Studying language and linguistics through a plurilingual lens
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.32307Keywords:
Code stumbling, Monolingual bias, Multilingualism, Plurilingualism, TranslanguagingAbstract
While scholarship about language has had a monolingual bias for much of its recent history, this paper represents an initial attempt to shift the study of language and linguistics to a plurilingual lens. That is, past and current scholars assume that the global default is monolingualism and frame their hypotheses and theories from that monolingual worldview, yet bilingualism and plurilingualism are widespread and becoming more common with the global movement in acquiring English. This article attempts to take the first steps in addressing the gap of a plurilinguistic perspective in research and other scholarship by reframing linguistic questions as viewed though a plurilingual lens regardless of the theoretical framework. What can we learn from research both within our field and from other disciplines on bilinguals and plurilinguals regarding what human language is? For example, taking plurilingual as the norm necessitates treating translanguaging, code switching, and code stumbling as basic language use. How does a plurilingual lens affect our representation of grammar(s)? How does it affect our notions of language? Finally, how does it affect our understanding of the human capacity for acquiring languages?
References
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Owens, R. E. (2015). Language Development, 9th edition. Harlow: Pearson.
Meakins, F. (2014). Monolingual mindset. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpQasr4He0
Paradis, J., Genesee, F., and Crago, M. (2010). Dual Language Development & Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism & Second Language Learning, 2nd Edition. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000906217823
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Pennycook, A. (2010). Rethinking origins and localization in global Englishes. In M. Saxena and T. Omoniyi (Eds), Contending with Globalization in World Englishes. Bristol: Multingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692764-013
Petitto, L. A., Berens, M. S., Kovelman, I., Dubins, M. H., Kasinska, K., and Shalinsky, M. (2012). The ‘perceptual wedge hypothesis’ as the basis for bilingual babies’ perceptual processing advantage: New insights from fNIRS brain imaging. Brain and Language, 121: 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2011.05.003
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Seltzer, K. (2015). Translanguaging in diverse learning contexts. Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://www.slideshare.net/NCandrasprak/ways-to-teach-and-collaborate-in-superdiverse-schools
Sharwood Smith, M. and Truscott, J. (2014). The Multilingual Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Silverstein, S. (1974). ‘Hug O’War’. In S. Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: Harper Collins.
Summer Institute of Linguistics (2016). Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://www.sil.org/linguistics/what-linguistics
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Widdowson, H. (1983). Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia contributors (2017). Language. Retrieved on February 22, 2017 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
Woumans, E., Santens, P., Sieben, A., Versijpt, J., Stevens, M., and Duyck, W. (2014). Bilingualism delays clinical manifestation of Altzheimer’s disease. Ghent: Ghent University. Retrieved at http://users.ugent.be/~wduyck/articles/WoumansSantensSiebenVersijptStevensDuyckInPress.pdf
Amazon.com (2017). ‘Language development’ results retrieved on February 2, 2017 from https://www.amazon.com
American Association of Applied Linguistics (2016). About AAAL. Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://www.aaal.org/?page=AboutAAAL
Bachman, L. and Palmer, A. (1996). Language Testing in Practice: Designing and Developing Useful Language Tests. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1191/0265532203lt268xx
Barratt, L. (2016). Dis-SPELT-ing the Myth that English is Hard: How teachers can model effective language learning. Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) Quarterly, 31: 2–10.
Barratt, L. (2018). Learning, teaching, and staying current in Englishes using online resources. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 13 (1): 44–52.
Benczes, R. and Toth-Czifra, E. (2015). Language play and linguistic hybridity as current trends in Hungarian word formation. Hungarian Cultural Studies 8: Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://ahea.pitt.edu
Berko Gleason, J. and Bernstein Ratner, N. (2016). The Development of Language. New York: Pearson.
Brown, R. (1973). A First Language: The Early Stages. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674732469
Canale, M. and Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1 (1): 1–47. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/1.1.1
Canagarajah, S. (2013). Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolital Relations. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203120293
Celce-Murcia, M., Dornyei, Z., and Thurrell, S. (1995). Communicative competence: A pedagogically motivated model with content specifications. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 6 (2): 5–35. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2928w4zj
Council of Europe (2015). European Charter for Plurilingualism. Retrieved on September 20, 2017 from http://b1-akt.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/charteplurilinguisme_env2.13.pdf
Ethnologue (2017). How many languages in the world are unwritten? Retrieved on February 22, 2017 from https://www.ethnologue.com/enterprise-faq/how-many-languages-world-are-unwritten-0.
Fromkin, V. (Ed.) (1980). Errors in Linguistic Performance: Slips of the Tongue, Ear, Pen, and Hand. San Francisco, CA: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(82)90022-7
Fromkin, V. and Rodman, R. (2013). An Introduction to Language. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Gam, T .G. Building Vietnamese communication for ethnic minority children 5 to 6 years old in Lao Cai, Vietnam. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Research and Education, Art, Management and Science (ICREAMS), Rajabhat Roi Et University, November 2015.
