Many countries have chosen to officially have more than one language as their language for many unique reasons. However, the main reason is that these countries want to recognize many smaller cultural groups within their larger country. However, not all citizens of a multilingual country are automatically able to speak multiple languages, and usually one language is used more in everyday situations than the other officially recognized language(s). For example, in Switzerland very few Swiss German speakers learn Romansh or Italian, but many Italian and Romansh speakers learn Swiss German. This is because Swiss German is the lingua franca of Switzerland, and Romansh, and Italian are languages used by minorities. (Grosjean, 1982). This mimics …show more content…
However, as of 2011, only 18% of the population in Canada labeled themselves as being able to conduct a conversation in both of Canada’s official languages. Even though most speakers are unilingual, the countries province of Quebec has over 42% of it’s inhabitants who identify as bilingual. In between the years of 2001 and 2011, the rate of bilingualism grew slower than it has in the past. The lack of French as a Second Language being taught in schools, and the fact that there are less French people immigrating to Canada is believed to be the cause of the bilingual decline. As expected, language minorities are more apt to be bilingual in Canada due to pressure from both language groups that surround them. It is also an interesting fact that the majority of bilinguals are 10-19 years old. Again, the younger generation feels pressured by speakers of both languages to speak using a particular language in certain situations. Even though both French and English are the official languages of Canada, English is the lingua franca. English is considered to be the more prestigious language, and is used for business and trade throughout the country. This distinction, however, lead to discrimination of the French speaking population in the past, and they even received up to 35% lower wages than their English speaking counterparts (Lepage & Corbeil, 2013). Even though French is not widely spoken in …show more content…
Both Irish, and English are spoken on this island west of Great Britain. Ironically, only 1% of the population states that their native language is Irish, while the majority (95%) of speakers indicate that English is their mother tongue. Even though only 1% of the population claims that Irish is their native language, over 40% of Irish citizens claim Irish as their second language. Interestingly enough, most of the citizens that consider Irish to be their first language reside in the West Coast region of the country. However, this part of the country contains only 23% of the nation’s population, and 45% of these households speak Irish. Bilingualism in Ireland is primarily symbolic in nature. It should also be noted that Irish is the first official language in the Irish constitution, while English is the second official language. This gesture from the government was put in place to revive the Irish language which had been rejected in the country for a lengthy 300 year period. In primary school bilingualism is not just encouraged, but mandatory for all students beginning in year one and ending at the terminus of primary school. In high school, students have the option to continue learning Irish or can enroll in another foreign language. Most students continue to study Irish (‘Bilingualism in Ireland’). The education system is the primary vessel in which the government promotes the Irish language (Coady, 2010). Uniquely enough, the
In this country, we live in a mix culture and a mix race. When we walk out in the street, the first thing we notice is people from different ethnicities. The United States has always been the country where we come to make our dreams come true. Yet we never forget the country we came from. The languages is one thing we do not forget about our country but we should also know the English language. In this country it is essential for a person to know 2 or more languages. Regardless of how many languages we know, we all have a language we prefer over the other.
• "French Language in Quebec and is it changing?." - Online Party of Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. .
Most people who grow up with a foreign language spoken in there house grow up with an advantage in society. This advantage can only occur once the individual learning that foreign language also learns the dominant language spoken in that country. Once both of these languages are learned and mastered, the individual has now placed them se...
Bilingualism can be defined as the ability to speak and/or write in two languages. In Australia English is the main language although in 1996, statistics show that 15% (2.5 million people) of the Australian population communicate in a language other than English at home and 42% of the population is born overseas (Australian Bureau Statistics, 1996). Most recently there are around 22 million Australians that speak in approximately 400 different languages (Australian Bureau Statistics, 2009). These statistics highlight the fact that there is an increasing rate of people who communicate in more than one language hence language is increasingly changing throughout society (Arthur, 2001). This suggests the need for support and understanding of bilingualism within children, families and the community.
Canada has officially been bilingual since the Constitution Act in 1867 (Santrock et al., 284). Since this act researchers have found many advantages of bilingualism on cognitive development. Bilingualism enhances mental flexibility such as divergent thinking, task-switching efficiency, and promotes advanced vocabulary. Bilingual children have superior meta-linguistic awareness; consequently, they are more aware of the structure of language and its nature. Bilinguals are more efficient at attention control; they focus on important tasks and information with ease. French courses should be mandatory for all Canadian students since bilingualism benefits meta-linguistic awareness, mental flexibility, and control of attention.
...to declining use, which continued even after it was reintroduced into schools in 1922 in an tempt to restore it the daily culture. Modern Irish language, very similar to Scottish Gaelic, despite its decline in use has never ceased to exert a strong influence on Irish consciousness. Although its use as a vernacular has decreased and is concentrated in several small Gaeltacht (i.e., Irish-speaking) areas, Irish is more widely read, spoken, and understood today than it had been during most of the 20th century. English is universally spoken and compulsory Irish in schools has come under some criticism from the business
We live in a world with so many different cultures, races, religions, and languages and it’s important for students like us to be educated about our world. Living in a country like Canada, a bilingual country, means we need to appreciate the other languages and try to speak them. So, I today will be educating and writing to you on why us Canadians should learn and appreciate our Second language. French.
The French immersion program was started in 1965 in the province of Quebec by a small group of Anglophone parents who wanted their children to learn French in order to take advantage of the economic opportunities accessible to bilingual individuals in Canada. These parents were concerned that their children would be unable to share in the culture of their home city if they did not speak French. Due to the docum...
In today’s society, especially in the United States, most people are monolingual English speakers. As a result, these monolingual speakers are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who speak more than one language fluently. This disadvantage is crucial to realize since it is important to learn how individuals and the nation can be enhanced. Multilingual speakers have an advantage in global affairs that involve countries that speak different languages. Speaking multiple languages makes it easier to communicate with people when involved in foreign affairs. Those who speak multiple languages are also more aware of other cultures in society. Monolingual speakers are not as exposed to other cultures and have difficulty understanding or even recognizing them. Furthermore, being multilingual increases your
BILINGUALISM is actually the two languages which are spoken in single family or rather it is imposed on children to learn parent’s two different languages.
‘The need for intelligibility and the need for identity often pull people – and countries – in opposing directions. The former motivates the learning of an international language, with English as the first choice in most cases; the latter motivates the promotion of ethnic language and culture’ (David Crystal, 1997).
The diversity in these ethnic groups is the reason why the official language of my country is English. This makes interaction easier among members of different ethnic groups. It is also a double edged sword as many people are not very proficient in the English language; thus making an already high context message/conversation much more excruciating to endure.(“Typologies Hall’s context,” n.a.)
An individual is constructed through many aspects , whether it be their likes/dislikes, personalities, goals or self assigned origin(s), etc. One of these aspects that help build up and sketch an individual is the language they choose to speak. This does not simply include choosing between English or French but choosing or learning to speak high/low language, or the type of slang one uses, and even the rules that are set up with that language the individual has obtained.
Nowadays, our community is very ethnically diverse. Many people know more than one language because it is an advantage in many ways. For example, many companies look for employees that know more than a language to attract a wider range of customers. Knowing more than one language is definitely beneficial thus many people are starting to learn a new language.
Multilingualism is the usage of more than one language proficiently (Valdés, n.d.). In Singapore, bilingual is a form of multilingual because almost all Singaporeans are forced to master English and their ethnic "Mother Tongue". In this paper, we will compare how multilingualism differ across age group, ethnic group and gender. We will also discuss ways multilingualism is conceptualised in both linguistic and policy terms. I argue that the extent to which Singaporeans are multilingual depends on their economic gains and gender.