Abstract
Over the last hundred years, the
scientific and linguistic community have drastically changed their attitudes
towards bilingualism. But how much of
that change has filtered down to the public?
In countries that historically have a strong monolingual culture, what
are the attitudes that Anglo-monolinguals have towards bilingualism? And how does this compare with how bilinguals
view themselves?
This report found that bilinguals
and monolinguals have surprisingly similar views. Both groups have a positive view of
bilingualism, and neither appears to be worried about detrimental cognitive
effects of bilingualism.
Literature Review
In 1922,
Otto Jespersen a notable Danish linguist wrote, “It is, of course, an advantage for a
child to be familiar with two languages, but without doubt the advantage may
be, and generally is, purchased too dear.
First of all the child in question hardly learns either of the two
languages as perfectly as he would have done if he had limited himself to
one…Secondly, the brain effort required to master two languages instead of one
certainly diminishes the child’s power of learning other things which might and
ought to be learnt (Jespersen, 1922, p. 48 in
Romaine, 1989, p. 99).
Jespersen’s
theories have long since been disproved in the academic realm, but have recent
more positive studies on bilingualism filtered down to the general public?
Chin and Wigglesworth remain skeptical that it has,
especially in places like “Britain,
the United States and Australia,
where the documented benefits [of bilingualism] have not filtered down to the
general public. In such places, the fear
that bilingualism or multilingualism may somehow contribute to cognitive
deficits is a further disincentive and an enduring social and psychological
obstacle to the growth of multilingualism” (Chin and Wigglesworth, 2007, p.
53).
But is that really true?
There is no doubt that these
countries have mixed attitudes towards multilingualism, but are they really
worried about cognitive deficits, or are there other factors involved
influencing the negative opinion?
It must be admitted that there is certainly no shortage
of literature documenting negative attitudes towards bilinguals in English
speaking countries. Linguist Barry
McLaughlin wrote in 1978, “In the United States, monolingualism traditionally
has been the norm. Bilingualism was
regarded as a social stigma and liability” (McLaughlin in Grosjean, 2010).
Another bilingual, scholar Aneta Pavlenko, wrote much
more recently, “In traditionally monolingual communities…bilinguals are often
viewed with suspicion either as linguistic and cultural hybrids who may be in
conflict with themselves, or as individuals whose shifting linguistic
allegiances imply shifting political allegiances and moral commitments”
(Pavlenko, 2005, p.24).
Another study, published in 1990, looked at the public
debate leading up to California
passing proposition 63, and declaring English as the state’s official
language. The author then analyzed
several letters to the editor from proponents of the proposal which seemed to
contain a great deal of irrational hostility towards anyone guilty of speaking Spanish. Interestingly enough, the same study also
found that even opponents of declaring English the official language did not
seem to question the goal of a monolingual society. They simply felt that the bill was
unnecessary because immigrant communities would naturally shift to the dominant
language over a couple generations (Mackay, 1990).
Although this particular study was done about an election
issue twenty five years ago, a quick glance at current headlines shows that the
English-only movement is very much alive and well in the United States. Four, possibly five states will vote for
English only driving tests this fall. An
English-only initiative will be on the ballot in the Oklahoma election (it is expected to pass) (Dokoupil, 2010). On the municipal
level, within the last two months a number of small towns in America have also
passed English-only laws (Terence, 2010). And only weeks ago the Alabama
gubernatorial race has received national attention when Republican candidate
Tim James defiantly declared, “This is Alabama. We speak English” (Collins, 2010).
Nor is this attitude confined to the United States. British Home Secretary David Blunkett
recommended in 2002 that using immigrant Asian families use English at home
rather than their native language to “overcome the schizophrenia which bedevils
generational relationships,” (Blunkett in Pavlenko, 2005, p.28)
But this is only one side. On the other hand, many monolinguals are
fascinated by bilinguals, regard their ability to communicate in two languages
with a sense of wonder or admiration, and maybe even envy (Grosjean, 1994). How is this contradiction explained?
