Vice Chancellor, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University),

Pune

ROLE OF MULTILINGUALISM IN COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Author(s): PRADNYA KULKARNI
Source: Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Vol. 72/73
(2012-2013), pp. 475-480
Published by: Vice Chancellor, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute
(Deemed University), Pune
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43610728
Accessed: 27-01-2024 18:14 +00:00

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Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute

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 ROLE OF MULTILINGUALISM
DEVELOPMENT
PRADNYA KULKARNI
The never before migration of people
fromone comer of the world to another
is increasingrapidly.This has resultedin
the multiculturalism and multilingualism.
People thoughmigratedfromtheircountry
wantto maintaintheirethnicidentity. That
is one of the reasons theyare knownwith
the 'hyphenated' 1 ethnicities.They are
so well rooted in theirown ethnicityand
certainlywith their language that they
don't wantto lose theirethnicidentity.
There are differentreasons why
people become multilingual.Immigration,
education, extended family, temporary
residencein anotherregionforsome time,
dislocationor simplybeing bornin a place
where it is assumed thatmultilingualism
is normal2. In a country like India,
where we have more than 400 different
languages and more than 2000 dialects
of these languages, Multilingualism
can't be avoided. While promotingthe
primaryeducation in the mothertongue,
the importanceof multilingualismwhich
is need of timeis overlookedquite often.
There are number of theories
about Language acquisition, cognitive
development, multilingualism etc. I
would like to pointout herethedifference
between language acquisition and
language learning. When we learn a
language we can achieve a particularlevel
1. Mathilda Holzman,(1997).TheLanguageof
Blackwell
Children, Publishers,
p.213
2 . EllenBiałystok, indevelopment,
Bilingualism
P.6.
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IN COGNITIVE
of proficiencydepending on our efforts,
and many other factors like teaching
methods,time given forlearningetc. but
when we acquire a language, one can
achieve native like proficiencyin that
language3.1intendto discuss theimportant
theorieson thesetopics.
Basically thereare two approaches to
look at Child language acquisition.One is
behaviorist approach towards language.
This theory was proposed by Linguist
Skinner (1957) and anotheris Mentalist
approach which was proposed by Noam
Chomsky (1977). In brief I would say
that the behaviorist's theory believed
that child learns language from the
behavior of the people around him/her4.
The Mentalist5 approach believed that
childrenare bornwithan inheritedability
to learn any human language. Chomsky
claims that certain linguistic structures
which children use so accurately must
be already imprinted on the child's
mind. He believes that every child has
a 'language acquisition device' or LAD
which encodes the major principlesof a
language and its grammaticalstructures
into the child's brain. Childrenthenonly
have to learn new vocabulary and apply
the syntacticstructuresfromthe LAD to
form sentences. This device, according
to Chomsky,wears out over time,and is
3. Dhongde Ramesh, (2006) Bhasha ani
Dilipraj
bhashavijñal, Pune.
Prakashan,
is alsoknown
4. Thistheory as Environmentalist
theory.
is alsoknown
5. Thistheory as nativist
theory.
476
notnormallyavailable by puberty6. Genie
- the American wild child - provided
evidence thatlanguage cannot be learned
after puberty7.In 1970, social workers
took custody of a 13-year-oldchild who
had spent much of her life chained to a
pottychair in herbedroom. She could not
speak, walk, or respond to otherpeople.
She was called "Genie." Her case attracted
psychologists who were interested in
findingout whethershe could still learn
to speak. At the time, some linguists,
led by MIT's Noam Chomsky,believed
that human speech is a genetically
programmed ability. Eric Lenneberg, a
neuropsychologist, agreed withChomsky
and added further thatif a person did not
learn to speak by adolescence, then the
naturalabilityto learn language mightbe
lost forever.This theorywas the so-called
"criticalperiod hypothesis."8
None of these theories solely could
satisfythe questions in the minds of the
linguists.
Putting these two theories together
many more theories were put forth.
One of these theories is Integrationist
theory9which statesthatChildrenrequire
6. Thediscussion aboutthelevelofproficiency
gettingaffectedby the age of language
learning.P.365,Ben Ambridge,Elena
V.M.Lieven (2011), Child Language
acquisition, Contrasting theoretical along with the 'mother tongue'. On
