Second Language Learning and Language Teaching

11.1 The different roles of second languages 
in people’s lives
The different roles of second languages in people’s lives 195
●
In the area where you live, how many languages are spoken? Officially or
actually?
●
How many languages do you know? How many do you use in a day?
●
Would you, as a parent, bring up children to speak two languages or not?
Why?
Focusing questions
elite bilingualism: either the decision by parents to bring up children through
two languages, or societies in which members of a ruling group speak a sec-
ond language
official language: language(s) recognized by a country for official purposes
multilingualism: countries or situations where more than one language is used
for everyday purposes
linguistic imperialism: the means by which a ‘centre’ country dominates ‘periph-
ery’ countries by making them use its language
Keywords
This section needs to start by defusing the myth that bilingualism in itself has a
bad effect on children, typified by Thompson (1952): ‘There can be no doubt that
the child reared in a bilingual environment is handicapped in his language
growth.’ This view is still around in some forms; the advice in a pamphlet for par-
ents of children with Down’s syndrome, I Can Talk (Streets, 1976, reprinted 1991)
is: ‘Bilingual families: for any child this is confusing – one language should be the
main one to avoid confusion.’
However, since the 1960s, research has pointed unequivocally to the advan-
tages of bilingualism: children who know a second language are better at separat-
ing semantic from phonetic aspects of words, at classifying objects, and at coming
up with creative ideas – far from confused. They also have sharper awareness of
language, as we see below; a brief list of bilingual writers, such as Vladimir
Nabokov, André Brink and Joseph Conrad, soon confirms this. As for confusion,
Einstein used more than one language (and was also a late speaker as a child).

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According to Ellen Bialystok and her colleagues (2004), bilinguals are less likely to
develop Alzheimer’s disease in old age. Diaz (1985) typifies the modern view:
‘growing up with two languages is, indeed, an asset to children’s intellectual
development’. Much of the earlier belief in the deficiencies of the bilingual turned
out to be a flaw in the research design of not separating bilingualism out from the
poverty and isolation of immigrant groups.