The term multilingualism can refer to rather different phenomena. Sociolinguists distinguish: Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. ...

• multilingualism at the personal level
• multilingualism at the societal level
• multilingualism at the interaction level

Multilingualism at the personal level

A multilingual person is, in the broadest definition of multilingualism, anyone with communicative skills in more than one language, be it active or passive. More specifically, the terms bilingual and trilingual are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved.

Multilingual speakers have acquired at least one language during childhood, the so-called L1. L1-type languages are acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. A rather broadly held, yet nearly as broadly criticised view, is taken by the American linguist Noam Chomsky, whose professional life has so far mainly been dedicated to the description of what he calls the human language module, the mechanism that enables us to recreate correctly the rules that speakers around us apply to the language they speak. This language module, according to Chomsky, wears out over time, and is not normally available by puberty, which explains the relatively poor results adolescents and adults have in language learning, as compared to young children. Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...

Multilingual speakers have extra languages at their disposal. These can be either "L1s" or L2s, languages that have been learnt at a later age. If language learning is a cognitive process, rather than a language module, as the school led by Stephen Krashen suggests, there would only be relative, not categorical, differences between the two types of language learning. Stephen Krashen is a controversial linguist, who has put forth a number of hypotheses on second language acquisition, particularly in bilingual education. ...

Even if someone is a highly proficient bilingual at the performance or output level, his so-called bilingual competence may not be as balanced. Linguists have distinguished various types of bilingual competence, which can roughly be put into three categories:

• coordinate bilingualism: the linguistic elements (words, phrases) in the speaker's mind are all related to their own unique concepts. That means, a French-English bilingual speaker of this type (as can be found in large numbers in Quebec) has different associations for 'chien' and for 'dog'. This type of bilingual speaker usually belongs to different cultural communities that do not frequently interact. These speakers are known to use very different intonation and pronunciation features, and not seldom assert the feeling of having different personalities attached to each of their languages.

• compound bilingualism: speakers of this type attach most of their linguistic elements to the same concepts. For them, a 'chien' and a 'dog' are two words for the same concept. Those speakers are reported to have less extreme differences in their pronunciations. Such speakers are often found in minority language communities, or amongst fluent L2-speakers.

• subordinate bilingualism: the linguistic elements of one of the speaker's languages are only available through elements of the speaker's other language. This type is typical of, but not restricted to, beginning L2-learners.

Coordinate and compound bilinguals are reported to have a higher cognitive proficiency, and are found to be better L2-learners at a later age, than monolinguals. The early discovery that concepts of the world can be labelled in more than one fashion puts those bilinguals in the lead. There is, however, also a phenomenon known as distractive bilingualism. When acquisition of the first language is interrupted and insufficient, or unstructured language input follows from the second language, as sometimes happens with immigrant children, the speaker can end up with two languages both mastered below the monolingual standards. The vast majority of immigrant children, however, acquire both languages normally. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The first European explorer of what is now Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in the Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore and sailed into the St. ... Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ...

It should be noted that the distinction between compound and coordinate bilingualism has come under scrutiny and this comparison is not currently fashionable. When studies are done of multilinguals most are found to show behavior intermediate between compound and coordinate bilingualism. Some authors have suggested that the distinction should only be made at the level of grammar rather than vocabulary, others use "coordinate bilingual" as a synonym for one who has learned two languages from birth, and others have proposed dropping the distinction altogether.

Receptive bilingualism occurs when someone has the ability to understand a language, but (for various reason) doesn't speak it. Receptive bilingualism can occur when a child realizes that they are dominant in a community language over the native language of their parents, and choose to speak to their parents only in the community language. While some see this as a failure to become bilingual, families who adopt this mode of communication can be highly functional, and receptive bilinguals can rapidly achieve oral fluency when placed in situations where they are required to speak the subordinate language.

Multilingualism at the societal level

Chinatowns and other communities that are multilingual often make use of multilingual signs, like this one in Brisbane.

