub question was answered in chapter 2. We discovered there are various types of bilingualism: simultaneous, compound, coordinate, subcoordinate and sequential bilingualism. The type of bilingualism that is applicable depends on the situation in which one acquires a second language, the age of acquisition. Furthermore, it is evident that degree, function, alternation and interference are inter-reliant concerning the phenomenon bilingualism. Factors such as social conditions and intelligence are important to take into account too. Bilingualism exists because it can be needed for trade, incorporating a country s (colonial) past into the present day and communicating globally. It is also common for migrants to be bilingual so that they can adapt to their new country and its language. Another reason for bilingualism to exist is because it is possible that people with a different mother tongue want to raise their child bilingually so that it is able to communicate freely and easily with the family of both parents. How does a bilingual upbringing develop? There are several phases to bilingualism that are established in chapter 3. It states that at first a child will have difficulty separating the two languages, it will alternate both languages and use separate words in the first phase. Then it will 35

36 start to put sentences together, still mixing the languages. Slowly, it will start to understand the in which situations it should use what language, eventually mastering the basics of each language. After this it can develop both languages and start mastering them fluently. The ways in which a child can be raised bilingually are also stated in chapter 3. There are 4 ways: One parent-one language, Minority language at home, One situation-one language and The first sentence counts. It is important that the development of bilingualism commences early on in life, as it has become clear that language acquisition is related to age and that native fluency is difficult to achieve when starting to learn a language after the age of 10. The metalinguistic ability that children possess at the age of eight enables them to see the structure of a language and match their first language with a different one. As mentioned above, bilinguals could have some struggles by, for example, mixing the languages together in a sentence. We found some of the troubles that bilinguals could have, which are interference between the two languages (grammar, accent), code switching (using words from one language while speaking another) and translation (a word or phrase can lose part of its meaning when translated). What are the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism according to literature? We distinguished 4 different categories of advantages: cognitive, task-solving, cultural and communication advantages. Being a fluent speaker of two languages, especially from a young age on, enhances the ability to concentrate and ignore irrelevant information. This is due to their attentional control (also known as executive control) that is further developed than that of monolinguals. Furthermore, the cognitive reserve in the brain could cause a delay in the commencement of dementia and other age-related illnesses. Lisa Cheng said that since one is bilingual or multilingual, he/she is more challenged everyday, which builds up your cognitive reserve. This could mean that if a person is likely to get dementia, the onset of the symptoms will commence later for a bilingual than for a monolingual. Secondly, we discovered certain task-solving advantages. Bilinguals are early to understand that figure and meaning are arbitrary and they are better at analysing information because they have been trained to suppress irrelevant information, leading them to a correct decision more often. Furthermore, there are certain cultural advantages. Bilinguals have access to two cultures, if not more. The interviewees also mentioned this as a benefit of bilingualism. They feel they are better at understanding other cultures, which resembles the cultural advantage we found that states that bilinguals have more tolerance and respect towards other languages and cultures. Finally, we found some communication advantages. We learnt bilinguals are capable of expressing their needs in multiple languages and can communicate with a larger group of people on a global level (a result which we had expected 36

37 beforehand). Furthermore, a person who is fluent in two or more languages probably has a greater choice of jobs. We cannot conclude definitively that being bilingual guarantees a great career or a superior job, but it could provide one with an extra that most employers would probably find appealing. As shown in chapter 4.3, we also found some disadvantages concerning bilingualism. We have not found many disadvantages, which we predicted at the start of the project. Most disadvantages regarded bilingual behaviour such as interference. Basically, this means that one is mixing two languages and its (grammatical) rules and its words. Furthermore, dominance nearly always occurs with bilingualism. If language attrition (habitual use) isn t utilised, this could give problems for the bilingual. Another disadvantage is the delay in speaking that could occur with young children who are being raised bilingually. Since they have to learn twice as many words and rules, they might be intimidated and scared and they commence speaking later. How do bilinguals/multilinguals experience their bilingualism/multilingualism? To answer this sub question we interviewed 20 people who were either bilinguals (whom we divided into adolescents and adults) or raising a child bilingually. We asked them questions about bilingual behaviour, opinions on bilingualism and language acquisition. The answers to these questions can be found in the attachments. What stood out is that all of the interviewees experience their bilingualism in a good way. A majority of the adolescents we interviewed believe they are better at understanding certain things because they are bilingual. They brought up several interesting advantages, such as being able to understand what lost in translation actually means. Bilinguals could have an edge over others in understanding this concept and working towards explaining something in another way to make clear what they want to say. As they speak two different languages, they know that sometimes words or phrases in one language can t compensate for words in the other language. Lots of the interviewed persons agreed with the cultural and communication advantages we found when doing research. Having exposure to different languages creates a better understanding of different cultures, is what a lot of the interviewed persons agree on. The communication advantages that were mentioned in the interview they can communicate with their family easily. Since a lot of the people we interviewed are coordinate bilinguals, the language they speak at home is the mother tongue of their family, so we can understand that it is a great advantage to them to be able to communicate with them easily. According to 3 out of 4 adults, being bilingual was an advantage for their study, as lots of their books were in English. Even though we couldn t check whether there are task-solving advantages in our interviews, we can relate certain answers to them that show that bilinguals are good at examining certain things. We cannot verify the cognitive advantages 37

38 either, but we rely on the information that is provided by professionals who have researched in this area. As all the information above shows, the bilinguals we interview all experience their bilingualism as a bonus and definitely as an advantage. 6.3 Recommendations For further research on the advantages of bilingualism, we have several recommendations. First of all, we believe the group of people we interviewed was large enough, however, the number of adults that had been raised bilingually may not have been sufficient. We interviewed 4 adults. To get a more accurate view of the advantages that occur later on in the life of a bilingual, further research could increase the number of people to interview in this category. Also, as the research we found included advantages such as task-solving advantages. It could be interesting to try and test whether this advantage shows among a group of interviewees, as we were not able to inquire whether this advantage was present or not. Given the fact that most of our interviewees live abroad, it would have been difficult for us to test this even if we had known more about this advantage prior to sending out the interviews. Furthermore, at the beginning of our project we also wanted to do research about bilingual schools and how their programmes affect children in a positive way. However, we were recommended not to go into this, as this would almost be a complete new subject. It would make our research project too large. For further research, we believe it would be interesting to look into this. In what way are the classes at these schools different than those at monolingual schools, how are the children influenced and do they believe it has a positive effect on them or that it gives them an advantage as opposed to others? According to us, research in this area could be very interesting to check out. As we mostly looked into the advantages of bilingualism, the disadvantages might have been slightly left behind. Not only was there not much to find about disadvantages in literature, but we also did not ask our interviewees about whether they experience any small disadvantage of bilingualism in any way. We might have assumed that they do not believe there are any disadvantages. However, just for the fullness of our project, it would have been good to ask them something about this anyway. Further research could dig deeper for the disadvantages. 6.4 Reflection Our conclusion of the entire project resembles our hypothesis. We expected a lot of advantages and barely any disadvantages, which is what we have discovered to be true. In our general introduction we mentioned that we expected that being 38