Much of this disparity is explained by realizing there are two different groups of bilinguals:
elective bilinguals and circumstantial bilinguals. To the
extent that there is a backlash against bilingualism, it is directed almost
exclusively at circumstantial bilinguals.
Writing about language ideology in the United States,
Wiley and Lukes state that, “Bilingualism … has tended to be seen as either a
curse or a blessing. This contradiction
is evident in the contrast between two drastically different policies toward
bilingualism. The first is a policy toward
minority students that is intended to prescribe rapid transition out of L1
instruction into English-only instruction—often resulting in the eventual loss
of L1. The second is a policy toward
monolingual English-speaking students that is intended to promote learning a
foreign language,” (Wiley and Lukes, 1996, p. 511).
Zelasko, writing on language ideology in America, and the
perceived superiority of English monolingualism says, “Since English-speakers
fulfill the requirements established by the various beliefs by the very fact of
their being native speakers of
English, mainstream America sees no danger in this group becoming bilingual”
(Zelasko, 1992, p. 150).
In fact, Zelasko goes on to say that, “The public opinion
surveys document almost universal support for bilingualism for native speakers
of English. No matter what their
feelings toward bilingualism for non-native speakers of English, almost all
mainstream Americans want their children to study a foreign language” (Zelasko,
1992, p. 140).
Seen through this perspective, the current literature
might indicate the hostility towards bilingualism might not be against
bilingualism itself, but may be simply a proxy battle in the fight for
Anglo-cultural superiority, and the public is now less concerned with Otto
Jesperson’s fears of “the brain effort required to master two languages.”
Provided the bilingual is the “right type” of bilingual, perhaps
the general public has absolutely no concerns about cognitive defects of
bilingualism.
And in fact, articles about parental attitudes toward
bilingual education in the United
States indicate that monolingual English
parents often enroll their children in bilingual education precisely because
they believe acquiring a second language at a young age will lead to further brain
development (Craig, 1996).
However there may be another danger at the other side of
the perception spectrum: the unrealistic assumption of monolinguals that
bilinguals who are completely fluent in both languages and can use both
languages equally well for all purposes and situations.
The monolingual view of bilingualism is often equated as
two monolinguals in one person. This
attitude has in the past been harmful to bilinguals because it sets up
unrealistic expectations (Grosjean, 2008).
Grosjean says one thing that bilinguals mention as a
disadvantage of being bilingual is the assumption that they can work
effortlessly as translators and are occasionally imposed upon to translate
against their will (Grosjean, 2010).
Linguist Skutnabb-Kangas calls this mindset “monolingual
naivety” and writes that bilinguals are much more aware of the limitations of
bilingualism than monolinguals are.
After spending his whole life researching bilinguals, Skutnabb-Kangas
writes, “I have found just two [bilinguals] who thought they knew both
languages equally well” (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1981, p. 38).
Although this over-estimation of bilingual abilities by
some monolinguals is complimentary, Grosjean warns that it can lead to negative
attitudes when monolinguals find a contradiction between what they think
bilinguals should be able to do, and what monolinguals are actually capable of
doing (Grosjean, 1994).
As for bilinguals themselves, the evidence from surveys suggests that
bilinguals themselves have no strong feelings on bilingualism. “It is simply a fact of life!” for them (Grosjean, 1994, p. 7). They
enjoy the convenience it gives them in communicating in different linguistic
situations, but do not feel that their bilingualism defines them, or makes them
cognitively different from monolinguals (Grosjean, 1989).
This Study
A
survey was designed to assess attitudes of bilingualism in the general public.
Sixteen
people participated, of which eight were bilingual, and eight were monolingual.
Of
the bilingual participants, two were from Pakistan,
one was from Iran, three
were from Malaysia, one was
from India, and one was from
Nepal.
The
monolingual participants were all native English speakers. Three of them were local Australians. One of them was a Canadian student. Two of them were Americans living in Australia, and two of them were Americans in America who
were e-mailed the survey, and then received a follow-up contacted by telephone.
The
survey itself had three separate goals:
1). To discover popular perceptions about
the cognitive effects of bilingualism.