Multilingualism has been more common in the past than usually supposed; in early times, when most people were members of small language communities, it was necessary to know two or more languages for trade or any other dealings outside one's own town or village, and this holds true today in places of high linguistic diversity such as Sub-Saharan Africa and India. Linguist Ekkehard Wolff estimates that 50% of the population of Africa is multilingual. Download high resolution version (1570x804, 423 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1570x804, 423 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... New York City is home to one of the largest Chinatowns in North America, and is centered around Canal Street in Manhattan. ... Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, Australia. ... Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

A caution message in English, Kannada and Hindi found in Bangalore, India

Widespread multilingualism is one form of language contact. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1811 KB) Summary Photo of a warning message posted in English, Kannada and Hindi at the entrance of a electric power meter room in Bangalore. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1811 KB) Summary Photo of a warning message posted in English, Kannada and Hindi at the entrance of a electric power meter room in Bangalore. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Kannada - aptly described as sirigannada (known to few as Kanarese) is one of the oldest Dravidian languages and is spoken in its various dialects by roughly 45 million people. ... Hindi (हिन्दी hindī) is an Indo-European language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... Bangalore (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು) (pronounced // in Kannada, Telugu and // in English) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. ...

In multilingual societies, not all speakers need to be multilingual. When all speakers are multilingual, linguists classify the community according to the functional distribution of the languages involved:

• diglossia: if there is a structural functional distribution of the languages involved, the society is termed 'diglossic'. Typical diglossic areas are those areas in Europe where a regional language is used in informal, usually oral, contexts, while the state language is used in more formal situations. Frisia (with Frisian and German/Dutch) and Lusatia (with Sorbian and German) are well-known examples. Some writers limit diglossia to situations where the languages are closely related, and could be considered dialects of each other.
• ambilingualism: a region is called ambilingual if this functional distribution is not observed. In a typical ambilingual area it is nearly impossible to tell which language is used when in a given setting. True ambilingualism is rare. Ambilingual tendencies can be found in Luxembourg, or in border regions with many cross-border contacts.
• bipart-lingualism: if more than one language can be heard in a small area, but if the large majority of speakers are monolinguals, who have little contact with speakers from neighbouring ethnic groups, an area is called 'bipart-lingual'. The typical example is the Balkans.

A trash can in Seattle with a label in 4 languages: English, Chinese, Vietnamese (incorrectly), and Spanish.

In linguistics, diglossia is a situation where, in a given society, there are two (often) closely-related languages, one of high prestige, which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and one of low prestige, which is usually the spoken vernacular tongue. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2. ... A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country - it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. ... Frisia (known in German and Dutch as Friesland) is a region along the southeastern coasts of the North Sea. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Lusatia (German Lausitz, Upper Sorbian Łužica, Lower Sorbian Łužyca, Polish Łużyce, Czech Lužice, sometimes called Sorbia, is a historical region between Bóbr-Kwisa rivers and Elbe river in northeastern Germany (states of Saxony and Brandenburg), south-western Poland (voivodship of Lower Silesia and northern Czech... This article or section should be merged with List of Sorbian languages The Sorbian languages are members of the West Slavic branch of languages spoken in eastern Germany. ... The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of south-eastern Europe. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1168x1760, 531 KB) Summary A trash can in Seattle having a label with 4 languages: English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1168x1760, 531 KB) Summary A trash can in Seattle having a label with 4 languages: English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish. ... See Dustbin. ... Downtown Seattle skyline City nickname: The Emerald City Official website: http://www. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Multilingual at the interactional level

Whenever two people meet, negotiations take place. If they want to express solidarity and sympathy, they tend to seek common features in their behavior. If speakers wish to express distance towards or even dislike of the person they are speaking to, the reverse is true, and differences are sought. This mechanism also extends to language, as has been described by Howard Giles' Accommodation Theory.

Various, but not nearly all, multilinguals tend to use code-switching, a term that describes the process of 'swapping' between languages. In many cases, code-switching is motivated by the wish to express loyalty to more than one cultural group, as holds for many immigrant communities in the New World. Code-switching may also function as a strategy where proficiency is lacking. Such strategies are common if one of the languages is not very elaborated, like Welsh, Frisian, Sorbian and other minority languages, or if the speakers have not developed proficiency in certain lexical domains, as in the case of immigrant languages. Code-switching is a term in linguistics referring to alternation between one or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. ...

This code-switching appears in many forms. If a speaker has a positive attitude towards both languages and towards code-switching, many switches can be found, even within the same sentence. If, however, the speaker is reluctant to use code-switching, as in the case of a lack of proficiency, he might knowingly or unknowingly try to camouflage his attempt by converting elements of one language into elements of the other language. This results in speakers using words like courrier noir in French, instead of the proper word for blackmail, chantage. Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a monetary demand is met. ...