39 able to communicate with a larger group of people would be a main advantage. We believed that it would come in useful to acquire certain jobs, which our literature research showed to be correct. However, we did not think of the cognitive, task-solving and cultural advantages that it could have. Not only our literature research, but also our interviewees noted that they feel they have certain cultural advantages, believing they are better at understanding and tolerating different cultures due to their bilingualism. Being able to understand what lost in translation means was also mentioned. We think that the results we found are fairly reliable, because we have done a lot of research in various (scientific) books and on many websites. We also tried to check these facts by interviewing bilingual persons. They see eye to eye with a lot of the facts about the communication and cultural advantages we found. There were several facts that we found about bilingualism that we did not ask about in our interviews. For example, we did not ask the interviewees about whether they thought there were any disadvantages and we were not able to check the task-solving advantage either. There are certain parts of the project that we could have improved, for example the paragraph on disadvantages. We did not ask the interviewees about whether they thought there were any disadvantages, which would have been useful to done. Since we were right about the fact that there are not a lot of disadvantages, we could have dug deeper to find out if there are disadvantages, that, for example, only one that is bilingual would be aware of. Overall, the realisation of this project went quite well. We were organized and had everything done on time. The cooperation between both of us was smooth and we knew what to expect of one another. We haven t made strict deadlines throughout the project, which could have been helpful to motivate us even more, but we have not experienced too much stress with delivering the final cut. 6.5 Summary In this research project, we dived into the phenomenon known as bilingualism and we asked ourselves whether a bilingual upbringing could be seen as an advantage. Firstly, we have laid out the basics and gotten a clear view of the present sorts of bilingualism and how they are determined. Second, we have untangled the bilingual process, looking at the phases it involves and the behaviour it brings along. We have also looked at language acquisition and when the time is right to learn another language. Lisa Cheng, a linguist whom we have interviewed was a great help in this area of expertise. Furthermore, we have researched the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism, as told by researchers in the literature they have written. Multiple domains, such as culture, communication and cognition have been involved. To add to that, we have researched how bilinguals/multilinguals experience their multilingualism by interviewing them. We have asked questions regarding advantages they have experienced from their knowledge of languages and whether they learned new 39

40 languages easier than the first (two) one(s). This has given us an interesting addition to our findings in literature. To infer; we have researched whether a bilingual upbringing is an advantage. In order to answer this question we have researched the sorts of bilingualism, the process and behaviour it involves and general language acquisition. To support our literary findings concerning advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism, we have interviewed twenty people who were either bilingual, raising child(ren) bilingually or having been raised bilingually. These interviews have given us a distinct view of a bilingual lifestyle. Summary in Dutch In dit profielwerkstuk hebben we tweetaligheid en de tweetalige opvoeding onderzocht. De hoofdvraag die wij onszelf daarbij stelden was of een tweetalige opvoeding als voordeel kon worden opgevat. We zijn bij het begin begonnen en hebben onderzocht welke types van tweetaligheid er bestaan en de fasen die een tweetalige opvoeding beslaat. Verschillende andere aspecten van het fenomeen komen aan bod, zoals het gedrag van een tweetalig persoon en de sociaal-economische kant ervan. Lisa Cheng, een taalkundige die wij geïnterviewd hebben, heeft haar expertise verleend op het gebied van taalverwerving. Daarnaast hebben we voordelen en nadelen onderzocht aan de hand van bestaande (wetenschappelijke) literatuur. Wij hebben onder andere geschreven over cognitieve, culturele en communicatieve voordelen. De bevindingen uit deze literatuur hebben wij deels getoetst door twintig mensen te interviewen die of tweetalig waren, of tweetalig waren opgevoed, of zelf tweetalig opvoeden. We hebben naar ervaringen gevraagd, naar specifieke voordelen die de geïnterviewde personen hadden ondervonden. In conclusie: met dit profielwerkstuk hebben wij het fenomeen tweetaligheid onderzocht en in het speciaal de tweetalige opvoeding. We hebben een duidelijk beeld geschetst van de verschillende aspecten die tweetaligheid inhoudt, van de verscheidene soorten tot het gedrag wat het met zich meebrengt, en hebben via bestaande literatuur naar voor- en nadelen gezocht. Deze hebben wij getoetst door interviews af te nemen met tweetalige personen, tweetalig opgevoede mensen en personen die nu tweetalig hun kind(eren) opvoeden. 40

41 6.6 Bibliography Literature: Abutalebi, J., Green, D. (2008). Control mechanisms in bilingual language production:neural evidence from language switching studies. Language and Cognitive Processes 23, Appel, R. & Vermeer, A. (1994). Tweede-taalverwerving en tweedetaalonderwijs. Bussum: Coutinho. Aarts, R. & de Ruiter, J. & Verhoeven, L. (1993). Tweetaligheid en schoolsucces. Relevantie en opbrengst van etnische groeptalen in het basisonderwijs. Tilburg: Tilburg University Press. Aarsssen, J. & Bos, P. & Burkhardt Montanari, E. & Wagenaar, E. (2002). Hoe kinderen meertalig opgroeien. Frankfurt am Main: Brandes und Apsel Verlag GmbH. Bialystok, E. (1990). Communication strategies. A psychological analysis of second-language use. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Bialystok, E., Craik, F.I.M., Freedman, M. (2007). Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologica, 45, Costa, A., Santesteban, M. (2004). Lexical access in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching in highly proficient bilinguals and L2 learners. Journal of Memory and Language, 50, Costa, A., Santesteban, M., Ivanova, I. (2006). How do highly proficient bilinguals control their lexicalization process? Inhibitory and Language-Specific Selection mechanisms are both functional. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 32, Craik, F.I.M, Bialystok, E., Freedman, M. (2010). Delaying the onset of Alzheimer s disease: Bilingualism as a form of cognitive reserve. Neurology, 75, Díaz, B., Sebastián-Gallés, N. Erdocia, K., Mueller, J., Laka, I. (2011). On the cross-linguistic validity of electrophysiological correlates of morphosyntatic processing: A study of case and agreement violations in Basque. Journal of Neurolinguistics 24, Garbin, G., Sanjuan, A., Forn, C., Bustamante, J.C., Rodriguez-Pujadas, A., Belloch, V., Hernandez, M., Costa, A., Ávila, C. (2010). Bridging language and attention: Brain basis of the impact of bilingualism on cognitive control. NeuroImage 53, Kim, K. H., Relkin, N.R., Lee K. M., Hirsch, J. (1997). Distinct cortical areas associated with native and second languages. Nature, 388 (6638), Laka, I. (2013). More than one language in the brain. To appear in Boeckx C., 41

