Comments on: Bilingualism: Bane or Boon?

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:16:04 +0000

@Christof and @Arshad: I think knowing different languages is “good” in the same way that it’s “good” to have all kinds of knowledges and skills. The more knowledgable and skilled an individual is, the better – and that applies to languages, too. Whether that knowledge and and those skills are valued by others is an entirely different matter and often we find that speaking certain languages is not particularly valued vis-a-vis speaking others.

However, I think we have to be really careful not to talk about multilingualism in terms of moral “goodness”: there is a trend to think that multilinguals are more open-minded, integrative, peaceful etc. These dispositions may be inculcated in certain forms of bilingual education but I don’t think it’s reasonable to claim that bilingualism per se results in these dispositons and that multilinguals as such are morally superior. Just think of Stalin – he grew up bilingually (Georgian and Russian) and was an accomplished linguist …

By: Asma Fatehali (Karachi, Pakistan)

Asma Fatehali (Karachi, Pakistan) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:44:20 +0000

Thanks for sharing this thought provoking issue. Language is our heritage, so naturally no one wants it to die for acquiring other. I also think if we are getting education in bilingualism that is strength that we may get exposure of new language also which may give us flavour of diversity.

By: Arshad Baig (Karachi, Pakistan)

Arshad Baig (Karachi, Pakistan) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:59:54 +0000

I I believe that bilingualism is good in more than just speaking two languages, it is good in that we learn to think in other cultures, values and tradition. We can process better, and are less likely to stereotype or be racially inclined. In my view being bilingual is a beneficial for both for society as well as for individual.
I am Multilingual. My mother language is “Shina” spoken in the northern part of Pakistan (Gilgit Baltistan), in school I have studied in “Urdu” the national language of Pakistan, studied and learn English in University. I think language paves the wave to promote diversity and pluralism. It is really good to know and interact with several cultures.

By: khan

khan — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:37:48 +0000

…. “for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. (Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 239–251). While the the quote highlights the note of subjective interpretations of phenomeon, it leaves out an important aspect involved in interpretation and that is the socio-economic forces that shape and reshape emerging realities and decsions. You are absolutely right in maintaining that Bilingualism is neither good or bad. I think it the level of bilingualism which is largely controlled through education and through structural barriers. In case of the Kiss’s study, we are reminded once again through your post that the way high level bilingualism is controlled across speakers of Székely Hungarians.
I actually see state promoted monolingualism and bilingualism as fraud because they are often used to obscure the the diverse and complex ways throgh which individuals colloborate or contest with institutional discursive practices.

By: Golnaz

Golnaz — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:17:30 +0000

Dear Professor Ingrid ,
Perfect ! and really insightful .

Thanks

By: Christof D-H

Christof D-H — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:43:50 +0000

In reply to Ingrid Piller. Do you think it's possible to dispense with value judgements altogether?

By: Banafsheh

Banafsheh — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:15:04 +0000

Dear professor Ingrid,

Thanks for your helpful and interesting post.It contains very good points for research work.
Thank you for illuminating the way for researchers.

Best

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:17:45 +0000

In reply to Christof Demont-Heinrich.

Thanks, Christof! I wasn’t actually going out batting for monolingualism … but arguing for dispensing with these comparative value judgements altogether. I think Alexandre is summing it up quite nicely: multilingual language ideologies and practices are as frequently instrumentalized to create inequalities as are monolingual ones. While this is a social view, I think you are making a cognitive/individual point, and there you’re right, of course. As Goethe reminds us: “Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von der Eigenen.”

By: Christof Demont-Heinrich

Christof Demont-Heinrich — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:59:27 +0000

While I’m definitely not for blind worship of multilingualism — all human practices ought to be critically (re)considered on a regular basis, it’s difficult for me to see how monolingualism, taken from a value perspective, is “better” than multilingualism, or, more broadly, that comparative mono-cultural practices, ways of seeing, doing, being, are “better” than multiple ways of seeing, doing, being. Yes, from a “practical”, contextual perspective it might be that a certain group of people would appear to be “better” served, in terms of their material interests, by monolingualism. But, from a values perspective — and, ultimately, I believe there is no such thing as an outside of values perspective, I will always believe that multilingual, multicultural living, being, seeing, practicing are better. Though, of course, these multi-ways of being, living, practicing must constantly be critically interrogated and re-assessed.

By: Alexandre Duchêne

Alexandre Duchêne — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:35:57 +0000

Many thanks Ingrid for this most welcomed post. I perfectly agree that we definetly need to reconsider our position as a researcher concerning the ways in which we tend to too easily create some kind of too simplistic equations like monolingualism = bad; multilingualism = good. This create some new doxa which tend to silence and erase the fact that multilingualism isalso a constitutive part of the construction of social differences and potentially social inequalities. I also totally agree with Kimie that we need to move beyond the blind worship and promotion of multilingualism and rather ask under which circumstances and with what consequences language (in monolingual of multilingual terms) is instrumentalized in order to recreate boundaries, hierarchies and inequalities. We should also bare in mind that in many places on the world multilingualism is politically and now more than ever economically exploited. Thank again.

By: Janet Baker

Janet Baker — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:20:53 +0000

In reply to Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江. I sure would like to know more about what you say. It adds another layer to the whole scheme. I know that 'mixed' populations, divided by language and ethnic background, are easier to manipulate and exploit, but the idea that the forces always pressing for that condition might press for some positions linquistically is--astonishing! But of course!

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:44:56 +0000

I can’t agree more with the statement, “Bilingualism – just as monolingualism – is neither good nor bad in itself.” However, the ideology of bilingualism as good for everyone, as you start this post with, is so strong that in some places it’s become almost impossible to even suggest that there could be some contexts where bilingualism may not work, or work against certain groups of people. The study like Kiss’s is so important – it illuminates who misses out and why at the intersection between language policy and the construction of national identity. It also urges a context-specific approach to the notion and practice of bilingualism – that’s just what we need to resist the blind worship for multilingualism.