Monolingualism
The unmarked case
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v7i2.173Keywords:
monolingualism, language ideology, language attitudes, English language teaching, hegemonyAbstract
It is frequently observed that bilingualism and multilingualism are more common in the world than monolingualism, and yet, as Romaine (1995) points out, it is rare to find a book with the title ‘Monolingualism’. Linguistic theories have often assumed monolingualism to be the norm (Pavlenko, 2000), and this view is often held by individual monolinguals who are speakers of a dominant language such as English (Edwards, 1994). This paper will review three representations of monolingualism in the applied linguistics literature. The first is as an unmarked case, against which bilingualism and multilingualism are set as the exception. The second representation is of monolingualism as a limitation on cognitive, communicative, social and vocational potential (Kirkpatrick, 2000; Crozet, Liddicoat & Lo Bianco, 1999). Perspectives from language policy documents in Australia are presented to illustrate the second representation. The third and most critical representation employs metaphors of disease, sickness and disability to portray monolingualism as a pathological state (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000a; Oller, 1997). This latter strand of literature critiques the influence of the monolingual perspectives held by those who wield authority in language policy and in education. The paper concludes with a call for the development of a framework within which to understand monolingualism and its social and educational effects.
References
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities. London: Verso.
ALS & ALAA (Australian Linguistics Society & the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia) (1981). “Languages in a core curriculum –a set of statements from the profession”. Babel, Journal of the Australian Federation of MLTA 17, 2-3.
Australian Education Council (1994). A statement on languages other than English for Australian schools. Carlton, Victoria: Curriculum Corporation.
Baker, C. (2001). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Baker, C. & S. Prys Jones (1998). Encyclopaedia of bilingualism and bilingual education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Baldauf, R.B. (1993). “Fostering bilingualism and national development through school second language study”. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 14(1&2), 121 -34.
Blackledge, A. (2000). “Monolingual ideologies in multilingual states: Language, hegemony and social justice in Western liberal democracies”. Estudios de Sociolingüística 1(2), 25-45.
Blommaert, J. (2006). “Language policy and national identity”. In T. Ricento (ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method. Oxford: Blackwell, 238-54.
Blommaert, J. & J. Verschuren (1998). “The role of language in European nationalist ideologies”. In B. Schieffelin, K. Woolard & P. Droskrity (eds.), Language ideologies: Practice and theory. New York: Oxford University Press, 189-210.
Bloomfield, L. (1933). Language. London: Allen & Unwin.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. London: Cambridge University Press.
Byram, M. (1999). “Questions of identity in foreign language learning”. In J. Lo Bianco, A . J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet (eds.), Striving for the Third Place: Intercultural Competence through Language Education. Melbourne: Language Australia, 91-100.
Christ, H. (1997). “Language policy in teacher education”. In R. Wodak & D. Corson (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Language and Education. Volume 1: Language Policy and Political Issues in Education. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 219-27.
Clyne, M. (1991a). Community languages -the Australian experience. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Clyne, M. (1991b). “Monolingualism, multilingualism and the Australian nation”. In C.A. Price (ed.), Australian national identity. Canberra: Academy of Social Science in Australia, 83-98.
Clyne, M. (2003). “Towards a more language-centred approach to plurilingualism”. In J.M. Dewaele, A. Housen & L. Wei (eds.), Bilingualism: beyond basic principles. Festchrift in honour of Hugo Baetens Beardsmore. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 43-55.
Clyne, M. (2005). Australia’s Language Potential. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Cook, V. (1999). “Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching”. TESOL Quarterly 33 (2), 185-209.
Corder, S.P. (1981). Error analysis and interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crawford J. (ed.) (1992). Language loyalties -a source book on the Official English controversy. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Crozet, C. & A . J. Liddicoat (1999). “The challenge of intercultural language teaching. Striving for the Third Place: Intercultural Competence through Language Education”. In J. Lo Bianco, A . J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet (eds.), Striving for the third place: Intercultural competence through language education. Melbourne: Language Australia, 103-12.
Crozet, C., A. Liddicoat & J. Lo Bianco (1999). “Intercultural competence: from language policy to language education”. In J. Lo Bianco, A.J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet (eds.), Striving for the third place: Intercultural competence through language education. Melbourne: Language Australia, 1-20.
Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge encyclopaedia of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
DEET (Department of Employment Education and Training) (1991). Australia’s language: the Australian language and literacy policy. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Dewaele, J.M., A. Housen & L. Wei (eds.) (2003). Bilingualism: Beyond basic principles. Festschrift in honour of Hugo Baetens Beardsmore. Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.