42 M.C. Horno & J.L. Mendívil (eds.) Introduction to the Biological Study of Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mechelli, A., Crinion, J., Noppeney, U., O Doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R., Price, C. (2004). Neurolinguistics: Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. Nature 431, 757. Miller, J. (1983). Many Voices. Bilingualism, Culture, Education. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Newport, E. L. (1990). Matural constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science, 14, Perani, D., Paulesu, E., Sebastián-Gallés, N., Dupoux, E., Dehaene, S., Bettinardi, V., Cappa, S. F., Fazio, F., Mehler, J. (1998). The bilingual brain: Proficiency and age of acquisition of the second language. Brain, 121, Romaine, S. (1989). Bilingualism. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Ullman, M. T. (2001). The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: the declarative/procedural model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 4 (1), Ullman, M.T. (2004). Contributions of memory circuits to language: The declarative/procedural model. Cognition, 92 (1/2) White, L. (2003). Fossilization in steady state L2 grammars: persistent problems with inflectional morphology. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 6, Web links: Blom, E. (2010). Het voordeel van tweetaligheid. accessed on 13 November Bolloré-Pellé, M. (2004). Map of the European languages. accessed on 9 January Leinyui, U.S. (unknown). accessed on 15 October Moskovsky, C. (2001) accessed on 13 November 2013 Wang, S.S. (2010). Building a more resilient brain , accessed on 9 January

43 Anonymous, (unknown). accessed on 23 October Anonymous (2011). Language Envy. accessed on 9 January Anonymous (2002). Why America Needs Bilingual Education. accessed on 9 January Anonymous (2003). accessed on 10 October Anonymous (2012), Maybe It s Time to Take That Language Course You Have Always Wanted?. accessed on 7 January Anonymous (2013). Bilingual belt. accessed on 7 January Anonymous (2011). Brussel: een geval apart. accessed on 8 January Anonymous, (2007). No smoking Welsh Bilingual Sign. accessed on 30 January Anonymous, (2009). Supporting your child s bilingual language development. accessed on 30 January Anonymous (unknown). Language hotspots, where many languages are near extinction. accessed on 8 January Anonymous (unknown). Language and Geography. accessed on 9 January

44 7 Attachments 7.1 Interviews bilinguals Adults who are raising bilingually Egbert Buursink 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? 44 jaar 2. Waarom voedt u uw kind tweetalig op? Moeder is Deens, vader is Nederlands. Kinderen moeten goede contacten met de families in beide landen hebben. 3. Welke talen? Deens & Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? De kinderen spreken thuis meer Deens omdat ze meer tijd met hun moeder doorbrengen (die niet buitenshuis werkt). Maar ze gaan naar Nederlands-talig onderwijs. Thuis spreken ze alle 4 Deens met elkaar. 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Halen uw kinderen de talen door elkaar? Dit gebeurt, maar zeer bewust, afhankelijk van wie er praat of tegen we er gesproken wordt: met mij (de papa) altijd Nederlands en met de mama bijna altijd Deens (soms ook Nederlands, omdat de mama ook goed NL kan praten) 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Papa: Hotelschool NL/Den Haag. Mama: Universiteit in Denemarken 7. Beïnvloed tweetaligheid sociale vaardigheden volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Merkt u dit bij uw kinderen? Moeilijk te bewijzen, ik denk dat het ook veel afhangt van het karakter van de kinderen. 8. Denkt u dat iemand met een tweetalige opvoeding voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? Rijkere talenkennis 9. Is een van de talen makkelijker voor u dan de ander? (en voor uw kinderen?) Voor de ouders is de moedertaal het makkelijkst, en voor de kinderen, in ons geval, zijn beide talen even makkelijk. Aangezien de papa en mama Engels met elkaar praten, spreken en begrijpen de kinderen ook perfect Engels. En aangezien er in de omgeving ook veel kinderen Frans spreken, hebben onze kinderen ook een goede kennis van Frans. 10. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Engels & Frans 11. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? (als u zelf tweetalig bent) 44

45 Ja dit helpt wel. 12. Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? (indien van toepassing) Een culturele rijkdom. Lee Verhoeff 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? Waarom voedt u uw kind tweetalig op? Ik ben zelf voornamelijk in het Engels opgevoed. Maar dan wel met Nederlands als een 2 e taal (ik ben in Canada als kind van oud- Nederlanders geboren). Het voelt de meest natuurlijk je kind in je eigen eerste taal te spreken. Verder is het voordeel van Engels als wereldtaal enorm. 3. Welke talen? Nederlands, Engels, Duits 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? Ik spreek Maria meestal in het Engels aan. Met de kinderen verandert het met de situatie. Nederlands is meestal de eerste taal, maar voornamelijk met Henry (15) en Kate (13) spreek ik veel Engels dit omdat ik weet dat hun niveau van taalvaardigheid met Engels op een vergelijkbaar niveau met het Nederlands ligt. Met Jana (10) ligt de nadruk nog op Nederlands, maar ook zij initieert zij soms gesprekken in het Engels. Totdat de kinderen goed kon spreken, sprak ik meestal Engels tegen hen. In de periode van circa 2 tot circa 10 jaar ging het gesprek meestal in het Nederlands. Dit omdat de kinderen reageerde in het Nederlands, en het moeilijk is een gesprek in 2 talen door elkaar te voeren. 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Soms schakel ik halve wegen een zin van een taal naar het andere. Met Maria (mijn partner) heb ik de neiging om een aangepaste versie van Engels te spreken: Engels met gebruik van een aantal Nederlandse woorden: dit omdat de Engelse woord de lading niet dekt. (B.v. overleg heeft een andere lading dan meeting ) 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Bouwkunde (Civil Engineering) 7. Was het hierbij een voordeel om tweetalig te zijn? Nee, omdat ik in Engels in het Engelstalige gedeelte van Canada heb gestudeerd. 8. Heeft tweetaligheid uw sociale vaardigheden beïnvloed volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Nee, niet mijn vaardigheden. Wel mijn mogelijkheid om met meer mensen te communiceren. 9. Denkt u dat u voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? 45

46 Ik denk dat de 2 e taal de moeilijkste taal te leren is. Vanaf de derde heb je weer voordeel dat je weet dat het mogelijk is om een meer dan een taal te leven en heb je meer inzicht in hoe talen in elkaar zitten. Dus daar een voordeel. Voor de rest, de voordeel dat ik makkelijker door andere landen kan bewegen / communiceren. 10. Is een van de talen die u spreekt makkelijker voor u dan de ander? Ik ervaar geen verschil in moeilijkheid tussen Engels en Nederlands. Op niveau van mijn relatie, voel ik meer thuis in het Engels dit omdat ik Maria in het Engels heb leren kennen. Frans is moeilijker voor mij; dit omdat ik het nauwelijks gebruik. (Nb toen ik naar Nederland verhuisde was mijn Frans veel beter dan mijn Nederlands. O.a. las ik in mijn eerste jaar in NL de gebruiksaanwijzingen in het Frans en niet in het Nederlands) 11. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Frans (zie boven) plus voldoende Duits om een gesprek te volgen en me verstaanbaar te maken. 12. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? Ja. Zie de uitleg bij punt Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? De flexibiliteit om in het Nederlands en in het Engels te kunnen schrijven, lezen en spreken. Maria Hansen 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? Waarom voedt u uw kind tweetalig op? Mijn eigen moedertaal is Duits. Mijn man is Engelstalig opgevoed door twee Nederlanders die naar Canada zijn geëmigreerd in de jaren 50. We vonden het belangrijk om onze kinderen deze talen mee te geven, temeer omdat mijn man en ik thuis gewoon nog steeds Engels praten (zo hebben we elkaar ontmoet). 3. Welke talen? Duits, Engels. Intussen is wel Nederlands de huistaal. 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? We praten thuis het meest in het Nederlands. Dit is ontstaan toen de twee oudste al langer op de crèche c.q. school zaten en de jongste zo ongeveer 2 3 jaar oud was. We kregen zo n chaos in talen thuis dat het als (drukke) moeder haast niet meer bij te benen was. Ik heb toen op gegeven moment besloten dat ik de lat iets lager kon leggen en thuis gewoon Nederlands kon praten. De andere talen spreken de kinderen nog steeds veelvuldig op lange vakanties. De grote kinderen lezen heel veel Engelse boeken (meer dan Nederlandse) en ze kijken ook met grote regelmaat films. Duits minder, maar ze kunnen het ook goed lezen en verstaan. 46

