BILINGUALISM AND SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION
If a speaker is fluent in two languages, then they
are said to be bilingual.
A bilingual person is someone brought up in a
culture where they are exposed to two languages
from birth.
It is not necessary for them to be equally fluent in
both languages, but at least they should be very
competent in the second one.
Weinreich (1953) proposed Categories of
bilingualism
Simultaneous bilingualism:
L1 and 12 learned at the same time.
Early sequential bilingualism;
L1 learned first, but L2 learned relatively early in
childhood.
Late bilingualism:
L2 learned later, in adolescence or after.
One of the first detailed studies of bilingualism was
the diary study of Leopold (19391949).
Leopold was a German linguist, whose daughter
Hildegard had an American mother and lived from an
early age in the USA. German was used in the home
at first, but this soon gave way to English, the
environment language.
The diary showed that young children can quickly
(within 6 months) forget the old language and pick
up a new one if they move to another country.
Code switching (also called language switching)
is the name given to the tendency of bilinguals
when speaking to other bilinguals to switch from
one language to another, often to more
appropriate words or phrases.
This process is highly variable between
individuals.
Although some researchers have argued that there
is no obvious processing cost attached to being
bilingual (e.g. see Nishimura, 1986), others have
found indications of interference between L1 and L2
(see B. Harley & Wang, 1997, for a review).
For example, increasing proficiency in L2 by
immigrant children is associated with reduced speed
of access to L1 (Magiste, 1986). Harley and Wang
(1997)
What happens if a child has already become
moderately proficient in L1 when they start
learning L2?
Although the duration of exposure to L2 (which is
often the length of residence in the new country)
is important, other factors are also vital.
These include the personality and cognitive
attributes of the person learning L2 (Cummins,
1991).
L1 is extremely important: the development of L1 and L2
is interdependent. Children who have attained a high level
of skill at L1 are also likely to do so at L2, particularly on
relatively academic measures of language performance.
It appears that bilingual children suffer no obvious
linguistic disadvantages from learning two languages
simultaneously (Snow, 1993).
There might be some initial delay in learning vocabulary
items in one language, but this delay is soon made up, and
of course the total bilingual vocabulary of the children is
much greater.
The bilingual lexicon: How do we translate
between languages?
Is there a separate store for each language, or just one common store?
In separate-store models, there are separate lexicons for each language.
These are connected at the semantic level (Potter, So, von Eckardt, &
Feldman, 1984). Evidence for the separate-stores model comes from the
finding that the amount of facilitation gained by repeating a word (a
technique called repetition priming) is much greater and longer-lasting
within than between languages (Kirsner et al., 1984), although repetition
priming might not be tapping semantic processes (Scarborough, Gerard, &
Cortese, 1984).

