Bilingualism means different things to different people.

Bloomfield (1933:56) defined bilingualism as

'native-like control of two languages'. However, this definition excludes many people who speak
more than one language but do not have 'nativelike' control of one or both of their languages. A
large number of people who use two languages regularly may not have 'nativelike' control of one of
their languages. It is clear that Bloomfield's definition of bilingualism needs to be modified if it is to
reflect accurately the reality of people's ability to use languages. The existence of large numbers of
people who speak more than one language but who do not exhibit native-like control in both
languages, raises the question of how proficient a person must be to be classed as bilingual.
Haugen (1953:7) suggests that oil bilingualism begins 'at the point where a speaker of one
language 0 M can produce complete, meaningful utterances in the other language'.

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

Bilingualism may be defined as having some ability to use two (or even more) languages.

Degrees of bilingualism :-There can, therefore, be degrees of bilinguality at one extreme there
are those people who have native-like control over two languages and at the other extreme are
those people who havejust begun to acquire a second language. Degrees of bilingualism can be
assessed in the individual's command of the four skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading
comprehension and writing in each language. Some children in immigrant communities, for example,
have all four skills only in the official language of their country of residence while in their parents'
language they have only the oral skills of listening comprehension and speaking. In addition, people
who are bilingual in all four skills can have different levels of skill in each language. For example, a
Vietnamese speaking child educated in English may have a better command of written English than
of written Vietnamese, even if the child's spoken Vietnamese is better than his/her spoken English.

Groajean (1982) points out that we need to consider a holistic view of bilingualism.

The linguistic abilities of bilinguals have often been compared to those of monolingual speakers of
the languages concerned. The bilingual, however, should not be considered as the sum total of two
complete or incomplete monolinguals. The presence of two languages and their interaction in the
bilingual produces a different but complete language system which responds to the individual's
needs to communicate using one or other language or, in some settings, a mixture ofboth languages.

Types of bilingualism:-The study of bilingualism has tended to develop dichotomies. Among the
more commonly used dichotomies are the distinctions between compound and co-
ordinate bilingualism (Weinreich 1953), simultaneous and successive bilingualism
(McLaughlin 1984), additive and subtractive bilingualism (Lambert 1975), elite and
folk bilingualism (Skutnabb-Kangas 1981). These distinctions have had an important function in
drawing attention to various aspects of bilingualism but at the same time they represent different
approaches to the question of bilingualism. Co-ordinate and compound bilingualism.

Ervin and Osgood (1954) distinguished between compound and co-ordinate bilingualism according
to differences in cognitive functioning. Compound bilingualism involves two sets oflinguistic signs
which become associated with a single set of meanings. Coordinate bilingualism involves a set of
translation equivalents in the two languages which correspond to two different sets of
representations (See Figure 1.1). The distinction between these two types of bilingualism involves a
difference in cognitive organization of linguistic material in the brain it does not in itself indicate a
difference in competence. Co-ordinate bilingualism tends to be developed through an experience of
different contexts in which the two languages are rarely interchanged, whereas compound
bilingualism tends to be developed through contexts

Compound bilingualism Co-ordinate bilingualism:-

Li

single concept:

family/ famille L2 'famille'

LI 'family' concept family

L2 `famille' 3 concept famille

Figure 1 Schematic representation of the compound co-ordinate distinction. Adapted from Ervin &
Osgood (1954) in which the two languages are rarely interchanged, whereas compound
bilingualism tends to be developed through contexts such as formal language l earn ingin schoolor
continual switching from one language to another.

Simultaneous and successive bilingualism:-McLaughlin (1984) maintains that when a child