2). To discover popular perceptions about
the limits of bilingual abilities and
3). To discover popular attitudes about
the value of knowing other languages.
Seventeen questions or statements were presented, and the participants were
asked to agree or disagree with them on a Likert scale of 1 (for agreement) to
7 (for disagreement).
Of
these seventeen questions or statements, thirteen were aimed at attitudes regarding
the cognitive processes of bilingualism and the limitations of bilingual
abilities. Four were intended to
discover attitudes about the value of learning another language.
A
rough draft of the survey instrument initially included questions regarding
circumstantial bilingualism, the English-only movement, and bilingualism as a
national issue. It was, however, decided
that since these issues have been in the news this same month, these questions
might be interpreted as having a political dimension. And it was feared that if participants began
thinking of bilingual issues in terms of political loyalties on some of the
questions, this attitude might spill over and colour responses to the other
questions. Ultimately it was decided for
the purposes of this project to focus on attitudes towards bilingualism and
cognition only. It was the hunch of this
author that if circumstantial bilinguals and politics were removed from the
equation, most people would have a very positive view of bilingualism, and this
survey was designed to test that hypothesis.
Other
hypotheses were that all the participants would place a high value on learning
or knowing another language (based on repeated surveys indicating support for
elective bilingualism). It was also
hypothesized that, at least as far as elective bilingualism was concerned,
neither group would see a bilingualism as threatening, causing cognitive
defects, or cognitive overload.
Among
the bilingual participants, it was hypothesized that their personal experience
would lead them to have a slightly more realistic view of the limits of bilingualism. Perhaps they might be more critical of the
idea of bilingualism being fully balanced in all situations. They might also be more likely than
monolinguals to support agree with the proposition that bilinguals can
occasionally mix up words and languages when speaking. (Involuntarily mixing languages is cited as
one of the inconveniences bilinguals themselves mention when talking about
bilingualism (Grosjean, 1994))
And
finally it was hypothesized (based on Grosjean, 1989) that bilinguals will not
think of themselves as any cognitively any different from monolinguals, neither
less nor more advantaged.
Results and Discussion
The
first category that will be examined is the cognitive effects of bilingualism.
It was decided one of the quickest ways to determine if
Otto Jespersen’s theories on bilingualism still reflected public opinion was to
insert Jespersen’s own words directly into the survey. With only a couple of words left out
(“certainly” and “the child’s”) the late professor’s own words were inserted
verbatim into the survey for question number nine. “The brain effort required to master the two
languages instead of one diminishes the power of learning other things.”
Every single participant disagreed with this
statement. All the monolingual
participants ranked it as 6 or 7 strong disagreement.
Not surprisingly, bilinguals disagreed with the statement
just as strongly. Both groups ended up
averaging 6.5 disagreement.
This indicates that, as predicted, the general public no
longer feels there is any cognitive detriment to bilingualism.
To confirm accuracy, the however, Jespersen’s hypothesis
was re-phrased into different words for numbers three and five. These statements were also strongly rejected
by both bilinguals and monolinguals.
As for the statements on the advantages of bilingualism
(questions nine and seventeen), both monolinguals and bilinguals tended to, on
average, indicate moderate agreement.
Survey numbers related to the limitations of bilingualism
brought some unexpected responses.
Although it was expected that bilinguals would be more skeptical than
monolinguals about the existence of perfectly balanced bilingualism, when asked
if truly bilingual people exist in the real world, all eight bilinguals
answered with the strongest possible agreement.
In fact, notably, it was the only question on which all eight bilinguals
completely agreed with each other. This
appears to be in contrast with Skutnabb-Kangas’s observation.
However when questioned, most of the bilingual
participants revealed that they were not thinking of themselves. Almost all of the bilinguals claimed to be
still struggling with at least one of their languages, but were confident that
truly bilingual people must exist somewhere.
Also in retrospect, perhaps question ten was poorly
designed. “Truly bilingual” is a bit of
an ambiguous term, meaning whatever the participant wants it to mean. A better designed question would have
specified different domains of usage.