47 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Soms, dat is volgens mij vooral luiheid van de hersens, op zich hoeft het niet te gebeuren. 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Master of Business Administration 7. Was het hierbij een voordeel om tweetalig te zijn? Ja, ik heb in Canada gestudeerd en was toen al tweetalig omdat ik een jaar au pair in Canada had gedaan en intussen vloeiend Engels sprak. Handig als je daar dan gaat studeren! 8. Heeft tweetaligheid uw sociale vaardigheden beïnvloed volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Ja dat denk ik zeker. In de eerste plaats omdat je veel gene kwijtraakt als je langer in een vreemde taal spreekt als je begrepen wordt, is het al lang goed. Je communiceert dus makkelijker. En de Engelse taal biedt prachtige vormen in de hoffelijkheid en in de diplomatieke omgang, erg handig! 9. Denkt u dat u voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? Ik ben zelf wel eentalig opgevoed, maar ik denk zeker dat opvoeding in meerdere talen grote voordelen biedt. Niet alleen vanuit praktisch oogpunt, maar ook omdat het de hersenen enorm stimuleert op jonge leeftijd (vergelijkbaar met het spelen van een muziekinstrument). Wij hebben dit als jonge ouders ook enigszins bestudeerd om zeker te zijn dat we er goed aan deden. 10. Is een van de talen die u spreekt makkelijker voor u dan de ander? Ik spreek heel makkelijk Nederlands en Engels, en gek genoeg is mijn eigen moedertaal Duits intussen niet meer mijn beste taal. 11. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Ik spreek ook Frans maar dat vind ik een veel moeilijkere taal. Ik heb ook een tijdje Italiaans gestudeerd, een prachtige taal die ik erg graag nog eens zou willen oppakken. Als ik ergens naartoe ga, probeer ik altijd wel iets van de taal op te pikken, al is het maar een paar woorden. 12. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? Ja, dat vond ik zeker. Als je grammaticale structuren goed begrijpt, wordt een andere taal snel makkelijker. Ik heb ook negen jaar Latijn gehad en twee jaar Grieks, mogelijk heeft dat geholpen (al vond ik dat niet echt leuk, ik geef het toe). 13. Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? Ik kan met groot gemak switchen tussen Engels, Nederlands en Duits. Dat is thuis praktisch in het gesprek met elkaar, maar ook met het lezen of tv kijken, of de communicatie met vrienden en familie. In mijn vorige baan 47

48 heb ik heel veel Engels, Nederlands, Duits en Frans gesproken, dat is nu veel minder aan de orde. René van Haaften 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? 48 jaar. 2. Waarom voedt u uw kind tweetalig op? Wij leven in de Verenigde Staten van Amerika. 3. Welke talen? Nederlands, Engels, Spaans 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? Engels, wij worden er constant mee geconfronteerd. Thuis spreken we Engels, mijn echtgenote is Amerikaans. 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Halen uw kinderen de talen door elkaar? Soms haal ik de talen door elkaar of gebruik ik Engelse grammatica met Nederlandse woorden of andersom... De kinderen idem. Ook worden er veel Spaanse woorden geleend in het dagelijks gebruik. (pantalones/mucus/que si, que no/muy mal!) 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Erasmus Universiteit in Rotterdam. Beleid en Management en daarnaast Rechten. 7. Beïnvloed tweetaligheid sociale vaardigheden volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Merkt u dit bij uw kinderen? Absoluut, ze zijn zeer taalvaardig en flexibel in hun taalkeuze. Het bevordert hun zelfvertrouwen in veel situaties. 8. Denkt u dat iemand met een tweetalige opvoeding voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? Ja. 9. Is een van de talen makkelijker voor u dan de ander? (en voor uw kinderen?) Voor mij zijn beide talen Engels en Nederlands gelijk. Ik lees meer in het Engels dan in het Nederlands. Kinderen vinden Engels het meest plezierig. 10. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Ik spreek ook goed Spaans, Frans en Duits. Voorkeur voor Spaans, ik heb geruime tijd in Latijns Amerika gewoond (Uruguay) 11. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? (als u zelf tweetalig bent) Als je meer talen spreekt is het iets makkelijker er en taal bij te leren (en de verbanden te leggen). 48

49 12. Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? (indien van toepassing) Je bent flexibeler in de omgang met andere mensen en het geeft zelfvertrouwen in het buitenland. Adults who were raised bilingually Eduard Wehry 1. What is your age? 45 years 2. Why were you raised bilingually? My parents were diplomats and we moved country each 3 to 4 years 3. Which languages? My first school was English, then Dutch and finally I got my baccalaureate in a French school, before going to University in Rotterdam 4. Which language do you use more often and why? Now I speak mostly Dutch (at home), English (at work) and French with my father and family in France 5. Do you ever mix up the languages? Not too often, but it does happen, especially when tired 6. What did you study? Bedrijfskunde, Erasmus Universiteit 7. Was it an advantage to be bilingual for your study? Yes definitely, as most of the study books were in English whereas lectures were mostly in Dutch 8. Did being bilingual influence obtaining jobs in your life in a good way? Yes, I always wanted to work in an international environment, so language skills were a must. 9. Do you think being bilingual has affected your social skills in a good way? (Easier to communicate with others?) Yes, it makes it possible to interact with different groups of people from different cultural backgrounds. Language is an important reflection of the underlying culture, so having exposure to different languages also creates a better understanding of different cultures. 10. Do you think bilinguals have certain advantages that monolinguals do not have? Yes, being multi-lingual broadens ones horizon and makes it easier to travel, meet people and find work in an international environment. 11. Is one of the languages you speak easier for you than the other? Currently it is Dutch and English as this is what I speak mostly at home and at work, but before it was French. One needs to regularly speak/read/practice a language skill as it is a skill that clearly deteriorates over time when not used! 49

