Introduction:
Multilingualism may be considered important for young South Africans for multiple reasons which include; cultural diversity and identity and prevention of globalization, for overcoming communication problems and language barriers, for enhancing cognitive ability, and in order to compensate for the inadequacies of South Africa's governing systems. All of these points will be discussed.
Ensuring linguistic and cultural diversity
Most of the world's languages have slowly faded from existence overtime and many languages today are also threatened with extinction (Lo Bianco, 2010). This may occur as a result of a particular language being used less and less as time goes by until it no longer exists, fundamentally as it is not considered “prestigious” or useful in today’s society.
This may occur for example, when a child’s first language - which is rarely accepted by the wider community - would likely be a language which the child struggles to maintain as it is not supported in educational systems (Lo Bianco, 2010). This would ultimately result in the child letting go of the language all together as it is not being practiced. This cycle would repeat for many children of the same language, eventually resulting in the language, along with the cultural elements, becoming extinct all together.
This is a devastating phenomenon as it would mean that the world is becoming more and more culturally integrated, contributing to the speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness known commonly as globalization (Lo Bianco, 2010). The disappearance of a large proportion of the world’s languages may therefore have a detrimental effect on cultural diversity (Lo Bianco, 2010).
For these reasons, it is important to maintain multilinguali...
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...broaden their post-secondary possibilities and options considerably (Babson, 2014).
The second reason is simply that if our youth is multilingual from the start then hypothetically, they would have the capacity to be educated in our monolingual education systems as they would be able to understand the language they are taught in because they are multilingual. Raising our youth as multilingual is therefore a means to compensate for our inadequate education systems.
Conclusion:
The points discussed have demonstrated why Multilingualism among South Africa’s youth is imperative in creating an easy, diverse, communicative and highly intellectual society making it possible for our youth to attain the ability to change South Africa for the better. Multilingualism is therefore extremely important due to these cultural, communicative, educational and intellectual reasons.
For this summary I watched a video called Voices of the World: The Extinction of Language and Linguistic Diversity. The video starts off with how people believe that there are about 6, 000 languages. David Crystal talks about how with all these different languages half of them are endangered of becoming extinct. Each different language offers a different point of view of the world and culture. He said that if different languages are lost then “we lose the meaning what is it to be human.”
In “Why I Choose to Write in Irish, the Corpse that Sits Up and Talks Back”, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill argued for the survival of minority languages, especially her own Gaeilge (Irish) language. She compared the issue of preserving minority languages as important as the issue of the “preservation of the remaining rain forests is for biological diversity”. She fears that the death of minority languages and the dominance of English would “reduce everything to the level of most stupendous boredom”. (53) The author did not bash on the English language, only that if all other minority languages died and it was the only one that remained then the lack of diversity will just be plain dull.
Most people who grow up with a foreign language spoken in there house grow up with an advantage in society. This advantage can only occur once the individual learning that foreign language also learns the dominant language spoken in that country. Once both of these languages are learned and mastered, the individual has now placed them se...
Bilingualism can be defined as the ability to speak and/or write in two languages. In Australia English is the main language although in 1996, statistics show that 15% (2.5 million people) of the Australian population communicate in a language other than English at home and 42% of the population is born overseas (Australian Bureau Statistics, 1996). Most recently there are around 22 million Australians that speak in approximately 400 different languages (Australian Bureau Statistics, 2009). These statistics highlight the fact that there is an increasing rate of people who communicate in more than one language hence language is increasingly changing throughout society (Arthur, 2001). This suggests the need for support and understanding of bilingualism within children, families and the community.
Blain, Sue. “Multilingualism`masks deficient teachiong of reading`.” Business Day (south Africa). 26 Jun. 2007. 22 Sep. 2008
In the United States, an emphasize in learning the dominant language, English for example, can inevitably put other languages within the country in extinction. In reality, there are many other spoken languages in the United Sates, like those spoken by Native Americans, that are becoming endangered because of the immensity of more used languages. One may ask, what is an endangered language? According to Michael Cahill (Bonvillain), who has studied and researched many different endangered languages around the world, a language is endangered when "it is in fairly eminent danger of dying out." Cahill states two ways to quickly identify when a language is on its way to becoming endangered. One is when the "children in the community do not speak the native language of their parents, and the other is when there are only a small number of people left in the ethnolinguistic community" that know how to speak the language (Bonvillain). In specific, the Cherokee language fits into the category of an endangered language in the United Sates because less and less speakers speak it and because it is taught less often to younger generations as well. Although Cherokee, a language containing its own rules in grammar, morphemes, syntax, and phonetics, was once a language spoken in vast areas around the United States by native peoples, the language struggles to survive albeit historical foreign attack and current domination of other languages such as English.
