SOCIOLINGUISTICS PAPER

BILINGUALISM AND MULTILINGUALISM

IN THE SOCIETY

By

WAHYU
15B01140

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE PROGRAM
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MAKASSAR
2015

A. INTRODUCTION
1. Background
Bilingualism--more generally, multilingualism--is a major fact
of life in the world today. To begin with, the world's estimated 5,000
languages are spoken in the world's 200 sovereign states (or 25
languages per state), so that communication among the citizens of
many of the world's countries clearly requires extensive bi- (if not
multilingualism. In fact, David Crystal (1997) estimates that twothirds of the world's children grow up in a bilingual environment.
Considering only bilingualism involving English, the statistics that
Crystal has gathered indicate that, of the approximately 570 million
people world-wide who speak English, over 41 percent or 235 million
are bilingual in English and some other language. One must conclude
that, far from being exceptional, as many lay people believe,
bilingualism and multilingualism which, of course, goes hand in hand
with multiculturalism in many cases--is currently the rule throughout
the world and will become increasingly so in the future.
The linguistic diversity of the world has depended on the world
population and the number of languages in the world. The world
population grew from about 300 million at the time of Christ to an
estimated 1 billion in 1804, 2 billion in 1927, and 6 billion at the end
of 1999, and is projected to reach 10 billion around 2183. In 1950
there were only four countries with a national population greater than
100 million persons. In 2003 the number of such countries had grown
to eleven. The United Nations projects that in 2050 such countries will
number eighteen. India, China, and the United States were the top
three countries at each of these points in time.

Urbanism and migrations will increase the probability of

language contact between speakers of different languages. By the
middle of the twentieth century, more than half of the world's
population was considered urban. By the end of the twentieth century,
about 4 percent of the world's population did not live in their country
of birth.
As people across the world become increasingly mobile,
questions concerning bilingualism and multilingualism have taken on
growing importance from both scholarly and practical points of view.
The international circumstances that have developed over the last two
decades in which linguistic and ethnic communities that had
previously been politically submerged have asserted themselves
have provided scholars with new opportunities to study the
phenomena

of

individual

and

societal

bilingualism

and

multilingualism. This timely reference volume explores these

questions, discussing the meaning and influence of the phenomena
and conceptualization of hyper globalization in the field, and
assessing the latest developments in worldwide linguistics, with
particular emphasis on geographical centers of global conflict and
commerce.
Contrary to what is often believed, most of the world's
population

is

bilingual

or

multilingual.

Monolingualism

is

characteristic only of a minority of the world's peoples. According to

figures cited in Stavenhagen (1990) for example, five to eight
thousand different ethnic groups reside in approximately 160 nation
states. Moreover, scholars estimate that there are over 5000 distinct
languages spoken in that same small number of nation states. What is

evident from these figures is that few nations are either monolingual
or mono-ethnic. Each of the world's nations has groups of individuals
living within its borders who use other languages in addition to the
national language to function in their everyday lives.
The aims of this paper are to explain to the readers the
definition of bilingualism and multilingualism, to explain the
advantage

of

even

the

disadvantage

of

bilingualism

and

multilingualism and also to describe the effect of them to the society.

B. DISCUSSION
1. Definition of Bilingualism and Multilingualism
A bilingual individual, generally, is someone who speaks two
languages. An ideal or balanced bilingual speaks each language as
proficiently as an educated native speaker. This is often referred to as
an ideal type since few people are regarded as being able to reach this
standard. Otherwise, a bilingual may be anywhere on a continuum of
skills. There are some opinions of the experts about the definition of
bilingualism.
a. Mackey and Fishman. Bilingualism is the using of two languages
by a speaker with his association with the other people in the
society.
b. Bloomfield. Bilingualism is the ability of a speaker to use two
languages equally well. So, according to Bloomfield someone is
bilingual if he/she can use the two language with the same ability.
But this statement is quite controversial. Firstly, how we can
measure the speakers ability to the two language he/she uses.
Secondly, is there speaker who can use the two language with the
same ability, if yes, it will be very rare to find.

c. Diebold said that the presence of bilingualism at the beginning of

the bilingualism rate experienced by the people, especially
children who are learning a second language in the early stages.
At this stage it is still very simple bilingualism and the low level.
But cannot be ignored because at this stage of the base located
next bilingualism.
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of,
multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a
community

of

speakers.

Multilingual

speakers

outnumber

monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is

becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of
globalization and cultural openness. A multilingual person, in a broad
definition, is one who can communicate in more than one language,
be it actively (through speaking, writing, or signing) or passively
(through listening, reading, or perceiving). More specifically, the
terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable
situations in which two or three languages are involved. A
multilingual person is generally referred to as a polyglot. Poly
(Greek: ) means "many", glot (Greek: ) means
"language".
Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least
one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The
first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is
acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed.
Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous
bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals one language
usually dominates over the other.

A further possibility is that a child may become naturally

trilingual by having a mother and father with separate languages
being brought up in a third language environment. An example of
this may be an English-speaking father married to a Mandarin
Chinese speaking mother with the family living in Hong Kong,
where the community language (and primary language of education)
is Cantonese. If the child goes to a Cantonese medium school from a
young age, then trilingualism will result.
In linguistics, first language acquisition is closely related to
the concept of a "native speaker". According to a view widely held
by linguists, a native speaker of a given language has in some
respects a level of skill which a second (or subsequent) language
learner can hardly reliably accomplish. Consequently, descriptive
empirical studies of languages are usually carried out using only
native speakers as informants. This view is, however, slightly
problematic, particularly as many non-native speakers demonstrably
not only successfully engage with and in their non-native language
societies, but in fact may become culturally and even linguistically
important contributors (as, for example, writers, politicians and
performing artists) in their non-native language. In recent years,
linguistic research has focused attention on the use of widely known
world languages such as English as lingua franca, or the shared
common language of professional and commercial communities. In
lingua franca situations, most speakers of the common language are
functionally multilingual.

2. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Bilingualism and

Multilingualism
According to Torry Miller, there are some advantages of being
bilingual or multilingual person, they are:
a. Improved cognitive skills
The brain of a bilingual speaker quickly gets used to managing
two languages at the same time. This helps to develop skills for
functions ranging from inhibition (a cognitive mechanism
responsible for discarding irrelevant stimuli), working memory
and switching attention. All these cognitive skills have an impact
on the brain's executive control system, which generally takes care
of activities like high-level thought, multitasking, and sustained
attention. Since bilingual people constantly switch between their
two languages, they're likely to be also better at switching
between different tasks. This happens even if the tasks in question
aren't of linguistic nature.
b. Delay of cognitive damage
There's nothing better for maintaining high cognitive function that
participating in stimulating physical or mental activity.
c. Learning foreign languages
Once a child learns more than one language, it's fairly common
for him or her to pick up another one with ease. Some scientists
claim that bilinguals have a better chance to easily learn other
languages in future, but this insight still needs research and
d.
e.
f.
g.

testing.
Ability to learn new words easily
Ability to use possessed information in new ways
Coming up with solutions to problems
Improved communication skills
According

to

Pradeep

Kumar,

the

bilingualism and multilingualism in education are:

disadvantages

of

a. Children who grow up multilingual, run the risk that they do not
speak the language properly and thus get a lot of problems in the
school system.
b. Children enjoying a bilingual education can be excluded from a
monolingual in the majority society, or whether their second
language teased. This can have a negative impact on development,
such as reducing the self-confidence of the child.
c. Language problems in children, whether natural or physical
difficulties with pronunciation or grammar can be even more
difficult to resolve for multilingual children growing up, as they
must be corrected in part in any language.
A study pointed out that since in the brain of a bilingual
person there are two languages that are constantly active and involve
an additional processing cost, it might lead to verbal skills of a
bilingual person to be generally weaker that those noted in
monolingual speakers of the language.
Another study showed how bilinguals know fewer words of
any semantic category in comparison to people that speak fluently
only one language their vocabularies seemed to be somewhat
smaller than those of monolingual speakers.
Even if there are costs to be paid for being fluent in two
languages, the many advantages of bilingualism are really worth the
trouble. If you're worried that your children might encounter
communication problem if you choose to speak a different language at
home or move to a different location, don't worry their brains are
under development and will quickly adjust to the new linguistic
environment. Being bilingual, they will also find it easier to pick up
new languages once they're adult all in all, bilingualism is something

that will help them to lead richer lives and develop understanding
towards different cultures.
3. The Effect of Bilingualism and Multilingualism in the Society
Some effects of bilingualism and multilingualism in the
society are:
a. Code-Switching and Code-Mixing
Code-mixing refers to the mixing of two or more languages or
language varieties in speech. While code-switching occurs when a
speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language
varieties, in the context of a single conversation. Multilinguals,
speakers of more than one language, sometimes use elements of
multiple languages when conversing with each other. Thus, codeswitching is the use of more than one linguistic variety in a manner
consistent with the syntax and phonology of each variety.
b. Language Interference
Language interference (also known as L1 transfer, linguistic
interference, and cross meaning) refers to speakers or writers
applying knowledge from their native language to a second
language. Dulay et al define interference as the automatic transfer,
due to habit, of the surface structure of the first language onto the
surface of the target language. When an individuals understanding
of one language has an impact on his or her understanding of
another language, that individual is experiencing language transfer.
There can be negative transfers, otherwise known as interference,
when the understanding of one language complicates the
understanding of another language. Alternatively, there can be
positive transfers such that knowing one language can aid in
developing skills for a second language. Language interference is
the effect of language learners first language on their production of

10

the language they are learning. It means that the speakers first
language influences his/her second or and his/her foreign language.
c. Language Integration
According to Mackey, language integration is the using of a
language elements that used in as another language and become the
element of the language itself. For example, some words in English
that used as a word also in Indonesian and that words have been
considered as Indonesian words. The process of the language
element to be accepted as the element of another language can take
a long time and some words have been change along that process.
For example the word research has been changed and integrated
into the Indonesian riset.

11

C. CONCLUSION
1. Bilingualism is the using of two languages by a speaker with his
association with the other people in the society. Multilingualism is the
act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an
individual speaker or by a community of speakers.
2. The advantages of bilingualism and multilingualism are improved
cognitive skills, Delay of cognitive damage, learning foreign
languages, ability to learn new words easily, ability to use possessed
information in new ways, coming up with solutions to problems,
good listening skills, and improved communication skills. While the
disadvantages of bilingualism and multilingualism are run the risk
that they do not speak the language properly can be excluded from a
monolingual in the majority society natural or physical difficulties
with pronunciation or grammar can be even more difficult to resolve
for multilingual children.
3. The effect of bilingualism and multilingualism in the society is there
will be:
a. Code-switching and code-mixing
b. Language interference
c. Language integration.

12

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bhatia, Tej K. and William C. Ritchie (eds). The Handbook of Bilingualism
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Chaer, Abdul and Leonie Agustina. Sosiolingistik: Perkenalan Awal Edisi
Revisi. PT. Aneka Cipta: Jakarta. 2004.
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http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/neu/16/4/562/
http://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/abstract/S13646613(12)00056-3
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424300080.html
https://marlindwinastiti.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/language-interference/