The Politics of Bilingualism

• National versus Personal Bilingualism:
  Some nations are officially bi- or multilingual. Well-known examples include India, Belgium and Canada. But bilinguals certainly do not only live in those countries; there are also a great many in monolingual countries. Some countries, especially those which were recently colonies, chose a single official language simply because of the multitude of languages spoken within their borders. Most citizens of these countries are bilingual. Even in Europe, where many assume that bilingualism is rare, every country has at least one linguistic minority whose members are, usually, bilingual.

• Government Policies Concerning Bilingualism:
  The policy of most governments toward bilingualism in the home is and long has been one of benign neglect. (But see Grosjean's book, listed on the Books and Newsletters page, for more information about the history of bilingualism in the US.) A few countries actively encourage it, especially if the "second" (non-community) language is the more important language in the country or in the world, or if the "minority" (community) language is the language of a group given special consideration under the law. Many countries which have recently been colonies, for example, encourage their young people to learn the language of their former "mother country", because bilingualism of this type is important in international trade and politics.

• "Elite" versus "Folk" Bilingualism:
  This distinction is a controversial one. Or perhaps it is better to say that the terms used here are controversial, since no one denies that the actual distinction is real. So-called "elite" bilinguals include intermarried couples and those who are living abroad, temporarily or permanently, for business or educational reasons. These are the people who to a large degree choose to have a bilingual home. "Folk" bilinguals, on the other hand, are minority enclaves (including so-called "guest workers") who have not to the same degree chosen to be surrounded by another language but who feel they must be bilingual in order to preserve their heritage. Although this may look like a choice to us, it feels less like a choice to those who make it.

  The controversy comes about because not all of the first group of bilinguals are included in what would be called the "elite" of society. Although most "elite" bilinguals are much better off than guest workers, the Romany in Europe, etc., they still have real concerns caused by their decision to live with two languages. And although they do not have the loss of culture at stake, the loss of language for the parent or parents who speaks the "outsider" language can indeed be a serious loss.

• "Compound" versus "Coordinate" Bilingualism (academic politics):
  These terms will be only briefly dealt with here, since the distinction is no longer used in research on bilingualism. However, in its day it was a very popular theory, and many people heard of it and still assume it to be the truth. It is probably one source of the misconceptions about bilingualism.

  The theory, based on a suggestion by a linguist named Weinreich, held that bilinguals could be classified into coordinate bilinguals, who had a completely separate system of meaning and expression for each of their languages, and compound bilinguals, who had a single system in which one language was dominant. It was suggested that the pattern in which an individual had become bilingual would determine which group he belonged to. Many misunderstandings arose - with some people suggesting that compound bilinguals were confused or that bilinguals were always forced to translate in their heads. Experiments designed to test the theory, however, gave ambivalent results, and the design of the experiments themselves was questioned. Eventually the theory was discounted. Additional information can be found in both the Grosjean and the Harding and Riley book, listed on the Books and Newsletters page.