Anmar Ahmed , Chapter 5
Q1-Define Bilingualisim and multilingualisim(trilingulaisim) then discuss this topic
in the light of the following points :
[Link] and receptive bilingualisim
2-First and second language (L1 and L2)
3-simultaneous , sequential bilingualism, and late bilingualism
4-Importance of the study of Bilingulaism
Bilingualism : If a speaker is fluent in two languages, then they are said to be
bilingual . The process is called bilingualism . It is not necessary for bilingual
speakers to be equally fluent in both languages, but at least they should be very
competent in the second one.
Multilingualism : Is the person ability to speak several languages .
Trilingulaisim : Is the ability of the person to speak three languages fluently .
Bilingualism have many issues and areas would cover . The first concepts are
productive and receptive bilingualism . productive bilingualism (speakers can
produce and understand both languages) and receptive bilingualism (speakers can
understand both languages, but have more limited production abilities) .
Bilingualism also deals with first and second language because it is common in some
parts of the world (to mention just a few examples: North Wales and Welsh–English;
Canada and French– English; and places where there are many ethnic minorities
within a culture). By convention the language learned first is called L1 and the
language learned second is called L2. Sometimes, however, the two languages are
learned simultaneously, and sometimes the language that is learned first turns out to
be the secondary language of use in later life.
From the facts of L1 and L2 , we are going to deal with three important temporal
stages , simultaneous bilingualism , early sequential bilingualism and late
bilingualism . Simultaneous bilingualism occurs when L1 and L2 learned about the
same time . Early sequential bilingualism occurs when L1 learned first , but L2
learned relatively early , in childhood . Early sequential bilinguals form the largest
group world-wide, and the number is increasing, particularly in countries with large
immigration rates. . Late bilingualism occurs when L2 learned later , in adolescence
or after .
The study of bilingualism is important due to four reasons :
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?
Finally, the study of bilingualism is a useful tool for examining other cognitive
processes: for example, it casts light on the critical period for language .
[Link] is advantageous, if not any suffers are available, in many aspects.
Discuss.
There are many advantages of being a bilingual person :
1 - The total bilingual vocabulary of the children is much greater.
2 - Bilinguals show clear gains in metalinguistic awareness and cognitive flexibility,
and superior verbal fluency .
3 - There is now an overwhelming body of research showing that bilingualism confers
a general cognitive advantage in the form of enhanced flexibility.
4 - There is even evidence that being bilingual protects people to some extent against
developing Alzheimer’s disease by helping to build up the mind’s “cognitive reserve”
that slows down cognitive aging .
The first two advantages evoke the controversy that they are parallel to some
disadvantages or suffers . In children might be some initial delay in learning
vocabulary items in one language, but this delay is soon made up and increasing
proficiency in L2 by immigrant children is associated with reduced speed of access to
L1 . Bilingual people tend to have a slight deficit in cognitive processing and working
memory for tasks that are carried out in L2.
Q3-Do a bilingual person have one lexicon or more, many views are presented by
many researchers. Mention these views.
There are many views about the formulation of the lexicon that the bilingual speaker
has . These views are asserted by many specialists :
1 – Potter , So , Von , Eckardt and Feldman all are asserted than the bilingual speaker
has a separate – store models . These are connected at the semantic level . Kirsner ,
Smith , Lockhart , Kin and Jain supported this opinion by an evidence . 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 . Scarborough , Gerard and Cortese opposed this evidence by mentioning
that repetition priming might not be tapping semantic processes .
2 – Paivio , Clark and Lambert adopted 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 . The common – store models supported by two
evidences :
A – Chen , Ng , Schwaneflugel , Rey , Altarriba and Mathis asserted that semantic
priming produces facilitation between languages .
B – Altarriba asserted that Studies that minimize the role of attentional processing and
participants’ strategies, and that maximize automatic processing (e.g., by masking the
stimulus, or by varying the proportion of related pairs ) , suggest that equivalent
words share an underlying semantic representation that can mediate priming between
the two words .
Silver and Samuel opposed common – store models by asserting that , However,
early and late learners show different patterns of cross-language priming, with late
learners showing much less priming , suggesting once again that age-of-acquisition is
critical in how bilinguals represent and access words, with late learners having
separate lexicons mediated at the conceptual levels.