50 12. Do you speak another language besides the two you were raised in? (Which?) Yes, as mentioned French. On a separate note, I also believe that music can be seen as a language skill with the same benefits!(unfortunately I do not play an instrument!) 13. Do you think it was easier for you to learn this language because you are bilingual? I learned to speak French when I went to a French school at the age 14. I believe that having been speaking different languages already certainly did make it easier for me to become fluent in French as well. 14. What are the most important advantages of bilingualism that you experience every day? My capacity to understand and move across different cultures. I can operate in an Anglo-Saxon environment, but I also understand the cultural sensitivities in a French (Latin) environment, as well as a Dutch (Germanic) environment. This awareness provides me with a very good background for working /interacting with a diverse range of people from different ethnical backgrounds. Claire Reeves 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? 45 jaar 2. Waarom bent u tweetalig opgevoed? Mijn vader is Engels, mijn moeder is Nederlands 3. Welke talen? Engels en Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands, omdat ik in Nederland ben opgegroeid en nu nog steeds woon 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Nee 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Kunstgeschiedenis aan de UvA (Amsterdam) 7. Was het hierbij een voordeel om tweetalig te zijn? Ja, Engelse teksten lezen en analyseren ging relatief makkelijk. 8. Heeft uw tweetalige opvoeding een goede invloed gehad op het verkrijgen van een baan? Niet echt van toepassing. 9. Heeft uw tweetalige opvoeding uw sociale vaardigheden beïnvloed volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Een beetje misschien. Je kan misschien makkelijker inleven in andere culturen/nationaliteiten. 50

51 10. Denkt u dat u voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? Qua talen wel. Als je beide talen al jong leert dan verleer je dat nooit meer. Je leert ook echt de cultuur van beide nationaliteiten kennen. 11. Is een van de talen die u spreekt makkelijker voor u dan de ander? Ja, Nederlands 12. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Nee 13. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? Niet echt. Ben geen talen mens. Heb Frans geprobeerd, maar lukt niet echt. 14. Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? Het schakelen tussen Nederlands en Engels gaat heel makkelijk. Verder heb ik wel meteen een click met Engelsen omdat je toch hun cultuur en doen en laten beter aanvoelt/snapt. Esther Lim 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? 27 jaar. 2. Waarom bent u tweetalig opgevoed? Omdat mijn ouders een andere moeder/vadertaal hebben. 3. Welke talen? Koreaans en Nederlands. 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands. Waarschijnlijk komt dat omdat ik het grootste gedeelte van mijn leven in Nederland heb gewoond. 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Ja. 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Bachelor geschiedenis (Amerikanistiek) en Master Cultuurmanagement. 7. Was het hierbij een voordeel om tweetalig te zijn? Nee. 8. Heeft uw tweetalige opvoeding een goede invloed gehad op het verkrijgen van een baan? Ik denk het niet, ik weet natuurlijk niet welke redenen zijn meegenomen toen mijn werkgever mij aannam. 9. Heeft uw tweetalige opvoeding uw sociale vaardigheden beïnvloed volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Ja, ik denk dat je doordat je in twee culturen wordt opgevoed vanuit een breder perspectief naar andere mensen luistert/ervaart. 10. Denkt u dat u voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? Ja, het beheersen van een andere taal is al een groot voordeel. Daarnaast denk ik dat de tweetalige opvoeding je wereldbeeld vergroot (zie vorige 51

52 vraag). Nu denk ik niet dat specifiek tweetaligheid daar voor van belang is, maar vooral het feit dat je twee verschillende culturen kent. 11. Is een van de talen die u spreekt makkelijker voor u dan de ander? Ja, Nederlands is makkelijker voor mij. 12. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Engels, een beetje Duits en Frans. 13. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? Dat weet ik niet. 14. Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? In mijn dagelijkse leven ondervind ik geen voordelen van mijn tweetaligheid. Esen Kartal 1. Wat is uw leeftijd? 39 jaar 2. Waarom bent u tweetalig opgevoed? Mijn ouders komen uit Turkije en hebben als moedertaal Turks. 3. Welke talen? Turks en Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruikt u meer en waardoor komt dat? Ik gebruik Nederlands meer. Dit komt omdat ik Nederlands als 1 e taal heb, ik ben pas Turks na mijn 7 e jaar gaan leren. Daarvoor heb ik bij een Nederlands gezin gewoond en dus alleen Nederlands gesproken. 5. Haalt u de talen door elkaar heen? Nee. 6. Wat voor studie heeft u gedaan? Sociaal Juridisch Medewerker. 7. Was het hierbij een voordeel om tweetalig te zijn? Ja. 8. Heeft uw tweetalige opvoeding een goede invloed gehad op het verkrijgen van een baan? Heeft geen invloed gehad. 9. Heeft uw tweetalige opvoeding uw sociale vaardigheden beïnvloed volgens u (makkelijker communiceren met anderen)? Ja, het is enerzijds makkelijker communiceren, ik begrijp mensen die niet goed Nederlands spreken vaak sneller. Anderzijds is het ook dat ik denk ik meer begrip heb voor mensen die de taal niet goed spreken. 10. Denkt u dat u voordelen heeft ten opzichte van een eentalig opgevoed persoon? Ja. 11. Is een van de talen die u spreekt makkelijker voor u dan de ander? Ja, Nederlands is makkelijker. 12. Spreekt u nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? 52

53 Ja, Engels op voldoende niveau. 13. Was het makkelijker om een andere taal te leren door uw tweetaligheid? Dat denk ik niet. 14. Wat zijn de belangrijkste voordelen van tweetaligheid die u in uw dagelijkse leven ondervindt? Het Turks kunnen spreken als we op vakantie gaan in Turkije en de taal begrijpen als er familieleden komen waarbij de voertaal Turks is. Het heeft natuurlijk ook te maken met de binding die ik voel met Turkije en de bevolking, als ik de taal niet zou spreken dan zou de binding op termijn ook minder worden en dat wil ik niet. Adolescents who are being raised bilingually Samantha Li 1. How old are you? Why are you being raised bilingually? I was raised in America and so I had to learn English and now I go to an international school because my Chinese isn t good enough to go to local schools. 3. Which languages? English and Mandarin 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? English because I speak it everyday for most hours. 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? Rarely 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? Yes, because there are words that only exist in one language or have a different meaning. 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? English because it s my first language and I speak it most. 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (which language?) No 9. Do you think it s easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? / 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? West Island School, international school. Yes, because there is a mix of different races. 53

54 Steven van den Berg 1. How old are you? Why are you being raised bilingually? Dutch parents but an English environment so I speak Dutch to keep some of my Dutch identity. 3. Which languages? Dutch/English/Chinese 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? English because that s what the people in Hong Kong speak. 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? When I speak with Dutch people yes. 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? Definitely (no examples though). 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? (Which one and why) English because I learn English at school, but I have never really learnt Dutch. 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (Which language?) Chinese 9. Do you think it is easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? Yes, sentence structures are similar in one language and sometimes in the other as well. 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? English school foundation. Being bilingual is useful and pretty cool, some people are jealous.! Alexander Wehry 1. How old are you? Why are you being raised bilingually? More opportunities 3. Which languages? Dutch and English 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? English, I m in an English environment. 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? Yes 54

55 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? No 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? (Which one and why) English is easier as I am taught in English, socialize in English and live in an English environment. I speak Dutch with my family. 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (Which language?) No 9. Do you think it is easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? / I don t know because I don t speak another language besides English and Dutch, but I expect that learning another language is generally easier for a bilingual than a monolingual. 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? I go to an IB diploma school and it has given me the opportunity to do a bilingual diploma, giving me an edge over other students. Saya Kawano 1. How old are you? Why are you being raised bilingually? Because both my parents are from Japan and they don t want me to lose my Japanese heritage. 3. Which languages? English and Japanese. 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? English because I go to an international school where English is the language that is used for teaching and communicating amongst both the students and teachers. 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? Yes I do. When I talk to my parents, sometimes I mix both English and Japanese together in one sentence. It s quite funny. But sometimes some words in English can t compensate for certain words in Japanese and vice versa. 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? Yes I do as I feel like I am open to more cultural diversity and understanding of what lost in translation actually means. 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? (Which one and why?) Personally, I think English is much easier for me than Japanese because I 55