Diebold, A.R. (1964). “Incipient bilingualism”. In D. Hymes (ed.), Language in culture and society -a reader in linguistics and anthropology. New York : Harper & Row, 495-508.
Djité, P.G. (1994). From language policy to language planning -an overview of languages other than English in Australian education. Canberra: National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Ltd.
Eades, D. (2003). “Participation of second language and second dialect speakers in the legal system”. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 23, 113-33.
Eades, D., H. Fraser, J. Siegel, T. McNamara & B. Baker (2003). Linguistic identification in the determination of nationality. A preliminary report. Available: <<http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~fraser/forensic/LingID.pdf >>.
Edwards, J. (1994). Multilingualism. London: Routledge.
Edwards, J. (2003). “The importance of being bilingual”. In J.-M. Dewaele, A. Housen & L. Wei (eds.), Bilingualism: Beyond basic principles. Festschrift in honour of Hugo Baetens Beardsmore. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 28-42.
Edwards, J. (2004a). “Foundations of bilingualism”. In T.K. Bhatia & W.C. Ritchie (eds.), The handbook of bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell, 7-31.
Edwards, V. (2004b) Multilingualism in the English-speaking world. Oxford: Blackwell.
Ellis, L.[E.] (2002). “Teaching from experience: A new perspective on the nonnative teacher in adult ESL”. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 25(1), 71-107.
Ellis, E. (2003). Bilingualism among teachers of ESL: A study of second language learning experience as a contributor to the professional knowledge and beliefs of teachers of ESL to adults. Unpublished PhD thesis, Griffith University, Brisbane. Available through Australian Digital Thesis Project at: <<http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040618.172404/>>.
Ellis, E. (2004a). “The invisible multilingual teacher”. International Journal of Multilingualism 1(2), 90-108.
Ellis, L.[E.] (2004b). “Language background and professional competencies in teaching ESOL”. English Australia Journal 21(2), 55-71.
Ellis, E. (2006). “Second language experience as a contributor to the professional knowledge and beliefs of teachers of ESOL to adults”. TESOL Research Newsletter 13(1). Available online at [retrieved on 15/12/06]: <<http://www.tesol.org//stesol/secissue.asp?nid=3675&iid=5822&sid=1#196>>
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge, Polity Press.
Forman, R. (1994). “Australia in Laos: In-country delivery of university programs”. Paper presented at Teaching for development Symposium. Australian Development Studies Network, Canberra.
Gibbons, J. (1994). “Depth or breadth? Some issues in LOTE teaching”. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 17(1), 1-22.
Gogolin, I. (1994). Der monolinguale Habitus der multilingualen Schule. New York: Waxman, Munster.
Grass by, A . J. (1977). “The relevance of a multilingual approach to Australian education”. Idiom XII(1, Feb-March), 3-8.
Grosjean, F. (1985). “The bilingual as a competent but specific speaker- hearer ” . Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 6(6), 467-77.
Hamers, J. F. & M.H.A. Blanc (2000). Bilinguality and bilingualism. (2nd edition) . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Handsfield, L.J. (2002). “Teacher agency and double agents: Reconceptualizing linguistic genocide in education. Review of T. Skutnabb-Kangas (2000), Linguistic genocide in education -or worldwise diversity and human rights?”. Harvard Educational Review 72(4), 542-60.
Haugen, E. (1969). The Norwegian language in America: A study in bilingual behaviour. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Hawkins, E.W. (1999). “Foreign language study and language awareness”. Language Awareness 8(3 & 4), 124-42.
Holliday, A. (1994). Appropriate methodology and social context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Howatt, A. P.R. (1984). A history of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jessner, U. (1999). “Metalinguistic awareness in multilinguals: Cognitive aspects of third language learning”. Language Awareness 8(3 & 4), 201-09.
Kachru, Y. (1994). “Monolingual bias in SLA research”. TESOL Quarterly 2 8 (4 ) , 795-800.
Kirkpatrick, A. (2000). “The disadvantaged monolingual: Why English alone is not enough”. Australian Language Matters 8(3), 5-7.
Kramsch, C. (1996). “Metaphoric imagination and cross-cultural understanding”. The Congress of the International Association for Applied Linguistics (AILA), Jyväskylä, Finland.
Kramsch, C. (1997). “The privilege of the non-native speaker”. Publication of the Modern Language Association of America 112, 359-69.
Lambert, R. (1999). “Language and intercultural competence”. In J. Lo Bianco, A.J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet (eds.), Striving for the third place: Intercultural competence through language education. Melbourne: Language Australia , 65-71.