The idea of domains of usage was not completely forgotten
from this survey, but was intended to be the focus of question twelve, which
asked if a bilingual English speaker could speak English in all situations just
as well as a monolingual English speaker.
However, as many participants pointed out, this was also
a poorly designed question, since it did not specify if English was the first
acquired language or not. Most
participants assumed the hypothetical bilingual was a native English speaker,
and asserted that they could speak English just as well as a monolingual. When asked in conversation how their answers
would change if English were the acquired language, many participants adjusted
their answer to say there would be limits on the proficiency depending on the
situation. However there did not appear
to be any difference between bilinguals and monolinguals in this response.
Question eleven, about bilinguals accidently mixing up
words from different languages when speaking, brought some unexpected
responses. It was actually intended to
test monolingual negative perceptions of bilingualism. However a number of bilingual participants
confessed in conversation that they did occasionally mix up a word or two. At
least one bilingual participant was very glad to find this question on the
survey, because he had been doing mixing his words occasionally and had been
worried it was just his problem.
Although the question was not originally designed for this purpose, oral
responses from bilinguals did tend to support the literature that involuntarily
mixing languages is an issue for bilinguals.
However for question eleven the frequency adverb “often”
stopped most bilinguals from agreeing with it.
And most monolinguals stopped short of full agreement for the same
reason.
Question fourteen was similar. Some bilingual participants indicated this
was an issue sometimes, but none of them regarded it as a particular problem
and so tended to give it mostly neutral
responses (3 or 4) or disagree with it (6 or 7). Many monolinguals also gave it neutral
responses, but for different reasons.
They said they did not know one way or the other.
Questions on the
value of knowing and learning other languages again showed high agreement
between monolinguals and bilinguals, both of whom tended to agree strongly with
statements supporting the value on the value of learning other languages
(numbers one and thirteen).
The one vocal exception to this was a monolingual Australian
university student freshly graduated from secondary school, and still carrying
the horrors of language class with him.
He emphasized that language education should be left up to the student,
and not forced on anyone.
Although this one response was statistically meaningless,
it does bring up an interesting point.
To the extent that national surveys usually focus on registered voters,
surveys about foreign language education programs in schools are much more likely
to be registering the opinions of the parents rather than the students who are
actually do the work of learning the language (or trying to). Years of research has constantly and
consistently indicated support for expanding foreign language programs in
school, (see Zelasko, quoted above) but one wonders if all these adults are
signing up for language classes themselves (and if would be enough adult
education centers to hold them all if they did.) It would be interesting to do a study
focusing on the opinions of students actually enrolled in compulsory foreign
language programs in schools, and see how their attitudes about foreign
languages contrasts with the public at large.
Both monolingual
and bilingual participants also showed uniformity in disagreeing with
statements disparaging multilingualism.
Otto Von Bismark’s quote in particular, about foreign
languages being useful only for head waiters and clerks (number 15), evoked the
most emotional negative responses.
But
interestingly enough, to the extent there was agreement with this it came from
the bilingual half of the participants.
Every single monolingual marked it as a 7 (strongest possible
disagreement). But on the bilingual
half, one participant marked it as a 6, and another two even agreed with the
iron chancellor: one giving it a 2, another a 3.
When
pressed on this further, both of them expressed frustrations that their
bilingual abilities had not opened up career paths to them that they had at one
time expected.
It
is possible that monolinguals might have an overly romanticized view of the
career possibilities that bilingualism would bring. Whereas bilinguals know from their own
experience the limits that language ability, unaccompanied by other skills,
will bring. (The amount of
circumstantial bilinguals who can be found working low level jobs in every
country would tend to also support this view.)
However clearly value is in the eye of the beholder. Grosjean reports that most bilinguals talk
about how much bilingualism enriches their lives by allowing them access to different
cultures and a greater range of thought and literature (Grosjean, 2010). And
this view was expressed by the majority of the participants, who specifically
cited communication, culture and literature as the value of foreign languages.