56 was raised with this language and was put into an English speaking school since kindergarten. Japanese is also much more complex in the sense when you have to learn three completely different writing styles and it s just much more confusing for me. 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (Which language?) Yes, I speak al little bit of Spanish, but not very good as I am still in the learning process of it. 9. Do you think it is easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? No, I actually don t think that my bilingualism helps me learn that language. I just have a real interest in the Spanish culture and language, which really motivates me to learn it. 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? I go to an international school. Being bilingual isn t necessarily useful but it s definitely an advantage of some sort, as we bilinguals understand what it means when a language represents a certain culture, in more depth. Henry Verhoeff 1. Hoe oud ben je? Waarom word je tweetalig opgevoed? Mijn beide ouders zijn buitenlanders (Canadees, Duits) 3. Welke talen? Engels, Duits, Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruik je meer en waardoor komt dat? 1Nederlands(woon in Nederland), 2Engels. Komt meer voor in de media + boeken + tv etc, en 3Duits 5. Haal je de talen wel eens door elkaar? Nee. 6. Denk je dat je dingen beter begrijpt doordat je tweetalig bent opgevoed? Ja, bijvoorbeeld hoe je goed moet spreken 7. Is de ene taal makkelijker voor je dan de andere? 1, Nederlands(spreek ik de hele dag door)2engels omdat ik daar vaker mee in contact kom.3 Duits 8. Spreek je nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? - 9. Denk je dat het makkelijker was om deze taal erbij te leren doordat je tweetalig bent? Op wat voor school zit je? Is je tweetaligheid hierbij handig? Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem. Ja, in beide talen krijgen we les. 56

57 Jana Verhoeff 1. Hoe oud ben je? Waarom word je tweetalig opgevoed? Omdat mijn vader Canadees en mijn moeder Duits is 3. Welke talen? Nederlands, Engels en Duits 4. Welke taal gebruik je meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands omdat ik in Nederland woon 5. Haal je de talen wel eens door elkaar? Nee 6. Denk je dat je dingen beter begrijpt doordat je tweetalig bent opgevoed? Ik begrijp beter hoe het is in andere landen 7. Is de ene taal makkelijker voor je dan de andere? Ja. Duits is het moeilijks, Nederlands het makkelijkste en Engels gaat gewoon heel goed. 8. Spreek je nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Nee 9. Denk je dat het makkelijker was om deze taal erbij te leren doordat je tweetalig bent? Op wat voor school zit je? Is je tweetaligheid hierbij handig? Op een openbare basisschool. Met Engels wel. Kate Verhoeff 1. Hoe oud ben je? Waarom word je tweetalig opgevoed? Mijn vader is Canadees en mijn moeder is Duits 3. Welke talen? Engels, Duits en Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruik je meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands want ik woon in Nederland. Daarna komt Engels want ik lees veel Engelse boeken. 5. Haal je de talen wel eens door elkaar? Ja soms. 6. Denk je dat je dingen beter begrijpt doordat je tweetalig bent opgevoed? Ja 7. Is de ene taal makkelijker voor je dan de andere? Nederlands blijft het makkelijkst, daarna Engels. 8. Spreek je nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Frans 57

58 9. Denk je dat het makkelijker was om deze taal erbij te leren doordat je tweetalig bent? Ja, de betekenissen en/of woorden zijn makkelijker te onthouden. 10. Op wat voor school zit je? Is je tweetaligheid hierbij handig? Ik zit op het gymnasium en ja, de tweetaligheid is handig want ik heb gelijk een voorsprong bij Engels en Duits. Kayra Kartal 1. Hoe oud ben je? Waarom word je tweetalig opgevoed? Omdat ik in Nederland woon, en Turkse ouders heb. 3. Welke talen? Turks en Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruik je meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands omdat ik dat beter kan dan Turks 5. Haal je de talen wel eens door elkaar? nee 6. Denk je dat je dingen beter begrijpt doordat je tweetalig bent opgevoed? Nee 7. Is de ene taal makkelijker voor je dan de andere? Ja, Nederlands is makkelijker dan Turks 8. Spreek je nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Ja, Engels 9. Denk je dat het makkelijker was om deze taal erbij te leren doordat je tweetalig bent? Nee want Engels lijkt niet op het Turks 10. Op wat voor school zit je? Is je tweetaligheid hierbij handig? Op een HAVO/VWO school. Nee. Seden Kartal 1. Hoe oud ben je? Waarom word je tweetalig opgevoed? Omdat ik in Nederland woon, en Turkse ouders heb. 3. Welke talen? Turks en Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruik je meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands omdat ik dat beter kan dan Turks 5. Haal je de talen wel eens door elkaar? nee 58

59 6. Denk je dat je dingen beter begrijpt doordat je tweetalig bent opgevoed? Soms 7. Is de ene taal makkelijker voor je dan de andere? Ja, Nederlands is makkelijker dan Turks 8. Spreek je nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Ja, Engels 9. Denk je dat het makkelijker was om deze taal erbij te leren doordat je tweetalig bent? Nee want Engels lijkt niet op het Turks 10. Op wat voor school zit je? Is je tweetaligheid hierbij handig? Op een HAVO/VWO school. Dat ik tweetalig ben maakt hierbij niks uit. Jackie Wu 1. How old are you? 16 years old. 2. Why are you being raised bilingually? Well, my family lineage is Chinese hence I was first taught Chinese as a child. However my parents decided to send me to an international school for kindergarten and that is where I picked up English. 3. Which languages? Chinese and English. 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? English - it is the language I speak every day at school and it is also the medium that I use to communicate with my friends. 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? Not mix up per se, but there are moments where I cannot express something in one language but I can describe it using a phrase from the other language. 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? I think being bilingual helps to you look at things from two different perspectives and sometimes by connecting the two languages and relating the two ways of expression to each other you better understand the thing itself. For example, if I encounter something in English that I am more familiar with in Chinese, I can relate to the Chinese definition better and use it to help me derive the meaning in English. 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? (Which one and why) Yes, English definitely because I have spent more time learning and 59