3 – Taylor , Grosjean and Soares adopted the mixture of common and separate
stores . Taylor built his opinion depending on the types of words :
A - 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 .
B - Abstract and other words act as though they are in separate stores.
Grosjean and Soares built their opinion according to comparison between the mode
of the bilingual speaker and the mode of the unilingual speaker :
A – They argued that the language system is flexible in a bilingual speaker, and that
its behavior depends on the circumstances.
B - In unilingual mode, when the input and output are limited to only one of the
available languages, and perhaps when the other speakers involved are unilingual in
that language, interaction between the language systems is kept to a minimum; the
bilingual tries to switch off the second language.
C - In the bilingual mode, both language systems are active and interact.
4 – Rodriguez , Rotte , Heinze , Nosselt and Munte adopted the idea of two separated
lexicons and these lexicons work separately by mechanisms in place to prevent
interference . These mechanisms all are listed under the name low-level blocking of
the non-target language . This pattern suggests that speakers use quite low-level
information to block words in the non-target language at a very early stage, such that
the meanings of these words do not become activated . They supported their idea by
experimental studies on bilingual Spanish – Catalan speakers . The brain potentials of
the participants showed that they were not sensitive to the frequency of the words in
the ignored language, suggesting that the words did not reach a high level of
processing . Evidence for this low-level blocking of the non-target language comes
from an electrophysiological study of very fluent Italian–Slovenian bilinguals. The
pattern of activation while reading suggested that discrimination between the two
languages is taking place at a very early stage .
Q4-Contrast between (forward and backward translations)
These two patterns of translation were discussed at first time by Kroll and Stewart :
1 – They proposed that translation by second-language novices is an asymmetric
process.
2 – They argued that :
A - We translate words from our first language into the second language (called
forward translation) by conceptual mediation. This means that we must access the
meaning of a word in order to translate it.
B - In contrast, we translate from the second language into the first (called backward
translation) by word association—that is, we use direct links between items in the
lexicon .
C - Semantic factors (such as the items to be translated being presented in
semantically arranged lists) have a profound effect on forward translation .
D - Semantic factors (such as the items to be translated being presented in
semantically arranged lists) have little or no effect on backward translation.
E - Backward translation is usually faster than forward translation .
Having said this, there is some evidence that backward translation (from L2 to L1)
might also be semantically mediated.
De Groot, Dannenburg, and Van Hell found that
A - Semantic variables such as imageability affect translation times in backward
translation
B - Although to a lesser extent than in forward translation.
La Heij, Hooglander, Kerling, and Van Der Velden found that backward
translation was facilitated by the presence of congruent pictures and hindered by
incongruent pictures, suggesting that the translation involves accessing semantics.
Hence it is likely that translation in both directions involves going through the
semantic representations of the words. It is also probable that the extent of conceptual
mediation increases as the speaker becomes more proficient in L2.
Q5-Talk about the models of bilingualisms.
The bilingualism model is a psychological model . This model is called the bilingual
interactive activation plus ( BIA + ) model and it includes phonological and
sublexical level of processing . The model processes the two languages through two
principles :
A – It attempts to bring together all types of evidence concerning the orthographic
processing of two languages .
B - makes particular use of how we recognize cognates—words that look the same (or
very similar) in the two languages (such as “silence” in English and French, or
“animal” in English and Spanish).
BIA + works according to three dimensions , these dimensions are related to lexical
access , level of representation and the word recognition :
A - In the BIA model, lexical access is non-language specific in its earliest stages, so
words from both languages are activated, whatever the input.
B -The model comprises a network of nodes at each level of representation (e.g.,
words, phonemes), connected together by facilitatory and inhibitory connections.
C - The model is purely bottom-up in the sense that word recognition cannot be
affected by the particular task (e.g., naming, lexical decision) being carried out.
The model is characterized by “language” nodes, which tag representations
according to the language to which they belong. The “language” nodes can receive
activation from words (bottom-up) but can also send top-down inhibition.
Q6-Is there and differences between the neuroscience of a bilingual person and a one-
lingual one?
