ENGLISH IN MULTILINGUAL CONTEXT

a. Lingua – Language use

b. A competent person in a language is the one who can speak, write or do both in a given
the language.
c. Competency can also be related to proficiency.

Monolingualism

What is monolingualism?
Monolingualism is to simply know and use one language which will be the speaker’s mother
tongue. A person who can speak just one language is called a monoglot or a monolingual. In a
monolingual society, there is an immense patriotism as users of the one language would want to
use it for everything including commerce and official duties. Therefore, a community is said to
be a monolingual when one language is spoken functionally across all domain of language use in
that community.

Factors for Monolingualism / Importance of Monolingualism

1. When the social group the speaker belongs to constitutes a numerically powerful
group and the language is the dominant language.

2. When the speaker belongs to and speaks the language of the most politically, and
economically powerful group in a given society.

3. When there is a language shift. Language shift, a.k.a. language transfer, language
assimilation or language replacement is the process whereby a speaker of a
language abandons his/her native (vernacular) language in favour of another
language due to the benefits associated with the language.

Disadvantage of Monolingualism
1. It sets apart the language society from the benefits of other lingual societies.

Bilingualism

What is bilingualism?
Bilingualism according to Liddicoat (1991) does not have an easy formulated and general
definition. Bilingualism means different things to different people.

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Bloomfield (1933:56) defined bilingualism as "native-like control of two languages".
Haugen (1983:17) suggested that bilingualism begins at the point where a speaker of one
language can produce complete, meaningful utterances in the other language".

Diebold (1961) also suggested that bilingualism begins when a person begins to understand
utterances in a second language but is unable to produce utterances in that language.

Therefore, bilingualism can be seen as having some degree of proficiency to use two languages.

Degree of bilingualism
The two degrees of bilingualism are;
a. Those people who have native-like control over two languages.
b. Those people who have test begun to acquire a second language.

The degree of bilingualism can be assessed in the individuals;

- reading comprehension
- Speaking
- Listening comprehension
- writing

Those who have native-like control over two languages are usually early bilinguals and those
who acquire a second language are late bilinguals.

Early Bilingualism
Early bilingualism is when a person acquires two languages at an early stage in life.
There are two types of t bilingualism.
1. Simultaneous early bilingualism. A child acquires two languages at the same time.
2. Successive early bilingualism: A child who has already particularly acquired a first
language and then learns a language early in childhood (before the Critical period - 8
years of age).

Late Bilingualism
It occurs when a child/adult learns the second language later in life (after 8 years of age). Always
the L1 or mother tongue is acquired before the L2 is learned.

Bilingualism can be understood on two levels: individual and societal.

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Individual bilingualism
Individual bilingualism exists when an individual acquires/learns and uses an additional
language as a result of factors such as mobility (societal or geographical), marriage or exposure
to another language. Individual bilingualism focuses on the individual person use of language
rather than the society he/she resides. Individual bilingualism is usually characterized by the age
of acquisition, level of attainment, language dominance and ability.

Who is a bilingual?

A bilingual is a person who can use two languages. Thus, "a bilingual is a person with an
appreciable degree of competence in two languages." (Antwi Ofori, 2015).
Due to the uniqueness of the social circumstance that an Individual finds himself, there is the
need to learn an additional language. In this case, it affords the individual to nurture the other
language into the majority group in the society.

Usually, a bilingual is speaker of a majority and a minority language. Majority language is the
language of the numerically more powerful group, dominant, politically, economically, and
prestigious language whereas the minority language is a dialect or language that is less
prestigious and has fewer political and economic uses than the majority language.

Types of Individual Bilingualism

1. Additive Bilingualism
It occurs when a person learns the L2 while his/her first language and culture are maintained and
reinforced. According to Lambert (1975, 1977), additive bilingualism develops when both
languages and the culture associated with them bring complementary positive elements to the
child's overall development. That is the child uses two languages in a balanced manner.

2. Subtractive bilingualism.
Subtractive bilingualism occurs when a person learns the L2 at the expense of his/her L1 and its
culture. This is caused by the increased cognitive load due to L2 acquisition which consequently
decreases competence in the speaker's L1. Subtractive bilingualism develops when two
languages are competing rather than complementary in such a way that the minority language
(L1) is being replaced by the more dominant and prestigious language of the majority.

