INTRODUCTION

AND OVERVIEW OF
MULTILINGUALISM

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MULTILINGUALISM

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MULTILINGUALISM
Multi-
(a prefix) which means to
combine, to form or to have many
lingual
which means related to language

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MULTILINGUALISM
the ability of an individual
to speak multiple (or many)
languages.

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 the term “multilingualism” can refer to
either the language use or the
competence of an individual, or to the
language situation in an entire nation or
society
- Clyne, 2003

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MULTILINGUALISM
multilingualism as the “linguistic
behaviour of the members of a speech
community which alternately uses two,
three or more languages depending on
the situation and function.”
(Kachru, 1985)

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 KEY
TERMINOLOGIES

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DIGLOSSIA
- sociolinguistic situation whereby two
languages or varieties of a language co-
exist in a speech community.
- each language or variety is used in
different domains in a kind of
complementary distribution.

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 DIGLOSSIA
LOW VARIETY HIGH VARIETY
- Not formally learned - Learned at school
- Speakers don’t - Speakers learn how
formally learn to write and learn
grammar or writing grammar rules
- Learned as a spoken - Correct variety
language

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 PIDGIN AND CREOLE
LANGUAGES
- Often referred to as broken English
- New languages that develop when
speakers of different languages come
into contact with each other and have
a need to communicate

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 PIDGIN LANGUAGE
- a reduced language that results from
extended contact between groups of
people who share no language.
- evolves as a result of the need for
some means of communication,
particularly trade.
(Holmes, 2000)
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 CREOLE LANGUAGE
- In contrast to pidgin, Creole is often
defined as a pidgin that has become
the first language of a new generation
of speakers.
(Wardhaugh, 2006)

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 CREOLE LANGUAGE
Creolisation occurs when a pidgin becomes the
first language of a generation of speakers; the
pidgin becomes elaborated in terms of function,
vocabulary and grammar; then, language birth
takes place and a Creole is born
(Wolff, 2000)

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 CREOLE LANGUAGE
Creolisation occurs when a pidgin becomes the
first language of a generation of speakers; the
pidgin becomes elaborated in terms of function,
vocabulary and grammar; then, language birth
takes place and a Creole is born
(Wolff, 2000)

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CODE-SWITCHING/ CODE-MIXING

Both code-switching and code-mixing

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CODE-SWITCHING/ CODE-MIXING
Codeswitching is the use of two languages within the
same conversation. Hymes (1978) defines code-
switching as “a common term for alternative use of
two or more languages, varieties of a language or even
speech styles.” Code-mixing, on the other hand, is the
change of one language to another within the same
utterance or in the same oral/written text.

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 Reasons for
Code-switching/Code-mixing
1.Directive Function
2.Expressive Function
3.Referential Function
4.Phatic Function
5.Metalinguistic Function
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 DIALECTS
a regional or social variety of a language spoken or
shared by a group in a particular area, or of a social
group or class. It is distinguished by pronunciation,
vocabulary, sounds and words especially in a way of
speaking, which differs from the standard variety of
the language
(Wolfram, 2009)

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 SPEECH COMMUNITY

a group of people who use the same

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 SPEECH COMMUNITY
“A system of organised diversity held together by
common norms and aspirations. Members of such a
community typically vary with respect to certain beliefs
and other aspects of behaviour. Such variation, which
seems irregular when observed at the level of the
individual, nonetheless shows systematic regularities at
the statistical level of social facts.”
(Gumperz, 1982)

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 SPEECH COMMUNITY
“A community sharing rules for the conduct and
interpretation of speech, and rules for the
interpretation of at least one linguistic variety.... A
necessary primary term... it postulates the basis of
description as a social, rather than a linguistic, entity.”
(Hymes, 1967)

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 SPEECH COMMUNITY
“The speech community is not defined by any marked
agreement in the use of language elements, so much
as by participation in a set of shared norms. These
norms may be observed in overt types of evaluative
behaviour, and by the uniformity of abstract patterns
of variation which are invariant in respect to particular
levels of usage.”
(Labov, 1972)

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 SPEECH COMMUNITY
“A speech community is a group of people who do not
necessarily share the same language, but share a set of
norms and rules for the use of language. The
boundaries between speech communities are
essentially social rather than linguistic... A speech
community is not necessarily co-extensive with a
language community.”
(Romaine, 1994)

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 LINGUA FRANCA
a lingua franca is a language “used in
communication between speakers who
have no native language in common”
(a pidgin language is a particular form of lingua
franca)

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 NATIONAL LANGUAGE

According to Trudgill (2003), a national

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