Bilingual interaction can even take place without the speakers switching. In certain areas, it is not uncommon for speakers to consistently each use a different language. This phenomenon is found, amongst others, in Scandinavia. Speakers of Swedish and Norwegian can easily communicate with each other speaking their respective language. It is usually called non-convergent discourse, a term introduced by the Dutch linguist Reitze Jonkman. Scandinavia, Fennoscandia, and the Kola Peninsula. ... A non-convergent discourse or NCD is a discourse in which the participants do not accommodate on the language level, which results in the use of different languages. ...

Multilingualism at the linguistic level

Models for native language literacy programs

Reasons for native language literacy include sociopolitical as well as socio-cultural identity arguments. While these two camps may occupy much of the debate behind in which languages children will learn to read, a greater emphasis on the linguistic aspects of the argument are necessary. In spite of the political turmoil precipitated by this debate, researches continue to espouse a linguistic basis for this logic. This rationale is based upon the work of Jim Cummins (1983).

Sequential model

In this model, learners receive literacy instruction in native language until they acquire a "threshold" literacy proficiency. The transition into an ESL class is then made.

Bilingual model

In this model, native language and English are simultaneously taught. The advantage is literacy in two languages as the outcome. However, teacher training must be high in both languages and in teaching ESL.

Coordinate model

This model posits that equal time be spent separately in both instruction of the native language and ESL instruction. The native language class however focuses on basic literacy while the ESL class focuses on listening and speaking skills.

Outcomes

Cummins' research concluded that the development of competence in the native language serves as a foundation of proficiency that can be transposed to the second language—the common underlying proficiency hypothesis. His work sought to overcome the perception propagated in the 1960’s that learning two languages were two competing aims. The belief was that the two languages were mutually exclusive and that learning a second required unlearning elements and dynamics of the first in order to accommodate the second (Hakuta, 1990). The evidence for this perspective relied on the fact that errors in acquiring the second language were related to the rules of the first language (Hakuta, 1990). Clearly, how this Hypothesis holds under different types of languages such as Romance versus non-Western languages has yet to undergo research. While this hypothesis would thus support the Sequential Model, how robust this model under languages of diverse origins would threaten this logic.

Another new development that has influenced the linguistic argument for bilingual literacy is the length of time necessary to acquire the second language. While previously children were believed to have the ability to learn a language within a year, today researchers believe that within and across academic settings, the time span is nearer to five years (Collier, 1992; Ramirez, 1992).

An interesting outcome of studies during the early 1990s however confirmed that students who do successfully complete bilingual instruction perform better academically (Collier, 1992; Ramirez, 1992). These student exhibit more cognitive elasticity including higher analytic performance of abstract visual patterns. Student who receive bidirectional bilingual instruction where equal proficiency in both languages is required perform at an even high level. Examples of such programs include international schools and multi-national education schools such as French-American, Korean-American, and Swiss-American schools.

Examples of multilingual regions/settings

There is a distinction between social and personal bilinguism. Many countries, such as Belgium, which are officially multilingual, may have many monolinguals in their population. Offically monolingual countries, on the other hand, such as France, can have sizable multilingual populations.