3. Compound bilingualism

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Compound bilingualism occurs when the two languages are of equal grammatical level, status or
importance to the speaker.
Ervin and Osgood (1954) explained compound bilingualism and coordinative bilingualism
according to cognitive difference.
- Compound bilingualism considers two sets of linguistic signs becoming associated with a
simple set of meanings in the speaker’s mind. That is a compound bilingual recognizes
something said in any of the two languages the same thing without translating to or from
any of the languages. The brain recognizes both words as a single concept and needs no
translation to comprehend it. A compound bilingual learns two languages in the same
place to get one idea with two verbal expressions. He or she sees the grammar of his/her
L1 and L2 as the same. That is he/she has one meaning system for the two languages.

4. Co-ordinate Bilingualism
Co-ordinate bilingualism occurs when one language if of a higher status than the other. That is
when the speaker values one of the languages more than the other.

Cognitively, coordinate bilingualism involves a set of translation equivalents in the two

languages which correspond to two different sets of representations. (Ervin & Osgood, 1954). A
coordinate bilingual learns two languages in two different contexts. He/she has different
grammar for each language and needs translation from one language to the other. He (she
corresponds to two independent meaning systems.

5. Balanced Bilingualism
Haugen (1973) views balanced bilingualism as when an individual has native-like competence in
both languages. That is, a balanced bilingual has roughly equal proficiency in both languages.

6. Diagonal Bilingualism
It occurs with speakers who use a dialect or non-standard language together with a generally
unrelated standard language. For example, Pidgin is considered as non-standard English while
Chinese is a standard language which shares no morphological or syntactical properties with
Pidgin (as English does). Therefore, a speaker of these two languages is considered a diagonal
bilingual.

7. Horizontal bilingualism
It occurs in situations where two distinctive languages have an equivalent status in the official,
cultural and family life of a group of speakers. (eg. Canada: French & English).

8. Vertical bilingualism
Vertical bilingualism is when a standard language, together with a distinctive but a related
dialect coexists within the same speaker. For example an Arabic and Housa speaker may be

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considered a vertical bilingual since both are standard and independent languages but share some
common linguistic elements such as the word “Allah” which means the same thing in both
languages.

9. Dormant bilingualism occurs when bilinguals revert to using only one of their two
acquired/learned languages and may forget their other language with time. That is, the language
which is left unspoken becomes dormant or latent and may die away with time.

10. Covert bilingualism occurs when a speaker conceals his/her knowledge in a language due to
a societal disposition or prejudice. Example, a speaker of Arabic living in America may avoid
speaking the language completely due to American’s disposition of Arabians as terrorists.

11. Ascendant bilingualism occurs when the speaker arranges the two languages in order of
priority. This is usually the language the speaker is more proficient in or the one he wants to be
proficient in

12. Ascribed bilingualism occurs when the speaker acquired/learnt the two languages from
childhood.

In simpler terms;

i. Achieved/ Late Bilingual: someone who has become bilingual later than childhood.

ii. Additive Bilingual: someone whose two languages combine in a complementary and

enriching fashion.

iii. Ascribed/ Early Bilingual: someone who has acquired two languages early in childhood.

iv. Asymmetrical/ Receptive / Semibilingual /Passive Bilingual: someone who

understands a second language, in either its spoken or written form, or both, but does not

necessarily speak or write it.

v. Ambilingual/ Balanced/ Equilingual /Symmetrical Bilingual: someone whose mastery

of two languages is roughly equivalent.

vi. Compound Bilingual: someone whose two languages are learned at the same time, often

in the same context.