60 developing it therefore I am more proficient in it. 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (Which language?) Well I am picking up Cantonese at the moment (it's more of a dialect rather than a language). 9. Do you think it is easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? A lot of Cantonese is based off Chinese so I can relate similar sounding words with their meanings and pick up things quickly because I already know them in Chinese. Also, Cantonese speaking actually features periodic English words inserted throughout the sentence so it is interesting to see how a totally different language is integrated in. 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? I go to an international school and I study the International Baccalaureate program, which requires you to take two languages. My school really promotes bilingualism and since most of the students are Chinese a lot of emphasis is put on not only furthering English skills but also developing and maturing our Chinese abilities. Jenny Park 1. Hoe oud ben je? 19 jaar 2. Waarom word je tweetalig opgevoed? Mijn ouders zijn Koreaans en kunnen zelf niet echt Nederlands, op school heb ik Nederlands leren spreken. 3. Welke talen? Koreaans en Nederlands 4. Welke taal gebruik je meer en waardoor komt dat? Nederlands, want dat spreek ik op school en tegen vrienden en tegen broer en zusje. 5. Haal je de talen wel eens door elkaar? Nee, ze verschillen heel erg. Wel heb ik dat ik soms niet op een woord kom, maar wel in een andere taal. 6. Denk je dat je dingen beter begrijpt doordat je tweetalig bent opgevoed? Nee 7. Is de ene taal makkelijker voor je dan de andere? Ja, Nederlands 8. Spreek je nog een andere taal? Zo ja, welke? Ja, Engels 9. Denk je dat het makkelijker was om deze taal erbij te leren doordat je tweetalig bent? 60

61 Ik heb niet echt gemerkt dat het daardoor makkelijker werd, ik keek vroeger al veel Engelse films. 10. Op wat voor school zit je? Is je tweetaligheid hierbij handig? Een Nederlandse school, Hageveld, tweetaligheid is niet echt nodig, Engels is wel handig, Zara Run Bieltvedt 1. How old are you? 16 years old. 2. Why are you being raised bilingually? I wasn t exactly raised bilingually, I m from Iceland and my parents speak Icelandic, but I was born in Hong Kong where you speak English. 3. Which languages? English and Icelandic 4. What language do you use more often and why is that? I use Icelandic more often because I live in Iceland. But I do sometimes add English to Icelandic. (There are reasons I can t explain). 5. Do you ever mix the languages up? Well yes sometimes. If you mean if I mix Icelandic and English together, yes I do. 6. Do you think you re better at understanding certain things because you were raised bilingually? No. 7. Is one language easier for you than the other? (Which one and why) English is a way easier language. Icelandic is a very difficult language and way different from English as well. 8. Do you speak another language besides the two you are being raised in? (Which language?) No. 9. Do you think it is easier for you to learn that language because you are bilingual? / 10. What kind of school do you go to? Is being bilingual useful in your school? I just go to an Icelandic school and we do learn English, so for that subject it is useful. 61

62 7.2 Interview Lisa Cheng What did you study? I did my bachelor in linguistics in Toronto. What are you specialised in now? I m a theoretician; a theoretical syntactician. That means I specialise in structure of language or the theory of structure of languages. It actually has nothing to do with bilingualism. It doesn t have much to do with bilingualism, but you know a lot about languages in general? I know a lot about language, or the system that languages are in. But you raise your own children bilingually? I have one child and he is actually trilingual. I m a native speaker of Cantonese. One of the Chinese languages and it s because I was born in Hong Kong. So I speak to my child in Cantonese and my husband is Dutch so he speaks to my child in Dutch. I speak to my husband in English because that somehow started and we continued. Therefore, my child also speaks English. We noticed it at one point that he could understand it. Does your child speak all three languages fluently? He speaks the languages in different degrees of fluency. You have recently gotten a research project for multilingualism; why did you want to take on the project? That s a totally different reason. For me, I ve done things related to bilingualism a long time ago, when I was in California (before I came to Leiden I had a job in California). At the time I was working with a psychologist on some aspect of bilingualism. I think for any linguist, bilingualism could be interesting. What s happening when you have two languages? I speak four languages almost everyday. So, for me, that s also interesting to know. I ve also noticed certain times like if I speak English and suddenly a Dutch word will come in. Why is that and what kind of a word? When you are a linguist, you ask these questions. Such as, why do I do that? Why this word and not that one? I remember I talked to a friend on the phone in Mandarin because that s also another language I speak. And then suddenly I say ten minste. And I thought: why do I do that? Why did that word come in and not other words? So you notice that you sometimes mix the languages? I don t really mix them, but certain words seem to interfere. Especially when you re tired. As a linguist, you have more sensitivity to language. To me, it has always been interesting and I ve always been bilingual. As a child I spoke both 62

63 Cantonese and Mandarin. It happens to be that I lived in two countries. Later on English was added and I learned French. I learned Dutch late on in my life. You somehow just find that interesting. I also had courses applied linguistics as a student. Do you think raising your child or any child bilingually has an effect on the social abilities? I m not so sure about the social side. As far as I can tell, the social side has more to do with personality. I don t think raising a child bilingually necessarily would change any social aspect of a child. It s not possible to do a control experiment. You can t say: all right these two children have exactly the same personality. Maybe you could do it with identical twins but that would be a very expensive thing to do. And do you think it has an effect on the cognitive abilities? Cognitive abilities we have to careful about. You also have a question on whether bilingualism makes a child more intelligent. Cognitive abilities mean a lot of things. Whether you can think in advance, whether you can plan. There are many things related to cognitive abilities. We focused more on how the brain handles multiple languages. For example, in one of the articles you read, it has to do with attentional control. In psychology they talk about executive control. Everybody needs executive control; otherwise we would be out of control. Basically, studies have shown that children, starting from a young age if they are bilingual or multilingual, they have a better executive control. But this is still a little controversial. Studies are not always set up properly. One of the aspects that this article about older people has to do with is the use of two languages or the use of many languages everyday. For example you two can speak English. I don t know what kind of programme you were in or whether you use English everyday like a daily conversation. I don t know if you count yourself bilingual. That s hard to say. For me, real bilinguals are the ones who use more than one language everyday. I can count myself multilingual; I use more than three languages everyday. When you use the language everyday, you have a setting that you really have to suppress the other languages. There are very few balanced bilinguals. Balanced meaning both languages at an equal level. Equal in the sense of speaking it in every possible scenario. For example, some people are very good at English but only in studying it. But not when trying to chat with somebody. Or you have children who were raised in a multilingual family but the mother language was only spoken in the kitchen. Outside of the kitchen the language is not used, so the child is not really balanced. Their vocabulary is probably very restricted. So there are very few balanced bilinguals. And there is always a dominant language versus a non-dominant one. For example immigrants, who acquired a first language and then come to Holland and learn Dutch. Their Dutch becomes 63

64 very fluent. At home they speak one language and outside they speak another one. That also counts as bilingualism but whether it s really balanced we don t know. We need to test a lot of things to find out if they are balanced. In the case of balanced bilinguals who really use the languages everyday, I really think there is a cognitive advantage. The experiment that was used in one of the articles: you have in a computer screen arrows pointing left or right and if the arrows are presented centre in the screen, going right or left and you just have to press right or left, people usually don t make a mistake. But when you have an arrow that is on the right hand side but it turns left, that s when people start having trouble. Then you sort of have to think or you press the wrong button. These are measures as to whether people have to slow down or whether they make more mistakes. The other task could be that you have irrelevant information and then the idea is that multilinguals are better at ignoring certain things and can focus better. Because you are trained all the time to ignore other languages so you have an attentional control. You could say that cognitive abilities that are better for multilinguals could be that they can focus better. One of the articles you sent about the link between dementia and cognitive function, it also dealt with somehow being able to train your brain and focus your attention on leaving irrelevant information out. That somehow makes bilinguals less sensitive to dementia than monolinguals. The article was quite careful because it says that a cognitive reserve is built. So we don t know why these people are delayed. It could be delayed in the sense that they could use other reserve. Being multilingual means you re more challenged every day. You have to pay more attention, even when you re speaking. If you re a native speaker speaking Dutch, you don t have to pay too much attention. But then if you re not a native speaker, you re trying to speak the other language and trying to suppress your native language and in any case it s actually very tiring. Doing that, doing more challenging tasks can build up your cognitive reserve. So there s also research being done on seeing if we can build cognitive reserve some other way. Are there computer games that you can do and build your cognitive reserve? Do you think bilingually raised children have more benefits than monolingually raised children? It s very hard to say. Again you have to do a control experiment. Personally, my child can focus extremely well. He could sit and read a book for three hours and finish the book when he was very small. Is that because of him or of the language? You don t know. Even if you can measure it, it s hard. You can test concentration, the attention span, and verbal memory. But it s very hard to see if it s related to bilingualism. 64