• a majority of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is multilingual. Under its 1996 Constitution, South Africa has 11 official languages including Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English
• Brussels, the bilingual capital of Belgium (15% Dutch-speaking)
• Canada is officially bilingual under the Official Languages Act and the Constitution of Canada that require the federal government to deliver services in both official languages. As well, minority language rights are guaranteed where numbers warrant. Approximately 25% of Canadians speak French. See Bilingualism in Canada
  • the Canadian province of Quebec, (10% English-speaking) Note: Although there is a relatively sizable English-speaking population in Quebec, French is the only official language.
  • the province of New Brunswick, Canada (35% French-speaking) New Brunswick is the only province in Canada with two official languages.
  • there are also significant French language minorities in the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. Though those provinces are not officially bilingual they do provide a number of services in French.
  • Nunavut is a Canadian territory with a population that is 85% Inuit. Its official languages are the Inuit dialects of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun as well as English and French.
• most regions of China: usually a local regional dialect such as Cantonese Chinese or Shanghai dialect (native) and Mandarin Chinese (learned, official)
  • In Hong Kong, both Chinese and English are official languages, and for Chinese both Mandarin and Cantonese are used. All the three spoken and two written languages are taught in schools, and are mandatory subjects.
  • In Macau, both Chinese and Portuguese are official languages, and for Chinese both Mandarin and Cantonese are used, but with predominance of Cantonese, as in Hong Kong.
• Finland (6% Finland-Swedish, Åland unilingually Swedish)
• India: Eighteen official languages. The largest, Hindi, is spoken natively by 18% of the population
• Most people in Indonesia are bilingual at an early age. They speak a local native language with their families whereas the official language Indonesian which is used to communicate with people from other regions and is taught in schools as a compulsory subject. Indonesia has over two hundred native languages.
• Almost all people in Malaysia are at least bilingual (many Chinese and Indian citizens are trilingual). They speak Malay, the official language of the country (which is a compulsory subject learnt in all public schools, and the language by which all subjects taught in school is instructed, except for Science and Math), English (brought by the British rule over Malaya until 1957, and is still a compulsory subject in public schools), and various Chinese dialects (mainly Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka as well as Mandarin), and Tamil. The indegenious peoples of Sabah and Sarawak speak their ancestral languages (Dayak etc).
• Ireland, where three languages have some form of official status. In the Republic of Ireland, Irish (one of the Goidelic languages) is the first official language while English is the second. Approximately 1.5 million Irish citizens are either fluent or semi-fluent in Irish, making it by far the most commonly spoken Goidelic language. However English is far more commonly used as less than 3% speak Irish as their 1st language and they are all located in the remote Gaeltacht regions. Ulster Scots, a variety of Lowland Scots, is spoken by some in northern regions, but again English is far more commonly used and Ulster Scots is less actively used in media. Irish and Ulster Scots now both have official status in the Northern Ireland as part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
• many Koreans living in Japan speak both Korean and Japanese
• Mauritius, children are taught Mauritian Creole, French, and English.
• Philippines: Filipino and English are official languages in the constitution. People in native Tagalog areas are usually bilingual, while in non-Tagalog speaking areas it's common to be trilingual in the native language, Filipino and English.
• ex-Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries: many people fluently speak Russian, especially in Slavic countries within the area of the former USSR (typically in Poland, Slovakia. However few Czech people speak Russian, despite huge expenditure in the past)
  • Republics of Russia. The language of titular nation is also official in those republics. Chuvash, Bashkir and Mari residents of Tatarstan also use to speak 3 language: own, Russian and Tatar.
  • Abkhazia. Elder generation of Abkhaz spoke Georgian, Russian and Abkhaz language
• Parts of Lower Silesia vovoidship of Poland, where live many people for which German is mother tongue
• Singapore. English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil are all official language. About 80% of the population is ethnic Chinese mainly speaking the Chinese dialect of Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka, although Mandarin is the officially recognized dialect.
• certain cantons of Switzerland
• Spain, where many regions have more than one official language (especially in Catalonia, where Spanish and Catalan both enjoy great social esteem and are both used in almost every social situation)
• Sweden. Tornedalen and Haparanda in North Bothnia, Finnish-speaking
• USA. Three US states are officially bilingual: Louisiana (English and French), New Mexico (English and Spanish), and Hawai'i (English and Hawaiian). Three US territories are also bilingual: American Samoa (Samoan and English), Guam (English and Chamorro), and Puerto Rico (Spanish and English). One US territory is trilingual: Northern Marianas Islands (English, Chamorro, and Carolinian)
• Wales, and to a lesser extent other Celtic-speaking regions of the UK, and London
• In New Zealand, approximately 10% of the population has some reasonable degree of bilingualism with English and Maori, mostly among the Maori themselves, few are fully fluent in Maori.
• On the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, where Dutch is the official language, but most inhabitants of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire are multilingual and speak Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish.