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 vii. Consecutive/ Successive Bilingual: someone whose second language is added at some

stage after the first has begun to develop.

viii. Coordinate Bilingual: someone whose two languages are learned in distinctively

separate contexts.

ix. Covert Bilingual: someone who conceals his or her knowledge of a given language due

to an attitudinal disposition.

x. Diagonal Bilingual: someone who is bilingual in a nonstandard language or a dialect and

an unrelated standard language.

xi. Dominant Bilingual: someone with greater proficiency in one of his or her languages

and used it significantly more than the other languages.

xii. Dormant Bilingual: someone who has emigrated to a foreign country for a considerable

period of time and has little opportunity to keep the first language actively in use.

xiii. Functional Bilingual: someone who can operate in two languages without full fluency

for the task in hand.

xiv. Horizontal Bilingual: someone who is bilingual in two distinct languages which have a

similar or equal status.

xv. Incipient Bilingual: someone at the early stages of bilingualism where one language is

not fully developed.

xvi. Maximal Bilingual: someone with near-native control of two or more languages.

xvii. Minimal Bilingual: someone with only a few words and phrases in a second language.

xviii. Natural Bilingual/ Primary Bilingual: someone who has not undergone any specific

training and who is often not in a position to translate or interpret with facility between

two languages.

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 xix. Productive Bilingual: someone who not only understands but also speaks and possibly

writes in two or more languages.

xx. Recessive Bilingual: someone who begins to feel some difficulty in either understanding

or expressing him or herself with ease, due to lack of use.

xxi. Secondary Bilingual: someone whose second language has been added to a first

language through instruction.

xxii. Semilingual : someone with insufficient knowledge of either language.

xxiii. Simultaneous Bilingual: someone whose two languages are present from the onset of
speech.
xxiv. Subordinate Bilingual: someone who exhibits interference in his or her language usage

by reducing the patterns of the second language to those of the first.

xxv. Subtractive Bilingual: someone whose second language is acquired at the expense of the

aptitudes already acquired in the first language

xxvi. Vertical Bilingual: someone who is bilingual in a standard language and a distinct but

related language or dialect.

Societal Bilingualism
This is the functional use of two languages throughout the society and in all domains of life
(education, medicine, etc.). This is because the speakers understand all or a combination of the
two. That is, bilingualism is seen at the level of the social organization rather than particular
individual or families.

Lingua franca
Lingua franca, a.k.a. bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language,
vehicular language or link language, is a language or dialect adopted and used as a mean of
communication among people who do not share a common native language, especially in a
multilingual context or society.

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Lingua franca is realized when there is a language contact - This is when the languages are
exposed to one another in which case the languages involved are distinct from one another.
The speakers therefore, find a common language that will promote effective communication.
Every lingua franca has a simplified grammar.

The globalized economy has created the avenue for interconnectedness. A lingua franca,
therefore, forms the bases for a common voice that is used for the simple exchange of
information, but also for the mutual creation of knowledge.

Lingua franca is the act of selecting one language for the purpose of finding a common ground.

Features of Lingua franca

A language which is adopted as a lingua franca may have some of the following characteristics;

1. It has a simplified grammar.

2. It may be a mixture of borrowed languages.
3. It goes beyond the boundaries of the native speakers.
4. It is considered as a functional term and is independent of any language.
5. It may be used often in specific social context or situation such as commerce.
6. It has its own cultural and believes system.
7. It is based on its own phonology and syntactic features.
8. It is used for mass communication.

English Language as a Lingua Franca

The wide spread of English International, economic and cultural situations have allowed the
language achieve the status of a lingua franca. The native speakers are the owners of the English
Language thus legitimate speakers of English may be the inner circle native English speakers. In
the inner circle, English is an institutionalized language as well as official and national language.
Both the national and official languages should be codified.

English as a lingua franca (ELF) is a contact language between persons who share neither a
common native tongue nor a common culture and for when English is chosen as a foreign
language of communication.
Any speaker using English for the purpose of inter-cultural communication uses English as a
lingua franca. English as lingua franca can be appropriate by the speakers who use it as L1 for
their own purposes without over-deference to native speakers’ norms. Therefore, ELF is
emphatically not the English as a property of the native speaker, but it is universalized in the

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process of being used for international purposes. Thus, when used as lingua franca and socio-
cultural norms of native English speakers and their respective countries and culture.

Native speakers (UK, USA, etc.) have no right to interfere or pass judgements. This is because
English is seen as an international language.

Status plays a very important role in English as a lingual franca. This because of the power
associated with English as a language. English is widely used for educational, communication,
commerce, etc.
This trait stresses the need for the use of English as a lingua franca in Ghana.