The differences in neuroscience between the bilingual and monolingual persons are
emerged clearly through four terms . These terms are crossed aphasia , brain
damage , the effect of the selective impairment and the differences in
comprehension :
1 - There is some evidence that bilinguals with right hemisphere damage show more
aphasia (crossed aphasia) than monolinguals . This occurs because :
A - Crossed aphasia might arise because the right hemisphere is involved in L2
acquisition, particularly if L2 is acquired relatively late .
B - language is less asymmetrically represented in the two hemispheres in bilingual
speakers—although this is highly controversial .
2 - The types of aphasia shown by individuals who speak only one language, brain
damage sometimes causes additional disorders in people who speak two languages.
For example, we can observe pathological switching and mixing of languages, and
difficulties in translating between the languages.
3 - There have been a number of reports of the selective impairment of one language
following brain damage, and many more of differential recovery of the two languages.
4 - There are other differences in comprehension between monolinguals and
bilinguals. Bilinguals are generally slower to respond to linguistic stimuli, regardless
of what language the stimuli are in . Electrophysiological measures show complex
differences in reading and comprehension .
Q7-Expore the second language acquisition as far as the following points are
concerned :
1-First, second language acquisitions and language learning are not alike.
2- Why is learning a second langage difficult?
3-Methods and approaches of teaching a second language
Second language acquisition happens when a child or an adult has already become
competent at a language and then attempts to learn another. We should distinguish
between learning a second language naturalistically (e.g., when a child or person
moves to a new country) and class-based instruction. By mentioning the notions of
learning second language naturalistically and class – based instruction , we make a
direct distinguish between acquisition of the former and learning of the later but more
recent work has moved away from the idea that acquisition and learning are so very
different, emphasizing the practicalities of how learners can best acquire novel
material, and exploring the role of attention and covert learning in language learning .
There are a number of reasons why a person might find learning a second language
difficult :
A - Some aspects of language learning, particularly involving syntax,
are more difficult outside the critical period.
B - Second, older children and adults often have less time and motivation to learn a
second language .
C - there will of course be similarities and differences between the first (L1) and
second (L2 ) languages.
D - The contrastive hypothesis that the learner will experience difficulty when L1 and
L2 differ. In general, the more idiosyncratic a feature is in a particular language
relative to other languages, the more difficult it will be to acquire
E - The decline in L2 performance is associated with the substitution of more complex
internal representations for less complex ones. That is, the learner’s knowledge
becomes restructured.
A number of methods have been used to teach a second language :
A - The traditional method is based on translation from one to another, with lectures
in grammar in the primary language.
B - Direct methods method) on the other hand carry out all teaching in L2, with
emphasis on conversational skills.
C - The audiolingual method emphasizes speaking and listening before reading and
writing.
D - The immersion method teaches a group of learners exclusively through the
medium of the foreign language.
E - In the more extreme submersion method, the learner is surrounded exclusively by
speakers of L2, usually in the foreign country, and the learner has to “sink or swim.”
( Figure 1 , The Methods of Teaching Second Languages )
Q8-Krashen proposed five hypotheses concerning language acquisition. What are
these hypotheses?
Krashen in 1982 was concerned in understanding how we might better teach
languages . Krashen’s approach provides a useful framework, and has proved to be
one of the most influential theoretical approaches to teaching a second language. The
general framework of his idea was built upon the following principles:
A - Proposing five hypotheses concerning language acquisition that together form the
monitor model of second language learning .
B - 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).
C - 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.
The five hypothesis are :
1 - The first of the five hypotheses is the acquisition and learning distinction
hypothesis: children acquire their first language largely unconsciously and
automatically—they do not learn it. Earlier views that emphasized the importance of
the critical period maintained that adults could only learn a second language
consciously and effortfully. Krashen argued that adults could indeed acquire the
second language.
2 - The second hypothesis the natural order in acquisition hypothesis. The order of
acquisition of syntactic rules, and the types of errors of generalization made, are the
same in both languages.
3 - The third and fourth hypotheses are central to Krashen’s approach . The third
hypothesis is the 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 Chomsky’s distinction between competence
and performance).
4 - The fourth hypothesis is the 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 emphasizes 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 - Finally, the active filter hypothesis says that attitude and emotional factors are
important in second language acquisition, and that they account for a lot of the
apparent difference in the facility with which adults and children can learn a second
language.
Q9-How can we make a second language easier to acquire ?
The phases of silent periods in the second language acquisition was the reason that
make the specialists think in a ways that make second language acquisition easier .