Personal multilingualism generally develops: Africa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Zulu are an African ethnic group of about 11 million people who live mainly in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. ... The Xhosa people are a group of peoples of Bantu origins living in south-east South Africa. ... Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia with smaller numbers of speakers in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (French: Bruxelles, Dutch: Brussel, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium, the French community of Belgium, the Flemish community and of the European Union. ... The Official Languages Act of Canada of 1988 is an Act of Parliament which recognizes English and French as the official languages of Canada. ... The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada. ... Bilingualism in Canada refers to laws and policies of the federal government – and some other levels of government – mandating that certain services and communications be available to the public in both English and French. ... Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. ... The first European explorer of what is now Quebec was Jacques Cartier, who planted a cross either in the Gaspé in 1534 or at Old Fort Bay on the Lower North Shore and sailed into the St. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope was restored) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Area 72 908 km² (11th) • Land 71 450 km² • Water 1 458 km² (2. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th) • Land 917,741 km² • Water 158,654 km² (14. ... Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free) Official languages English Capital Winnipeg Largest city Winnipeg Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba John Harvard Premier Gary Doer (NDP) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 14 6 Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 8th 647,797 km² 14. ... Motto: Nunavut Sannginivut (Inuktitut, Nunavut our strength / Our land our strength) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Iqaluit Largest city Iqaluit Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson Premier Paul Okalik (independent) Area 2,093,190 km² (1st) • Land 1,936,113 km² • Water 157,077 km² (7. ... Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. ... Inuit (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, singular Inuk or Inuq / ᐃᓄᒃ) is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic coasts of Siberia, Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Québec, Labrador and Greenland. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Inuinnaqtun is an indigenous language of Canada. ... Spoken Chinese The Chinese spoken language(s) comprise(s) many regional variants. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ... Shanghainese (上海話; pinyin: Shànghǎihuà, Shanghainese in SAMPA: [ zA~ hE hE wo ]) is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Mandarin, or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; pinyin: ; literally official speech), or Beifanghua (Traditional Chinese: 北方話; Simplified Chinese: 北方话; pinyin: â–¶(?)]; literally Northern speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ... ... National motto: none Official language Swedish Capital Mariehamn Governor Peter Lindbäck Premier Roger Nordlund Total Area  - Land  - Water 6,784 km² 1,527 km² 5,258 km² Population  - Total (2005)  - Density 26,711 17. ... Hindi (हिन्दी hindÄ«) is an Indo-European language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) are one of two major divisions of modern-day Insular Celtic languages (the other being the Brythonic languages). ... Ulster Scots (also known as Ullans) refers to a variety of Lowland Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in Ireland. ... Scots (or Lallans, meaning Lowlands), properly Lowland Scots, is used in Lowland Scotland, as well as parts of Northern Ireland and border areas of the Republic of Ireland, where it is known in official circles as Ulster Scots or Ullans but by speakers simply as Scotch or Scots. On the... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major step in the Northern Ireland peace process. ... Mauritian Creole is a creole language or dialect from Mauritius. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Russian Federation is divided into 89 federal subjects (administrative units), 21 of which are republics: Constitutional Status Republics differ from other federal subjects in that they have the right to establish their own official language (Article 68 of the Constitution of Russia). ... Titular nation (титульная нация) was a term introduced in the Soviet Union to denote nations that give rise to titles of autonomous entities within the union: Soviet republics, autonomous republics, autonomous regions, etc. ... The Chuvash are a bunch of pakis . ... The Bashkirs, a Turkic people, live in Russia, mostly in the republic of Bashkortostan. ... The Mari (also known as Cheremis in Russian and Çirmeş in Tatar) are a Volga-Finnic people in the Volga area, the natives of Mari El, Russia. ... Capital Kazan (Qazan) Area - total - % water 47th - 67,836. ... Abkhazia (Abkhaz Аҧсны/Aphsny, Georgian აფხაზეთი/Apkhazeti, Russian Абха́зия/Abkhazia) is a region of 8,600 km² (3,300 sq. ... Abkhaz is an agglutinative Georgia (in the autonomous republic of Abkhazia) and Turkey. ... Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken in Georgia and Turkey. ... Lower Silesian voivodship since 1999 Lower Silesia (Polish: Dolny ÅšlÄ…sk, Latin: Silesia Inferior, German: Niederschlesien) is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia in Poland, located along the middle Odra River and organized into Lower Silesian Voivodship, (Polish: województwo dolnoÅ›lÄ…skie) with capital... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Not to be confused with the Malayalam language, spoken in India. ... Tamil is a classical language and one of the major languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. ... Capital Barcelona Official languages Spanish and Catalan In Val dAran, also Aranese. ... Catalan (Català) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra and co-official in two regions of Spain. ... Haparanda is a Municipality in Norrbotten County, in northern Sweden. ... Norrbotten County, or Norrbottens län, or North Bothnia is a County or län in the extreme north of Sweden. ... State nickname: Pelican State Official languages None; English and French de facto Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans at last official government census, but probably Baton Rouge since Hurricane Katrina Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) Senators Mary Landrieu (D) David Vitter (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 31st 134,382 km... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... State nickname: Land of Enchantment Official languages English Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Governor Bill Richardson (D) Senators Pete Domenici (R) Jeff Bingaman (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 5th 315,194 km² 0. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle Official languages Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Hawaiian could refer to the Hawaiian language the native Hawaiian people within Hawaii. ... Chamorro, or Chamoru, is the native language used in Guam and Northern Mariana Islands. ... Carolinian is an Austronesian language spoken in the Northern Mariana Islands, where it is an official language along with English and Chamorro. ... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English, Welsh Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff First Minister Rhodri Morgan Area  - Total Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS 1... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... Te Puni, Māori Chief Māori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. ... Curaçao (pronounced [kurasão]) is an island in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. ... Bonaire Island from space, March 1996 Bonaire is an island in the Netherlands Antilles. ... Papiamento or Papiamentu is the primary language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