Limitations and Conclusions
It
is perhaps meaningless to talk in generalities about the opinions of
monolinguals and bilinguals. One might
just as well talk about the opinions of men and women, or the Oriental and the
Occidental. Every individual will have
his or her own unique opinion, and any attempt to divide the human race into
two separate categories and then make generalizations about their attitudes is
bound to end in failure. This may be one
of the reasons why there is so much contradictory literature on the attitudes
towards bilingualism.
Added
to this general problem, in this particular project the number of participants
was too small to be of statistical significance. And, as they were all personal friends of the
author, they can not in any way be considered a representative sample.
Furthermore,
there is always the problem when doing interviews that the participants tell
the researcher what they think the researcher wants to hear instead of their
true opinions. For example, it is
possible (although I have no reason to suspect it) that one of the monolingual
participants actually has quite negative views towards bilingualism, but fears
that these views are politically incorrect and is thus hesitant to admit to
them.
All
those caveats aside, one of the interesting things that emerged from this
survey was how closely bilingual and monolingual opinion were aligned with each
other.
As
expected, neither group was worried about any detrimental affect of
bilingualism on cognitive functions.
Bilingual
participants, in the oral responses, did tend to show more awareness of the
limits of bilingualism and the issue of involuntary language switching,
although this was not reflected so much in the written survey—possibly due to
some poorly designed questions. It would
be interesting to do further studies on the limitations of bilingualism with a
questionnaire specifically designed for this.
Finally,
if suitable questions could be designed, it would be interesting to do a survey
which also takes into account some of the more political attitudes towards
bilingualism and the English-only movement, and see how these compare with
attitudes on the value of elective bilingualism.
References
Chin, N.G., and
Wigglesworth, G. (2007). Bilingualism: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge.
Collins, G.
(2010). Alabama
Goes Viral. The New York Times. May 28, 2010. Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/opinion/29collins.html
Craig, B. (1996).
Parental Attitudes Toward Bilingualism in a Local Two-Way Immersion Program.
Bilingual Research Journal, 20, 383-410.
Dokoupil, T. (2010). Why ‘English Only’ Will Get the OK in
Oklahoma.
Newsweek. May 15, 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/15/why-english-only-will-get-the-ok-in-oklahoma.html
Grosjean,
F. (1989). The bilingual as a person. In Titone, R. (Ed.). On the Bilingual
Person. Ottawa:
Canadian Society for Italian Studies.
Grosjean, F. (1994). Individual Bilingualism. In The Encyclopedia of
Language and Linguistics. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
Grosjean, F.
(2008). Studying Bilinguals. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and Reality. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard
University Press.
Mackay, S.D.A. (1990). California Proposition 63: Language
Attitudes Reflected in the Public Debate. Annals of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science, 508, 135-146.
Pavlenko, A.
(2005). Emotions and Multilingualism. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Romaine, S. (1989). Bilingualism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1981). Bilingualism or Not: The Education of
Minorities. (L. Malmberg and D. Crane, Trans.) Avon:
Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Terence, N. (2010). Speak English Only,
Small NY Towns Decree. Aol News. May 15, 2010. Retrieved from:
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/speak-english-only-small-ny-towns-decree/19477485
Wiley, T.G. and Lukes, M. (1996). English-Only and Standard English
Ideologies in the US.
TESOL Quarterly, 30, 511-535.
Zelasko, N.F. (1992). The Bilingual double standard: Mainstream
Americans’ attitudes toward bilingualism. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Washington, DC: Georgetown
University. Retrieved from: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/rcd/BE023395/The_Bilingual_Double_Standard.pdf
Appendix 1: Questionnaire
Country____________________________
Are
you:
A:
Monolingual
B:
Bilingual
C:
Spent some time studying another language, but never really got the hang of it.
1. Everyone should learn at least one foreign
language.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
2. It is possible for someone to speak more than
one language fluently.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
3 There is a
limited amount of information that can be stored in the human brain at any one
time. Space taken up by grammar and
vocabulary of a second language will result in decreased memory available for
other information.