learns two languages simultaneously it is inappropriate to talk about the child's first and second
languages. Both languagesare in effect first languages, although one may dominate in certain
situations or with certain people. For McLauglin, simultaneous bilingualism could occur at any age
less than a cut-off age of three years. Therefore, a 2 year old Portuguese speaking child who moves
to Australia and begins to acquire English would beconsidered to be acquiring both languages
simultaneously. McLauglin felt that below the age of three, the child's first language was not yet
established but that after the age of three the child has had a considerable head start in acquiring
one language and is establishing first language patterns. Itcan no longerbe considered that the child
is acquiring both languages simultaneously. When a language is acquired after the first language is
established, McLaughlin talks of successive acquisition. In this case, the first and second languages
can be clearly differentiated and the added language is learnedas a second language. Thus, a Tagalog
speaking child who moves to Australia from the Philippines at the age of four anda half will already
have acquired a large amount of Tagalog as a first language, when this child is exposed to English
s/he will begin learning itas a second language. Simultaneous acquisition of two languages isnot
necessarily superior to successive acquisition and both patterns ofacquisition can lead to bilingual
competence. A child's bilingual ability does not so much depend on how early a language is
introduced as on other factors such as the relative prestige of the languages, cultural factors and
opportunities foruse. For example, a child who acquires two languages simultaneously may lose one
ofthose languages when contact with that language is lost whereas a child who has acquired two
language successively but has continued contact with both languages may become a balanced
bilingual.

Additive and subtractive bilingualism:-Lambert (1975, 1977) drew attention to the close
association between bilingualism and the social psychological mechanisms involved in language
behaviour. In particular, the relative social status of each of the bilingual person's languages and the
person's perception of the difference in status has an important function in the development of
bilingualism. Lambert distinguishes two types of bilingualism additive bilingualism and subtractive
bilingualism. Additive bilingualism develops when both languages and the culture associated with
them bring complementary positive elements to the child's overall development. Subtractive
bilingualism, however, develops when the two languages are competing rather than
complementary. Such competition occurs when the minority language is being replaced by the more
dominant and prestigious language of the majority group . Lambert (1977:19) states that the
level of bilingualism achieved will 'reflect some stage in the subtraction of the ethnic language and
the associated culture, and their replacement with another'. Subtractive bilingualism results, for
example, when a child is educated in the more prestigious language without appropriate support for
his/her home language in the education programme.

Elite and folk bilingualism:-Skutnabb-Kangas (1981) uses a distinction between elite bilinguals,
who acquired their second language through formal education with some opportunity to use the
language naturally and folk bilinguals who acquired their second language through practical contact
with speakers of that language. Elite bilinguals typically become bilingual through a free choice to
learn a language. Elite bilingualism has always been highly valued and considered a form of cultural
enrichment and a mark of learning and intelligence. The risk associated with failing to learn the
second language is small and is equal to the consequences of failing in any other area of curriculum.
Students who do not excel in language studies are usually able to discontinue the area of study and
concentrate their attention on other subject areas. Folk bilingualism, however, has frequently been
stigmatized and has often been associated with educational controversies related to the integration
of minority children into thew majority society. It is not, however, the type of bilingualism or the
way a language is acquired that are the cause of problems in education for folk bilingual children but
rather a combination of social and other factors. Folk bilinguals are typically members of linguistic
minority groups and are subject to strong external pressure to learn the dominant language. As such,
they are forced by circumstances to become bilingual in their own language and in the dominant
language. Their home language is often unvalued in the wider community and usually has limited or
no official status. Failure to acquire the dominant language adequately can have drastic
repercussions for these children. A child whose second language skills are limited is usually excluded
from further educational opportunities and will be unable to compete in the labour market with
children who are fluent in the dominant language. Such a child will face restrictions on his/heraccess
to the life of the larger community. Folk bilinguals may also suffer difficultiesdue to the education
system's lack of support for speakers ofnon-dominant languages. These children frequently enter
classestaught in a language they do not speak, and often find themselves in the same class as native
speakers of the dominant language. Moreover, for many speakers of minority languages, general
educational prospects for successful learning and for their acquisition of the dominant language are
dependent to some extent on the continued development of their first language and ofthe
conceptual basis they have already gained. lithe education system does not assist children in this
development, the resultcan be severe educational difficulties for these children.

Sequential bilingualism occurs when a person becomes bilingual by first learning one language and
then another. The process is contrasted with simultaneous bilingualism, in which both languages are
learned at the same time.
Jespersen (1922) maintained that the bilingual child hardly learns either language as well as such a
child would have learned a single language. Moreover, he claims that theintellectual effort needed
to master two languages diminishes the child's ability to learn other things. These early studies were
largely based on the intuitions of the writers concerned, but experimental studies were also
produced which seemed to bear out such opinions.

Saer (1923) surveyed 1,400 Welsh school children in five rural and two urban schools and concluded
that bilingualism led to lower intelligence. However, Saer failed to consider other factors which may
have contributed to his results, such as possible differences in social class between bilingual and
monolingual students.