• among immigrants and their descendants.
• among children of ambassadors and expatriates.
• in border areas between two countries of mixed languages.
• among children whose parents each speak a different language.

For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. ...

See also

• Bilingualism in Canada
• Becoming bilingual
• Plurilingualism
• English-only movement
• Languages in the United States
• Spanish in the United States
• Diglossia
• Non-convergent discourse
• Indian Languages
• Monoglottism
• Polyglot
• Heritage speaker

Bilingualism in Canada refers to laws and policies of the federal government – and some other levels of government – mandating that certain services and communications be available to the public in both English and French. ... For some children, becoming bilingual is just a product of their environment, without much thought being given to the issue. ... Plurilingualism is the ability to speak more than two languages. ... An English-only movement refers to political movements for establishing the English language as the only official language in the United States. ... The United States is (as of 2004) the home of approximately 336 languages (spoken or signed) of which 176 are indigenous to the area. ... Spanish is the second most common language in the United States, after English, being spoken natively by about 30 million people 5 years and over (or 12% of the population) in 2005 excluding 4. ... In linguistics, diglossia is a situation where, in a given society, there are two (often) closely-related languages, one of high prestige, which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and one of low prestige, which is usually the spoken vernacular tongue. ... A non-convergent discourse or NCD is a discourse in which the participants do not accommodate on the language level, which results in the use of different languages. ... The article describes the languages spoken in the Republic of India. ... Monoglottism (Greek monos, alone, solitary, + glotta, tongue, language) is the condition of being able to speak only a single language. ... Polyglot has several meanings: Look up Polyglot on Wiktionary, the free dictionary The property of speaking multiple languages A polyglot is a person that can speak many languages A polyglot is a book that contains the same text in more than one language, usually a bible such as the first... A heritage speaker is someone who learned a certain language in childhood, but has subsequently used it only in a limited set of contexts (often only with family. ...

Sources

Collier, V.P. (1992). A synthesis of studies examining long-term language-minority student data on academic achievement. Bilingual Research Journal, 16, 187-212.

Gillespie, M. K. (1993). Profiles of Adult Learners: Revealing the Multiple Faces of Literacy. Tesol Quarterly, 27(3), Fall 529-533.

Hakuta, K. (1990). Bilingualism and bilingual education: A research perspective. Occasional Papers in Bilingual Education. Washington, DC: Delta Systems & the Center for Applied Linguistics.

Ramirez, J.D. (1992). Executive summary of the Final Report: Longitudinal study of structured English immersion strategy, early-exit and late-exit transitional bilingual education programs for language minority children. Bilingual Research Journal, 16, 1-62.

External links

• Heritage Languages in America: Tapping a "Hidden" Resource, by James Crawford
• Why Bilingual Education?
• A Brief History of Bilingual Education in Spanish
• A Global Perspective on Bilingualism and Bilingual Education
• Ten Common Fallacies about Bilingual Education
• Adult Literacy