Agree --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
4. Knowing a foreign
language would be nice, but it wouldn’t be worth all the trouble of learning
it.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
5 The human
brain has trouble processing and storing more than one language.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
6. People who can speak more than one language
fluently fascinate me. I don’t know how
they do it.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
7. It is possible for someone to be completely
fluent in more than one language
Agree --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
8. Learning a second language develops the
brain, and leads to increased intelligence
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
9. The brain effort required to master the two
languages instead of one diminishes the power of learning other things
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
10. Do truly bilingual people exist in the real world?
Yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------No
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
11. Do bilingual people often accidentally mix up
words from different languages when speaking?
Yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------No
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
12. Can a bilingual English speaker speak English
in all situations just as well as a monolingual English speaker?
Yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------No
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
13. Foreign language education should start in
Elementary school
Agree --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
14.
Bilinguals
can become confused about which language to think in
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
15. “Foreign languages are useful for head
waiters and couriers only”—Otto Von Bismarck
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
16. If you start to become fluent in one
language, you will begin to lose fluency in your native tongue.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
17. A bilingual person will have cognitive
advantages over a monolingual person.
Agree
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disagree
1----------------2----------------3----------------4----------------5----------------6----------------7
Appendix 2: Summary of the data
for monolinguals
Statistics
|
||||||||||||||||||
Q1
|
Q2
|
Q3
|
Q4
|
Q5
|
Q6
|
Q7
|
Q8
|
Q9
|
Q10
|
Q11
|
Q12
|
Q13
|
Q14
|
Q15
|
Q16
|
Q17
|
||
N
|
Valid
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
Missing
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Mean
|
2.3750
|
1.2500
|
6.1250
|
6.5000
|
6.1250
|
3.3750
|
1.8750
|
2.3750
|
6.5000
|
1.5000
|
3.5000
|
1.8750
|
2.1250
|
4.6250
|
7.0000
|
6.2500
|
3.3750
|
|
Median
|
2.0000
|
1.0000
|
6.0000
|
7.0000
|
6.5000
|
3.0000
|
1.0000
|
2.0000
|
6.5000
|
1.0000
|
3.5000
|
1.0000
|
1.5000
|
4.5000
|
7.0000
|
7.0000
|
3.0000
|
|
Mode
|
2.00
|
1.00
|
6.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
3.00
|
1.00
|
2.00
|
6.00a
|
1.00
|
1.00a
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
4.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
3.00
|
|
Std. Deviation
|
1.59799
|
.46291
|
.99103
|
.75593
|
.99103
|
1.18773
|
2.10017
|
1.18773
|
.53452
|
1.41421
|
2.07020
|
1.45774
|
2.03101
|
1.06066
|
.00000
|
1.38873
|
1.59799
|
|
Variance
|
2.554
|
.214
|
.982
|
.571
|
.982
|
1.411
|
4.411
|
1.411
|
.286
|
2.000
|
4.286
|
2.125
|
4.125
|
1.125
|
.000
|
1.929
|
2.554
|
|
Range
|
5.00
|
1.00
|
3.00
|
2.00
|
2.00
|
3.00
|
6.00
|
3.00
|
1.00
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
4.00
|
6.00
|
3.00
|
.00
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
|
Minimum
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
5.00
|
2.00
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
6.00
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
3.00
|
7.00
|
3.00
|
2.00
|
|
Maximum
|
6.00
|
2.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
5.00
|
7.00
|
4.00
|
7.00
|
5.00
|
6.00
|
5.00
|
7.00
|
6.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
|
a. Multiple modes exist. The smallest value
is shown
|
Appendix 3: Summary of the
data for bilinguals
Statistics
|
||||||||||||||||||
Q1
|
Q2
|
Q3
|
Q4
|
Q5
|
Q6
|
Q7
|
Q8
|
Q9
|
Q10
|
Q11
|
Q12
|
Q13
|
Q14
|
Q15
|
Q16
|
Q17
|
||
N
|
Valid