Lambert, W.E. & G.R. Tucker (1972). Bilingual education of children: The St.-Lambert experiment. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.
Liddicoat, A.J. (2002). “Some future challenges for languages in Australia”. Babel 37(2), 29-31.
Lo Bianco, J. (1987). National Policy on Language s. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Lo Bianco, J. (1999). “Policy words: Talking bilingual education and ESL into English literacy”. Prospect 14(2), 40-51.
Lynch, J. & T. Crowley (2001). Languages of Vanuatu: A new survey and bibliography. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
MLTAQ (Modern Language Teachers Association of Queensland) (2002). Submission to the Review of the Commonwealth Languages Other Than English in Schools Programme. Online. Available at: <<http://www.mltaq.asn.au/resources>> .
Moore, H. (1996). “Language Policies as Virtual Reality: Two Australian Examples”. TESOL Quarterly 30(3), 473-97.
Mughan, T. (1999). “Intercultural competence for foreign languages students in higher education”. Language Learning Journal 20, 59-65.
Oller, J. W. (1997). “Monoglottosis: What’s wrong with the idea of the IQ meritocracy and its racy cousins?”. Applied Linguistics 18(4), 467-507.
Ozolins, U. (1993). The politics of language in Australia. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Pavlenko, A. (2000). “L2 influence on L1 in late bilingualism”. Issues in Applied Linguistics 11(2), 175-206.
Peel, Q. (2001). “The monotony of monoglots”. Language Learning Journal 23, 13-14.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Harlow, Essex: Longman.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, R. & T. Skutnabb-Kangas (1995). “Linguistic Rights and Wrongs”. Applied Linguistics 16(4), 483-504.
Piller, I. (2001). “Naturalization language testing and its basis in ideologies of national identity and citizenship”. The International Journal of Bilingualism 5(3), 259-77.
Postmus, M.A. (1999). Metalinguistic thinking and learner strategies during the early acquisition of a foreign language: A comparative study of monolingual and multilingual tertiary students learning Mandarin Chinese in an Australian university. Master of Education, Nedlands WA, University of Western Australia. Unpublished.
Rampton, M.B.H. (1990). “Displacing the native speaker”. ELT Journal 44(2), 97-101.
Richards, J.C. & R. Schmidt (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. 3rd edition Harlow, Essex: Longman.
Romaine, S. (1995). Bilingualism. (2nd edition). Oxford: Blackwell.
Silverstein, M. (1996). “Monoglot standardization and metaphors of linguistic hegemony”. In D. Brennes & R. Macaulay (eds.), The Matrix of Linguistic Anthropology. Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 284-306.
Skutnabb - Kangas, T. (1996). “Educational language choice -multilingual diversity or monolingual reductionism?”. In M. Hellinger & U. Ammon (eds.), Contrastive Sociolinguistics. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 175-204.
Skutnabb- Kangas, T. (2000a). Linguistic genocide in education -or worldwide diversity and human rights? Mahwah N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000b). “Linguistic human rights and teachers of English”. In J.K. Hall & W.G. Eggington (eds.), The sociopolitics of English language teaching. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 22-44.
Smolicz, J.J. (1995). “Language -a bridge or a barrier? Languages and education in Australia from an intercultural perspective”. Multilingua 14(2), 151-82.
Snow, C.E. & K. Hakuta (1992). “The costs of monolingualism”. In J. Crawford (ed.), Language Loyalties -a source book on the Official English controversy. Chicago: University of Chicago, 384-94.
Sridhar, S.N. (1994). “A reality check for SLA theories”. TESOL Quarterly 2 8 (4) , 800-05.
Sridhar, K.K. & S.N. Sridhar. (1986) “Bridging the paradigm gap: Second languge acquisition theory and indigenized varieties of English”. World Englishes 5, 3-14.
Taniguchi, Y. & M. Oda (1997). “Monolingual or Multilingual? Teacher’s (sic) Language in EFL Classroom”. ACTA-ATESOL (NSW) National Conference and 10th Summer School, Sydney.
Torras, M. & J. Gafaranga (2002). “Social identities and language alternation in nonformal institutional bilingual talk: Trilingual service encounters in Barcelona”. Language in Society 31, 527-48.
Valdes, G. & R.A. Figueroa (1994). Bilingualism and testing: A special case of bias. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.
Widdowson, H.G. (1997). “Approaches to second language teacher education”. In G.R. Tucker & D. Corson (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Language and Education: Volume 4: Second Language Education. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 121-29.