Garcia, L., Ibarra Johnson, S. and Seltzer, K. (2016). The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging Student Bilingualism for Learning. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing. https://doi.org/10.21283/2376905x.9.165
Garcia, O. and Kleyn, T. (2016). Translanguaging theory in education. In O. García and T. Kleyn (Eds), Translanguaging with Multilingual Students: Learning From Classroom Moments, 17–37. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.72.4.578
Halliday, M. A. K. (1961). Categories of the theory of grammar. Word, 17 (3): 241–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1961.11659756
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London: Edward Arnold. https://doi.org/10.1017/s004740450000782x
Huth, A. G, de Heer, W. A., Griffiths, T. L., Theunissen, F. E., and Gallant, J. L. (2016). Natural Speech reveals the semantic maps that tile human cerebral cortex. Nature, 532: 453–458 (28 April 2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17637
Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. Pride and J. Holmes (Eds) Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings, 269–293. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Jackendoff, R. (1997). The Architecture of the Language Faculty. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kachru, Y. (1993). Review of Rediscovering interlanguage by Selinker, L. (1992). World Englishes, 12 (2): 265–268.
Kim, K. H., Relkin, N. R., Lee, K. M., and Hirsch, J. (1997). Distinct cortical areas associated with native and second languages. Nature, 388 (6638): 171–174. https://doi.org/10.1038/40623
Kretzenbacher, H., Clyne, M., Hajek, J., Norrby, C., and Warren, J. (2015). Meet and greet: Nominal address and introductions in intercultural communication and international conferences. In J. Hajek and Y. Slaughter (Eds) Challenging the Monolingual Mindset. Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783092529-008
Kroll, J. (2016). How being bilingual rewires your brain. Quartz and World Economic Forum. Retrieved on November 4 2016 from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/02/how-being-bilingual-rewires-your-brain/.
Lightbrown, P. and Spada, N. (2013). How Languages are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lin, A. Y. (2010). How to teach academic science language. Keynote speech given at the Symposium on Language & Literacy in Science Learning, organized by Hong Kong Education Bureau, June 2010.
Linguistic Society of America (2016). What linguists study. Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://www.linguisticsociety.org/what-linguistics.
Mahboob, A. (2014). Dynamic approach to language efficiency, In A. Mahboob and L. Barratt (Eds) Englishes in Multilingual Contexts,117–136. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8869-4_8
Mahboob, A. and Lin, A. (2016). Using local languages in English language classrooms. In H. Renandya, W. and Widodo, H. P. (Eds) (2016). English language teaching today: Building a closer link between theory and practice, 25–40. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38834-2_3
Owens, R. E. (2015). Language Development, 9th edition. Harlow: Pearson.
Meakins, F. (2014). Monolingual mindset. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISpQasr4He0
Paradis, J., Genesee, F., and Crago, M. (2010). Dual Language Development & Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism & Second Language Learning, 2nd Edition. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000906217823
Pence Turnbull, K. L. and Justice, L. M. (2016). Language Development from Theory to Practice (3rd edition). New York: Pearson.
Pennycook, A. (2010). Rethinking origins and localization in global Englishes. In M. Saxena and T. Omoniyi (Eds), Contending with Globalization in World Englishes. Bristol: Multingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692764-013
Petitto, L. A., Berens, M. S., Kovelman, I., Dubins, M. H., Kasinska, K., and Shalinsky, M. (2012). The ‘perceptual wedge hypothesis’ as the basis for bilingual babies’ perceptual processing advantage: New insights from fNIRS brain imaging. Brain and Language, 121: 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2011.05.003
Sapir, E. (1933). La réalité psychologique des phonemes. Journal de Psychologie normale et pathologique 30: 247–265. Republished in English as Sapir, E. (1949). The psychological reality of phonemes. In D. G. Mandelbaum (Ed.), Edward Sapir: Selected Writings in language, culture, and personality, 46–60. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/3718574
Seltzer, K. (2015). Translanguaging in diverse learning contexts. Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://www.slideshare.net/NCandrasprak/ways-to-teach-and-collaborate-in-superdiverse-schools
Sharwood Smith, M. and Truscott, J. (2014). The Multilingual Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Silverstein, S. (1974). ‘Hug O’War’. In S. Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: Harper Collins.
Summer Institute of Linguistics (2016). Retrieved on November 4 2016 from http://www.sil.org/linguistics/what-linguistics
WebMD (2016). Types of dementia. Retrieved on November 4 2016 from https://declara.com/content/Ogewqm2a
Widdowson, H. (1983). Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia contributors (2017). Language. Retrieved on February 22, 2017 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
Woumans, E., Santens, P., Sieben, A., Versijpt, J., Stevens, M., and Duyck, W. (2014). Bilingualism delays clinical manifestation of Altzheimer’s disease. Ghent: Ghent University. Retrieved at http://users.ugent.be/~wduyck/articles/WoumansSantensSiebenVersijptStevensDuyckInPress.pdf
Published
2019-07-26
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Barratt, L. (2019). Studying language and linguistics through a plurilingual lens. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 13(3), 294-315. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.32307