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
Missing
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Mean
|
1.2500
|
1.2500
|
5.7500
|
6.0000
|
6.7500
|
4.1250
|
1.1250
|
2.7500
|
6.5000
|
1.0000
|
3.3750
|
1.3750
|
1.2500
|
4.7500
|
5.7500
|
6.0000
|
3.2500
|
|
Median
|
1.0000
|
1.0000
|
6.5000
|
6.5000
|
7.0000
|
4.0000
|
1.0000
|
2.0000
|
7.0000
|
1.0000
|
3.5000
|
1.0000
|
1.0000
|
5.0000
|
7.0000
|
7.0000
|
3.5000
|
|
Mode
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
2.00
|
1.00
|
2.00
|
7.00
|
1.00
|
2.00a
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
3.00a
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
1.00a
|
|
Std. Deviation
|
.70711
|
.46291
|
1.58114
|
1.41421
|
.46291
|
2.10017
|
.35355
|
1.98206
|
.75593
|
.00000
|
1.40789
|
.74402
|
.70711
|
1.66905
|
2.05287
|
1.60357
|
1.58114
|
|
Variance
|
.500
|
.214
|
2.500
|
2.000
|
.214
|
4.411
|
.125
|
3.929
|
.571
|
.000
|
1.982
|
.554
|
.500
|
2.786
|
4.214
|
2.571
|
2.500
|
|
Range
|
2.00
|
1.00
|
4.00
|
4.00
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
1.00
|
6.00
|
2.00
|
.00
|
4.00
|
2.00
|
2.00
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
4.00
|
4.00
|
|
Minimum
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
3.00
|
3.00
|
6.00
|
2.00
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
1.00
|
2.00
|
1.00
|
1.00
|
3.00
|
2.00
|
3.00
|
1.00
|
|
Maximum
|
3.00
|
2.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
2.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
1.00
|
6.00
|
3.00
|
3.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
7.00
|
5.00
|
|
a. Multiple modes exist. The smallest value
is shown
|
4 comments:
I want to use this paper as a reference in my essay and just wondered who exactly wrote it?
Many thanks
I'm flattered you would want to reference my essay. I should warn you it's probably not considered a reliable source. It's a student essay that is unpublished that I just posted on my blog. It is a study of a small number of participants that does not reach statistical significance.
However, all that being said, my name is Joel Swagman. My main blog is over here: joelswagman.blogspot.com
OK that's great thank you. When discussing your hypotheses, you believed "all the participants would place a high value on learning or knowing another language (based on repeated surveys indicating support for elective bilingualism)" could you possibly direct me to any of these existing surveys or any existing literature which show participants placing a high value on being bilingual?
Your help would be much appreciated Joel!
Many thanks.
I actually wrote this paper back in 2010. So it's a bit older than the posting date indicates (something I probably should have indicated on the top, and will edit in a minute.)
So, it's a bit foggy in my memory exactly what articles I was drawing on, but re-reading the paper, I appear to be basing that on a couple of sources. I'll quote the relevant paragraphs here again:
In fact, Zelasko goes on to say that, “The public opinion surveys document almost universal support for bilingualism for native speakers of English. No matter what their feelings toward bilingualism for non-native speakers of English, almost all mainstream Americans want their children to study a foreign language” (Zelasko, 1992, p. 140)
And in fact, articles about parental attitudes toward bilingual education in the United States indicate that monolingual English parents often enroll their children in bilingual education precisely because they believe acquiring a second language at a young age will lead to further brain development (Craig, 1996).
Years of research has constantly and consistently indicated support for expanding foreign language programs in school, (see Zelasko, quoted above)
These sources, as indicated in my bibliography, are:
Craig, B. (1996). Parental Attitudes Toward Bilingualism in a Local Two-Way Immersion Program. Bilingual Research Journal, 20, 383-410
Zelasko, N.F. (1992). The Bilingual double standard: Mainstream Americans’ attitudes toward bilingualism. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. Retrieved from: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/rcd/BE023395/The_Bilingual_Double_Standard.pdf
(Hmmm... although in retrospect I probably shouldn't have been citing an unpublished paper in an academic paper. Perhaps not a legitimate source?)
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