Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

LNG 111: Language and Identity

Week 1: Reading & Writing Diagnostic
Fall 2020

LNG 111: Language and Identity – Week 1 Reading and Writing Diagnostic

Please note that this is only a diagnostic of your reading and writing skills
and not an assessment. Therefore, it is not worth any grades in the course.
However, it is important that you try your best.

Please read Francoise Grosjean’s (2011) article, “Change of language, change of personality?”
below. Once you are finished reading, write a short essay in response to the following question:

o Has learning a new language shaped or affected your personality? If so, how?

You can also describe your own language and connect it to your own identity/who you are,
but the essay should include an introduction, 1-2 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There is no
word limit, but please make sure that your ideas are well-developed and supported. Please also
note that the meaning of the underlined words in the article are provided below.

Assessment duration: You will have 1 hour to complete your essay (due 9:00 pm EDT).

Submission Instructions:

 Formatting: Use size 12 Times New Roman font and double space your essay. Type
your first, last and preferred names on the top left corner of the first page.
 When you finish, please upload your writing to the Reading and Writing Diagnostic
D2L Submission folder.
 Accepted file formats are .doc, .docx, and .pdf. File types such as .pages will not open
and will therefore not be accepted. When you save your document, please include
your (preferred) name. (Example: Karissa-Diagnostic.docx)

Meanings of underlined words (see article below):

1. monocultural: ‘mono’ means ‘one, only, single’

‘monocultural’ means having only one culture
2. bi- or multilingual: ‘bi’ means ‘two’ and ‘multi’ means ‘several or many’
‘multilingual’ means ‘speaking several languages fluently’
3. biculturally: according to the two cultures they belong to
4. trigger: cause something to happen
5. interlocutors: people who take part in a conversation

Source: Grosjean, F. (2011, Nov 1). Change of language, change of personality? (Part 1) Psychology
Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201111/change-language-
change-personality
 Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
LNG 111: Language and Identity
Week 1: Reading & Writing Diagnostic
Fall 2020

6. causal relationship: a situation where the occurrence of one thing causes or leads to the
other

Change of Language, change of personality?

By Francoise Grosjean

Bilingual 1: “When I'm around Anglo-Americans, I find myself awkward and unable to choose my
words quickly enough ... When I'm amongst Latinos/Spanish-speakers, I don't feel shy at all. I'm
witty, friendly, and ... I become very out-going.”

Bilingual 2: "In English, my speech is very polite, with a relaxed tone, always saying "please" and
"excuse me." When I speak Greek, I start talking more rapidly, with a tone of  anxiety and in a kind
of rude way..."

Bilingual 3: “I find when I'm speaking Russian I feel like a much more gentle, ‘softer’ person. In
English, I feel more ‘harsh,’ ‘businesslike.’”

Could it be that bilinguals who speak two (or more) languages change their personality when they
change language? After all, the Czech proverb does say, "Learn a new language and get a new soul."

[…]

The spontaneous reports by individual bilinguals, and the results of some studies have intrigued me
over the years. I noted first of all that monocultural1 bilinguals who make up the majority of
bilinguals in the world are not really concerned by this phenomenon. Although bi- or multilingual2,
they are in fact members of just one culture. But what about bicultural bilinguals? I proposed in my
first book on bilingualism, Life with Two Languages, that what is seen as a change in personality is
most probably simply a shift in attitudes and behaviors that correspond to a shift in situation or
context, independent of language. Basically, the bicultural bilinguals in these studies were behaving
biculturally3, that is, adapting to the context they were in.

[…] Bilinguals use their languages for different purposes, in different domains of life, with different
people. Different contexts and domains trigger4 different impressions, attitudes and behaviors. What
is taken as a personality shift due to a change of language may have little, if anything, to do with
language itself.

[…]

It is the environment, the culture, and the interlocutors5 that cause bicultural bilinguals to change

Source: Grosjean, F. (2011, Nov 1). Change of language, change of personality? (Part 1) Psychology
Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201111/change-language-
change-personality
 Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
LNG 111: Language and Identity
Week 1: Reading & Writing Diagnostic
Fall 2020

attitudes, feelings and behaviors (along with language)—and not their language as such. In essence,
there does not seem to be a direct causal relationship6 between language and personality.

Source: Grosjean, F. (2011, Nov 1). Change of language, change of personality? (Part 1) Psychology
Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201111/change-language-
change-personality