In common-store models, there is just one lexicon and one semantic

memory system, with words from both languages stored in it and connected
directly together (Paivio, Clark, & Lambert, 1988). This model is supported
by evidence that semantic priming produces facilitation between languages
(e.g. Chen & Ng, 1989; Jin, 1990; Schwanenflugel & Rey, 1986; see
Altarriba, 1992, and Altarriba & Mathis, 1997, for a review)
An additional possibility is that some individuals
use a mixture of common and separate stores
(Taylor & Taylor, 1990). For example, concrete
words, cognates (words in different languages
that have the same root and meaning and which
look similar), and culturally similar words act as
though they are stored in common, whereas
abstract and other words act as though they are
in separate stores.
How do we translate between two languages?
Kroll and Stewart (1994) proposed that translation by second-language
novices is an asymmetric process. We translate words from our first
language into the second language (called forward translation) by
conceptual mediation. This means that we must access the semantics
of the words in order to translate them.
On the other hand, we translate from the second language into the first
(called backward translation) by direct links between items in the
lexicon. This is called word association.
The evidence for this is that semantic factors (such as the items to be
translated being presented in semantically arranged lists) have a
profound effect on forward translation but little or no effect on backward
translation. In addition, backward translation is usually faster than
forward translation.
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Second language acquisition happens when a
child or adult has already become competent at a
language and then attempts to learn another.
There are a number of reasons why a person might find
this difficult.
First, some aspects of language learning, particularly
involving syntax, are more difficult outside the critical
period.
Second, older children and adults often have less time
and motivation to learn a second language.
Third, there will of course be similarities and differences
between the first (L1) and second (L2) languages.
The contrastive hypothesis (Lado, 1957) says that the
learner will experience difficulty when L1 and L2 differ
A number of methods have been used to teach a second
language.
The traditional method is based on translation from one to
another, with lectures in grammar in the primary language.
Direct methods (such as the Berlitz method) on the other hand
carry out all teaching in L2, with emphasis on conversational
skills.
The audiolingual method emphasizes speaking and listening
before reading and writing.
The immersion method teaches a group of learners exclusively
through the medium of the foreign language.
The most natural method of learning a new language is
submersion, where the learner is surrounded exclusively by
speakers of L2, usually in the foreign country.
Krashen (1982) proposed five hypotheses concerning
language acquisition which together form the monitor
model of second language learning.
Central to his approach is a distinction between language
learning (which is what traditional methods emphasize)
and language acquisition (which is more akin to what
children do naturally).
Learning emphasizes explicit knowledge of grammatical
rules, whereas acquisition emphasizes their unconscious
use. Although learning has its role, to be more successful
second
language acquisition should place more emphasis on
acquisition.
3. Monitor hypothesis
It states that the acquisition processes create sentences in
the second language, but learning enables the
development of a monitoring process to check and edit
this output. This can only happen if there is sufficient time
in the interaction; hence it is difficult to employ the
monitor in spontaneous conversation.
The monitor uses knowledge of the rules rather than the
rules themselves (in a way reminiscent of Chomskys
distinction between competence and performance).
4. Comprehensible input hypothesis
In order to move from one stage to the next, the
acquirer must understand the meaning and the form
of the input. This hypothesis stresses the role of
comprehension.
Krashen argues that production does not need to be
explicitly taught: it emerges itself in time, given
understanding, and the input at the next highest
level need not contain only information from that
level.
5. affective filter hypothesis
attitude and emotional factors are important in
second language acquisition, and that they account
for a lot of he apparent difference in the facility with
which adults and children can learn a second
language.
Krashens approach provides a useful framework,
and has proved to be one of the most influential
theoretical approaches to teaching a second
language.
How can we make second language acquisition
easier?
Krashen (1982) suggested to make second
language acquisition more like first language
acquisition by providing sufficient
comprehensible input. The immersion method,
involving complete exposure to L2, exemplifies
these ideas.
Sharpe (1992) identified what he called the four
Cs of successful modern language teaching:
communication (the main purpose of learning a
language is aural communication, and successful
teaching emphasizes this);
culture (which means learning about the culture of
the speakers of the language and deemphasizing
direct translation);
context (which is similar to providing
comprehensible input);
and giving the learners confidence.
SUMMARY
There are probably both costs and benefits in learning two
languages at once.
Second language acquisition in adulthood and later
childhood is difficult because it is not like first language
acquisition.
There has been much debate as to how we translate words
between languages; in particular, whether or not there are
direct links between words in our mental dictionaries, or
whether the entries are mediated by semantic links.
Bilingualism is a useful tool for studying other language
processes.
What can we learn from the study of bilingualism?

First, it is clearly of practical importance to many societies.

Second, psycholinguistics should inform us about the best way of teaching
people a second language.
Third, how do people represent the two languages? Do they have a separate
lexicon (mental dictionary) for each one, or just separate entries for each
word-form but a shared conceptual representation? And how do people
translate between the two languages? are important questions to take
into account in second language acquisition.
Finally, the study of bilingualism is useful tool for examining other cognitive
processes.
Materials are taken from:
Harley, T.A. (2013). The Psychology of Language:
From Data to Theory, Hove and New York:
Psychology Press Ltd.