In today’s society, especially in the United States, most people are monolingual English speakers. As a result, these monolingual speakers are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who speak more than one language fluently. This disadvantage is crucial to realize since it is important to learn how individuals and the nation can be enhanced. Multilingual speakers have an advantage in global affairs that involve countries that speak different languages. Speaking multiple languages makes it easier to communicate with people when involved in foreign affairs. Those who speak multiple languages are also more aware of other cultures in society. Monolingual speakers are not as exposed to other cultures and have difficulty understanding or even recognizing them. Furthermore, being multilingual increases your
If they lose their home language, they lose important family connections, tradition, heritage, which could lead to self-esteem and social emotional problems in their youth. For all these reasons, supporting and encouraging dual language learning in young children makes sense and is crucial to their long-term success (Magruder, et al. 2013).... ... middle of paper ... ... Early Childhood Education Journal, 38(6), 421-429.
Second language acquisition has also become a significant factor in the country because multilingualism is linked to “economic interchange, national security, and community development” (p. 586) in the current globalized world (Cummins, 2005a). Many heritage language students are enrolled in English as Second Language (ESL) program or mainstream education without linguistic support. These students live parallel linguistic and cultural lives divided between home and school which may create stress or inner conflict (Reyes and Vallone, 2007). Ironically, many heritage language students willingly enroll in foreign language classes in middle school, high school, and or college in order to further develop...
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way” - Frank Smith. This quote and many like it are some of the key reasons students should be taught a second language or at least attempt bilingualism at an early age rather than late high school and little in college. By the time the brain is nearly developed, and the space that could’ve been used for memorizing a new language would be used to save video game codes. Adding to the early education, they should also be able to explore more languages given in schools, rather than the Latin romance languages.
Bilingualism The English language has grown to be the world’s most significant language and its increase to the status of globally spoken language must rank as one of the most significant facts in the educational times gone by of the twentieth century world. It is conceivably suitable, as the new millennium comes closer, that we ought to pause to reproduce on how English reached this point, what might take place next, and what it all means, both for those who converse English and for the large proportion of the world's inhabitants who do not. Uniformly, we need to think the insinuations of these changes on our own position as language education professionals. David Crystal's book, English as a Global Language, (Crystal, 1997) aimed to point out that “English became the world language not because of any intrinsic linguistic qualities, but because at significant moments in history it happened to be 'in the right place at the right time'”. "The Future of English?" (Graddol, 1997) suggests that “English is at a turning point in its development as an international language: it has become a global language at a time when the world itself is undergoing rapid change. Indeed, English is very much a part of the process of transformation, which is creating a more closely interconnected world in which people and machines talk easily to each other across vast spaces.” Reviewing Barbara Mayor and David Graddol, evident is the fact that there are two key indicators of this changeover point in the progress of English. First, the number of people speakers using English as a second language will rapidly outnumber those who articulate it as a first language. Secondly, it is obvious that added people learning English as a foreign language do so in ...
Some indigenous languages have died with the elimination of their speakers through genocide or any other calamity. Secondly, many lost their existence because they were not documented and described. Weinreich (1953:68) defines language shift as a "change from the habitual use of one language to that of another". It means the number of speakers comes down in a downward movement, the speakers lose their proficiency and the language use decreases in every sphere of life (Baker and Jones, 1998). In this way, the minority languages shift their sympathies to the majority languages. The process of shift is sometimes so intense that the speakers of the weaker languages relinquish their local language completely (Rasul, 2006). According to Baker (2011) in the forthcoming century around 50 to 90 percent languages of the world will either die or will be on the threshold of
A decree issued by the Bantu Education in 1976 caused major upset amongst black South African students, leading to their opposition and ultimate protest of marching against this decree which imposed Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in half the subjects in both primary and middle schools. Not only that, but members at the time of the ruling National Party spoke Afrikaans which angered the students further as they saw it as the “language of the oppressor”. Both African teachers and students experienced the negative implications of this decree as neither had a grasp of the language. The frustration felt among students (and teachers) can be seen based on this example from an article from ‘The World’ newspaper, 18th May 1976 which basically reported students who “threatened to beat up their headmaster” because of the alleged sacking of the school board’s head for protesting against Afrikaans. Although other factors are considered, it was ultimately the introduction of Afrikaans as well as English by the Bantu Education system that was the im...
Research also confirms that children learn best in their mother tongue as a prelude to and complement of bilingual and multilingual education. Whether children successfully retain their mother tongue while acquiring additional languages, depends on several interacting factors.
As time goes by and as the global community develops, the world grows more and more international, making second or third language acquisition become necessary to the majority. With the growing importance of multiple language ability, more and more parents think of bilingual or multilingual education, which means acquisitions of two or more languages, for their kids. In fact, we do have many reasons showing why multilingual education is important and beneficial, such as aspects of interpersonal relationship, employment, brain health, and so on.