65 Maybe career-wise? I think an employer would hire someone who speaks more languages over someone who speaks just one. I think it s always an advantage. So if you can speak multiple languages you never know when it can come in handy. It s always good. I always say it s good that I speak both Cantonese and Mandarin because I can go to every Chinese restaurant. In Chinese restaurants they either speak Cantonese (Chinese food should be Cantonese) or they speak Mandarin. So if you go into a Cantonese restaurant you automatically have an advantage and you re treated properly. But I can also go to non-cantonese restaurant because I speak Mandarin (the standard language in China). I won t be disadvantaged. But non-cantonese speakers can t order in a Cantonese restaurant and will be seen and treated as outsiders. I always told my son that it s good to know both. Even ordering food, there is an advantage. Do you think it s easier for a bilingual to learn another language? I think so; this is my personal experience. I think they are more tuned in the differences. For example, my son, when he was very young, we went to a shop and he naturally said: that is an English speaker. He could produce the English accent. So he was listening to the accent and tried to deduce it. Later on, some Italian colleagues spoke Dutch and he could mimic them too. It made us laugh like crazy. I don t know whether this is because he is my son. People said: of course your son is good with languages, you re a linguist!, but I don t know whether it s because of his genes or his bilingualism. It s hard to tear it apart. And in what area is it most convenient for a bilingual to be bilingual? Jobwise or communicating on vacation? I tend to think that everything is an advantage. You never know. First of all, you can read books in different languages, which is already something fun. Job-wise, I think it opens up opportunities and you are less afraid to move to other countries to fulfil certain job positions. The older you are the harder it is to learn a different language to the extent of becoming very fluent. This can be a barrier for people to decide whether to immigrate or not. For a multilingual this means they will have one barrier less. So I would say it s always an advantage to be bilingual, especially now in the EU, in this international environment. Do you think it is more important now to be bilingual than in the past? Definitely. Nowadays you can just Skype someone, you don t even need to fly there to see them face to face. Imagine you want to get in touch with someone and you have to call them via an operator that speaks another language than you, that would be a barrier for people that aren t multilingual. If you re less afraid, then you can learn more languages. 65

66 Do you think it will become even more important to be bilingual in the future? The world is moving forward, I can hardly imagine it would become less important. It s already pretty standard nowadays to be bilingual. There are few people that don t speak another language. The situation of being raised bilingually is becoming more and more popular too. Is there a certain area in the world where it s more important or the standard to be bilingual than in other areas? A country like The Netherlands. The smaller the country is, the more important it is for the people to be multilingual, in order to reach out to other countries. In countries like the US, I can imagine people think: Why do I have to learn another language? We already speak the most spoken language. Do you think age influences the way you learn a language? I think you can say that starting to learn another language at a young age is a requirement if you want to speak that language fluently. It is much better to learn a language when you are young. If you are talking about someone that learns a language without really being taught, you need to do this before the age of ten. You could send the child to a camp where they only speak a certain language and maybe they ll complain the first month, but gradually they ll get to the point where they understand and speak the language. If you do this to someone that s 15, this will be more of a problem. It s not like you won t be able to learn the language after the age of ten, but it will become harder. Still, when you re under the age of 25 you ll probably still be able to learn the language accent and sentence structures very well, but real native fluently will not be able to be learnt anymore. There are a lot of linguistic tests that show there are certain very subtle distinctions. The cut off line is about nine years old. Does a child think about linguistics in an easier way than adults? I m not really sure this is the case, because I m not sure the child actually thinks about it. People might think it s good to start teaching English in kindergarten, but there s a study that showed that in comparison to these small kids, kids that learn a language at the age of eight actually learn the language better because they have the so-called meta linguistic ability. The children seem to have something that can link up with their original language. At the age of four, sometimes there s just a confusion, unless you put the child in a totally different environment. Is it very important to keep practicing a language? Yes, this is called language attrition. If you don t keep it up, it s gone. But some studies show that children that learnt English at a young age but didn t keep speaking it regularly don t completely lose the language. As soon as they enter secondary school in Holland and start learning English, they seem to be better than the others, because the basis is there. They just need to re-activate the language. Of course this depends on how good the language was. 66

67 7.3 Log Date Activity Notes Amount of time (combined hours of the two of us) 11 June Picking a subject and a supervisor. 13 September Introduction and obtaining more knowledge. 29 September Looked for literature at University of Leiden and contacted interviewees. 10 October Adjust what we had so far according to the notes our supervisor gave us. 16 October Talked about the chapter categorization with Marijke. 10 November Found a lot of information to use in chapter one and incorporated it. 15 November Put everything together and started chapter 2. Found a lot of We were quite quick to choose a subject, formulating a good research question and possible sub questions was difficult

68 advantages and some disadvantages, also research that has been done before. 29 November Finished the questions that we want to ask the different groups of interviewees. 1 December Adjusted questions and worked on the first three chapters. 7 December Worked on cognitive advantages, language acquisition, adjusted the introduction, found new information and expanded what we had. Translated all the information we had into English and finished the majority of chapter 1, 2 and 3. 8 December Finished summarizing article on dementia. 11 December Interviewed linguist Lisa Cheng in Leiden. 21 December Worked on expanding and adding information, also got some of the

69 interviews back and started to compare results and see if there was correlation with our literature findings. 23 December Processed Lisa Cheng s interview, expanded information, changed our chapter categorization. 28 December Received all of the interviews and finished comparing and typing up the method and results. Started the paragraph on correlation. Also added to the information we had and divided the information into the chapters. 30 December Kept adding on the paragraph of correlation. Made introductions and conclusions for all of the chapters we had finished. Final adjustments on chapters 1 through 4. 3 January Searched for images to use. Finished chapter 5. Started on the bibliography and conclusion

70 8 January Finished the bibliography and the majority of the conclusion and the reflection. 9 January Finished the conclusion and made final adjustments to all of the chapters. Inserted images and made sure our sources were in order. Made a front page January Log and preface 4 6 February Wrote the summary in English and Dutch and added in some more pictures. 8 February Wrote the reflection and recommendations 9 February Final look at the layout Date to be decided Making and practicing the presentation We need to decide what topics to touch on more than others. We need to think of an interesting and audience friendly way of presenting our project. 4 Total amount of hours: 165 hours 70