Some Final Words of Wisdom

Let yourself be intrigued and inspired by the these words from the Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (4th edition) by Colin Baker, published by Multilingual Matters
(www.multilingualmatters.com).

Balanced Bilinguals

The literature on bilingualism frequently spotlights one particular group of bilinguals whose competences in both languages are well developed. Someone who is approximately equally fluent in two languages across various contexts may be termed an equilingual or ambilingual or, more commonly, a balanced bilingual... Balanced bilingualism is sometimes used as an idealized concept. Fishman (1971) argued that rarely will anyone be equally competent across all situations... Balanced bilingualism is also a problematic concept for other reasons. The balance may exist at a low level of competence in the two languages. (Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Page 9).

Codeswitching and Codemixing

One issue raised by parents and teachers of children of differing ages is when one language is mixed with another. Terms such as Hinglish, Spanglish, Tex-Mex and Wenglish...are often used in a derogatory fashion to describe what may have become accepted language borrowing within a particular community... If a power conflict exists between different ethnic groups, then language may be perceived as a prime marker of a separate identity, and codeswitching may seem disloyal. Monolinguals may have negative attitudes to codeswitching, believing that it shows a deficit, or a lack of mastery of both languages. However, it tends to be those who are more fluent in a language that code-switch (Meisel, 2004). Yet bilinguals themselves may be defensive or apologetic about their codeswitching and attibute it to laziness or sloppy language habits. However, codeswitching is a valuable linguistic tool. It does not typically happen at random. There is usally purpose and logic in changing languages. It is using the full language resources that are available to a bilingual, usually knowing that the listener fully understands the code-switches. One main language (called the matrix language) provides the grammatical frame or rules for grammar (Myers-Scotton, 2002). Codeswitching thus involves a rule-bound (e.g. word order, verb endings) use of the secondary language, as the second language insertions will fit those matrix language rules. (Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Page 109).

Bilingualism and Cognition

[The] traditional expectation [is] that bilingualism and intelligence are linked negatively. The conception has been that bilingualism leads to lower intelligence. Research from the 1920s to the 1960s supported that conception. Recent research has shown that a simple negative relationship is a misconception. The narrow view of intelligence contained in IQ tests and severe flaws in the design of early research combine with other limitations to cast doubts on this negative link.
Rather, the need is to specify the language ability levels of bilinguals...and to ensure like is compared with like. Since 1960, the indication has been that a more positive relationship between bilingualism and congnitive funtioning can be expected, particularly in ‘balanced’ bilinguals.

A review of research on congvitive functioning and bilingualism suggests that two extreme conclusions may both be untenable. To conclude that bilingualism gives undoubted cognitive advantage fails to consider the various criticisms and limitations of research in this area. It also fails to recognize that there are studies where bilinguals may sometimes be at a disadvantage compared with monolinguals. However, to conclude that all the research is invalid fails to acknowledge that the judgment of the clear majority of researchers tends to be that there are many positive links between bilingualism and cognitive functioning with bilinguals having some distinct cognitive advantages over monolinguals. Such advantages are not just individual but societal and global: ‘those who envision a future world speaking only one tongue...hold a misguided ideal and would do the evolution of the human mind the greatest disservice’ (Whorf, 1956, p. 244). (Foundations of Bilingual Education Bilingualism, Page 628).

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