Different aspects of life normally require different languages’. Nevertheless, either language is always available and accessible to the bilingual (or multilingual) speaker, and just waiting for the right moment to be used. Grosjean describes this phenomenon as the 'complementarity principle', whereby ‘bilinguals usually acquire and use their languages for different purposes, in different domains of life, with different people. These can tip the balance so that a dominant language in one context becomes a passive language in another. It also depends on the amount of exposure, the quality of language interaction, the positive or negative environment in which each language flourishes, and the pressures on, and motivation of, a child.īi- or multilingualism can be influenced by contextual and emotional factors such as moving to another country, a change in school, or a negative comment from an unsuspecting adult. Using multiple languages depends, first and foremost, on need. But it’s an impossible standard for a bilingual person to meet, as it implies that someone sounds like two or more ‘perfect’ monolinguals in one person. It's not unusual to hear someone being described as ‘perfectly bilingual’. Myth: Bilinguals have equal knowledge in all their languages There are many reasons why someone might be bi- or multilingual: having parents who speak two languages moving abroad to work political migration, where individuals and families need to learn the language of a new community while maintaining links to the home country education, where children pick up foreign or second languages at school bi- or multilingual communities, where individuals switch between languages on a daily basis and historical events, such as the 'discoveries’ in the 15th and 16th centuries that led to colonialism, where the language of the coloniser was adopted by the people, and continues to survive in a local variety. In other words, multilingualism, not monolingualism, is the norm. In fact, over 50 per cent of the world’s population function in two or more languages on a daily basis. You might be forgiven for thinking that most people around the world go about their daily lives using just one language. Is monolingualism the norm? Do bilinguals have two separate language systems? The British Council's Nayr Ibrahim separates the myths from the realities.
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