English is used as;

a. An official language – It is used for administrative purposes and backed by law. It is
therefore, the language reserved for all government businesses and is required by non-
native speakers to learn. It is important to note that the official language of Ghana is
English.

b. As a standard language – English as a standardized language has a relatively high degree

of normalization as it becomes the acceptable level for which government businesses are
conducted. Thus, English (BrE, AmE) is used as the standard for these purposes.

c. As a special purpose language – This encourages the norm native speakers to learn an
additional language for some special and specific purpose. They are restricted and used
for religious or educational purposes.

d. As a national language – English as a national language refers to some or all languages of

the state in order to stress their function for national unity and identity. In a multilingual
country like Ghana, the government has to declare a particular language as a national
language for a political reasons. This is often the case when the language together with its
cultural, religious, and history serves as link with the glorious past and authenticity. The
declaration of a language as the national language of a country is an acknowledgment of
the language’s symbolic importance to the country as a whole as well as the indigenous
speakers of the language. The declaration may be a step in the process of asserting the
nationhood of a newly independent or established nations. Swahili for Tanzania, Hebrew
for Israel, etc.

e As First Language – when it is acquired in the early stages of life.

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f. Majority Language – when the language has higher member of speakers than other
neighbouring languages due to the factors such as social-political factors, economic
factors, etc.
g. Minority Language – when is has lower number of speakers than the other neighbouring
languages due to the factors such as social-political factors, economic factors, etc.

h. Pidgin Language – when in a multilingual society a language which is not the mother
tongue of any group is chosen for the purpose of communication. This language has
“reduced” vocabulary and grammar.

i. Creole Language – when a pidgin expands in lexicon and grammar and becomes the
mother-tongue of a particular group of speakers.

j. Second Language – when it is learned later in life.

k. Non-standard Language – when it has little or no standardization and normalization.

World Englishes
The concept of world Englishes is used to describe all the different varieties of English that exist
worldwide. As English travels around the world, it changes and adopts as well as develops in
different ways to fulfill the needs of the people who use it. The various forms of English use can
differ in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and accent. Thus, we have Singaporean
English, Ghanaian English, Indian English, Nigerian English, etc. because of colonialism and
American and British imperialism, communities that use English have adopted and adapted the
language to suit their needs, resulting in the creation of hundreds of new varieties of English. As
the language travelled, it came into contact with other local languages creating new varieties of
English such as Pidgin and Creole.

The Status of English as a Lingua Franca in these countries of usage is purely for administration
and educational purposes.

The Three Concentric Model (3CM)

It is also known as the 3 concentric circle was propounded by Kachru with the idea of looking at
the spread of English over the globe. English is not only a tool of communication among native
speakers but also a language institutionalized in many formal British and American colonial and
a Lingua Franca used all over the world. This has resulted in the classification of World
Englishes. In addition to the need to familiarize yourself with English language teaching to its
new status.

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The 3 Circle Model of World Englishes states that there are 3 circles inside which the different
speakers are classified.
Kachru (1985) propounded the 3 concentric circles of English model which has the inner, outer
and the expanding circles.
Expanding (non-native speakers) –
communication, foreign. Egypt, China,
Japan, UAE.

Outer (non-native speakers) – Official language,

Second language, institutional language. Ghana,
Nigeria, Singapore, India, etc.

Inner (Native Speakers) – Official language, First language,

National language. British, America, Canada, South Africa,
Australia.
`
These circles signify;
a. The type of spread
b. The pattern of spread
c. The functional domain
in which English language is used across cultures and languages.

The Inner Circle

This is made up of the traditional bases English and its speakers who are in charge of providing
the norms, i.e. they provide the norm and how the language should be used. Some of the
countries that conform to the inner circle include the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa, etc. The use of English in the inner circle forms part of the daily life and
government businesses. These are native speakers of the English Language.

The Outer Circle

The outer circle includes countries that have British or America colonial ties and English is
widely used in the social life or in the government institutions. Most of the countries were
colonized by the native speakers. The speakers in the outer circle challenge the norms and
develop those norms.
These countries include Ghana, Malaysian Nigeria, Pakistan, Liberia, Singapore, Zambia, etc.