Second language acquisition is often characterized by these phases of silent periods
when few productions are offered despite obvious development of comprehension.
Classroom teaching methods that force students to speak in these silent periods might
be doing more harm than good . The specialists in the investigation of second
language acquisition difficulty , proposed many opinions to facilitate the process :
1 - Newmark (1966) argued that this has the effect of forcing the speaker back onto
the rules of the first language. Hence silent periods should be respected .
2 - Krashen (1982) argued :
A - we should make second language acquisition more like first language acquisition
by providing sufficient comprehensible input.
B - The immersion method, involving complete exposure to L2, exemplifies these
ideas.
3 - Bruck, Lambert and Tucker in 1976 adopted immersion method by clarifying that
Whole schools in Montreal, Canada, contain English speaking children who are
taught in French in all subjects from their first year . Immersion seems to have no
deleterious effects, and if anything might be beneficial for other areas of development
(e.g., mathematics). The French acquired is very good but not perfect: there is a slight
accent, and syntactic errors are sometimes made. There might be limits, however, to
how much immersion is ideal. Recall the “less-is-more” theory that starting small is
an advantage to children learning language.
4 - Kersten and Earles (2001) found that adults learned an artificial language better
when they were initially presented with only small segments of the language than
when they were exposed to the full complexity of the language from the beginning.
Finally, some particular methods of learning second languages are of course better
than others. Ellis and Beaton (1993) reviewed what facilitates learning foreign
language vocabulary. They concluded that:
A - Simple rote repetition is best for learning to produce the new words, but that using
keywords is best for comprehension.
B - Naturally , learners want to be able to do both, so a combination of techniques is
the optimum strategy.
Q10-Explain Sharpe’s 4Cs for language learning.
Sharpe (1992) identified what he called the “four Cs” of successful modern language
teaching . These are :
A - Communication (the main purpose of learning a language is aural communication,
and successful teaching emphasizes this)
B - Culture (which means learning about the culture of the speakers of the language
and de-emphasizing direct translation)
C - Context (which is similar to providing comprehensible input)
D - Giving the learners confidence.
Q11-Is the study of bilingualism and second language acquisition a necessary topic in
psycholinguistics?
Yes it is necessary because the study of bilingualism and second language acquisition
is an increasingly important topic in psycholinguistics :
First, the way in which bilingual people represent and process two languages is of
great interest to psycholinguists.
Second, it is clearly important that we should be able to teach a second language in
the most efficient way.
Third, it provides us with an additional tool for investigating language and cognition.
For example, Altarriba and Soltano (1996) used knowledge of how bilinguals store
language to investigate the phenomenon known as repetition blindness .
Q12-Talk about the phenomenon of “repetition Blindness” with examples .
Repetition blindness as supposed by Altarriba and Soltano refers to the observation
that people are very poor at recalling repeated words when the words are presented
rapidly. For example, when given the sentence “she ate salad and fish even though the
fish was raw,” participants showed very poor recall of the second presentation of the
word “fish.”
It's explanation recalls many interpretations :
1 - The explanation of repetition blindness is that the repeated word is not recognized
as a distinct event and somehow becomes assimilated with the first presentation of the
word .
2 - It appears to be the visual and phonological (sound) similarity that is important in
generating repetition blindness: Words that sound the same (e.g., “won” and “one”)
produce repetition blindness .
3 – Similarity in meaning involves sub – explanation :
A - whereas words that are similar in meaning (e.g., “autumn” and “fall”) do not
produce repetition blindness .
B - Altarriba and Soltano confirmed that meaning plays no part in repetition blindness
using non-cognate translation equivalents. These are words in different languages that
have the same meaning but different physical forms (e.g., “nephew” and “sobrino” in
English and Spanish). They found that a sentence such as (1) generated repetition
blindness in fluent Spanish–English participants (people had very poor recall for the
second instance of “ant”) but (2) did not:
1) I thought we had killed the ants but there were ants in the kitchen.
(2) I thought we had killed the ants pero habian hormigas en la cocina.
Clearly similarity in meaning cannot be responsible for the repetition blindness effect.
The results also show that conceptual access in translation is very rapid for bilingual
speakers, and also that bilingualism may facilitate some aspects of memory.