The Expanded Circle

The expanding circle includes countries English Language is introduced to them as foreign
language in education mainly for the purpose of communication in English with the inner and
outer circle English speakers. English is therefore, not usually spoken. The speakers have the

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rules established by the inner circle and developed by the outer circle. English is fundamentally
used for international communication.
These countries include China, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Zimbabwe,
Russia, Brazil, France, etc.

CODE SWITCHING

A code is a rule that is use to convert a piece of information into another form or representation
which might not necessarily be of the same sort. They may be signs that acquire meaning and
value when they are interpreted in relation to each other. Thus, a code is relatively neutral
conceptualization of a linguistic variety, be it language or dialect.

In other words, a code is a language or a variety of a language, an accent or a dialect. It is used as

a tool for communication between or among two or more parties on any occasion. The speakers
in that conversation are required to select a particular code whenever they choose to speak and
may also decide to switch from one code to another or even to mix them.
In code switching, one language is the dominant language, normally the native language of the
speaker. This is sometimes called the Matrix language whilst the additional language is called
the Embedded language. The Matrix language lays out the bases for the communication and the
additional language is embedded into the matrix language.

Code switching gererally refers to alternation between or among varieties or codes within a
clause or phrase. It involves the use of different registers whether formal or informal within a
conversation. The speaker may use grammar, vocabulary, and sometimes accent from
different languages and dialect.

In more general term, code switching is the use of two language varieties in the same
conversation. Also known as inter-sentential code alternation, Code switching is when a
bilingual speaker uses more than one language in a single utterance above the clause level to
appropriately convey his or her intensions.

Types of Code Switching (CS)

1. Inter-sentential CS – this happens either at the beginning or end of a sentence. The
language switch is done at sentence or clause boundary in which words or phrases may
be used.
Inter-sentential CS is when the language switch is done at sentence where there is a
complete sentence/clause /dialect/accent/register in one language and the other part of the
same utterance in a complete sentence/clause/dialect/accent/register of another language.

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 Example: a. Mente asej, why we have to go there.
b. Follow me, je sais ou aller.
c. Kya hua, I didn’t see you today.
d. I came to your office, nanso na wonni hc.

2. Intra-sentential CS – in intra-sentential CS, the shift is done in the middle of a sentence

with no interruption, hesitations or pause to indicate a shift. The speaker is usually
unaware of the shift.
It is found when a word or phrase of a foreign language/dialect is found within the same
sentence in a base language or the vice-versa.
Different types of switches occur within the clause level or the word level.

Example: a. Wopj flirting koraa dodo.

b. She has being akwadworc nko ara of late.
c. Il nes sont pas right for te batter.
d. Yjbjba wo fie domain abjgye yjn sika.

3. Extra-sentential CS or Tag CS – this is when there is an insertion of a tag (a common

phrase or word in a specific language) in one language into an utterance that is otherwise
entirely in the other language. These tags can be in the middle or the end of the
conversation or the utterance.
Example: a. Sj woankc fie, right?
b. This your delusive expectations, dej, it will be your doom.
c. Penses-tu que je t’aime? Fuck you!
d. Jrenhia yjn da! Insha Alla!

Reasons for Code Switching/ Functions of Code Switching

There are various reasons why people might switch from one their matrix language to an
embedded language. Below are some of the reasons;

1. Directive Function: This occurs when people switch languages to either include or
exclude other people from the conversation.

2. Expressive Function: People usually code switch in order to express some part of their
national or cultural identity.

3. Referential Function: A person may code switch in order to express an idea easily
which he/she cannot do so in the matrix language.

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4. Phatic Function: Sometimes a speaker switches between languages or repeats
something in both languages in order to lay emphases.

5. Metalinguistic Function: Reporting something in other language or commenting on

something said in the other language.
For example, you’re speaking in Twi, but then you quote a speech from either French or
English without translating it.

6. Poetic Function: The speaker says certain words or make jokes in the embedded
language for artistic purpose.
Example, you are speaking in Twi, but then you say something in Housa to make it
sound more pleasing to the ears or make fun of someone.

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