Approaches,CambridgeUniversitypress.
7. http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.
php?ch=genie
8. BenAmbridge, ElenaV.M.Lieven 1 1
(20 ), Child otherhand, the issue 'Mother tongue or
Language Contrasting
acquisition, theoretical other tongue for primary education?'
Approaches, CambridgeUniversity press,
P.363.
9. Jerome (1983),Child'stalk: learning
Bruner,
to use language,OxfordUniversity Press,
Oxford.
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Bulletinof theDeccan College 72-73 (2012-2013)
interactionwith a care-giverto develop
language. In these theories, mainly
differentstages of language acquisition
were discussed. David Crystal identified
five stages, Jean Aitchison identified
three stages and Piaget identifiedfour
stages of language acquisition.In all these
differenttheories,it is commonly stated
thatfirstthe child learns the lexicon (i.e.
the vocabulary) then morphologyof the
language, thensyntax(i.e. the grammar),
phonology then in the end Pragmaticsof
the language is learnt. All this process
seems verydifficult to understandbut it is
carriedout witha greatease on thepartof
thechildrenby the age of 4yrs.
After this basic
discussion on
let's talk about
Language acquisition
What
Multilingualism. exactly is
multilingualism?Here with the use of
the termMultilingualismI mean to say-
'The use of two or more languages in
speaking to some level of proficiency
is multilingualism'10. A multilingual
person is called a polyglot." People
having concern with the development
of the children- parents, teachers have
the questions in theirmind that 'will the
experience of learning two languages
lead to either cognitive or linguistic
confusion?' In Indian education system,
we follow the three language pattern;
the studentshave to learn 'other tongue'
the one hand education system expects
children to be multilingual and on the
10. Bloomfield- tohimbilingualism
According is
native
like over
control two languages.
11. Poly=many inGreekandglot-languages
Role of Multilingualismin cognitivedevelopment
is commonly discussed. Numbers of
experiments were carried out by the
linguists regarding multilingualism
and cognitive development. There are
number of scholars who have studied
multilingualismwith theirown point of
view. Some of theworks I have consulted
are by Macnamara(1966), Katherine
Nelson (1996) ,Vivian Cook (2001), Ellen
Białystok(2001) , JamesP.Cumminsetc.
Macnamara(1966)12 reviewed in
detail 77 studies published between
1918 to 1962. These studies were
based on children's bilingualism.The
linguistic assessments included tests
of vocabulary, spelling, reading and
grammatical complexity. He concluded
thatthebilingualshave a weaker grasp of
language than monoglots13.The reasons
given by him forthis situationwere- (1)
Linguistic contrast creates interference
especiallyforhighlydivergentlanguages14
i.e. while learningtwo languages which
hardlyhave any similaritywitheach other
(i.e. languages from differentlanguage
families) may cause confusion amongst
the children.(2) Cultural assimilation is
verycrucialforlanguage learningand that
was rarelypresentfor these children(3)
Language models are often inadequate.
Opportunitiesto learn were less and (4)
Time available to learn any language
was less forthe children.Consideringthe
reasons Macnamara has given, we can
say thatthese thingscan be taken care of
while teachingany language.
12. Ellen Białystok,(2001), Bilingualism in
development,Cambridge Universitypress,
P.59,.
13. Ellen Białystok,(2001), Bilingualism in
development,
CambridgeUniversity P.31.
press,
14. Lado,R,(1957),Linguistics
acrosscultures.
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477
Katherine Nelson (1996)15 studied
child's cognitive development from
biological foundation, cultural context,
mental constructionand social influence.
Accordingto her,language is the catalyst
of cognitivechangeduringearlyto middle
childhood16.Four yearsis theage at which
a new level of knowing emerges. Before
four years, children may get confused
easily, but they can overwrite; erase
somethingfromthememoryveryeasily17.
According to Katherine, Language is
the key. The representationin language
changes thecognitivesystemdramatically
duringthe age period of 4 yrsand above.
I would like to bring it to your notice
that four years is exactly the age when
children starttheir schooling. Language
teaching,methodsof it and effortstaken
at thisstage are goingto help thecognitive
developmentof thechildren.
Linguist Vivian Cook (2001) while
discussing multilingualism says, 'A
personwho speaks multiplelanguageshas
a stereoscopic vision of the world from
two or more perspectives,enabling them
to be more flexiblein theirthinking,they
learn reading more easily. Multilinguals,
thereforearenotrestrictedto a singleworld
view but also have a betterunderstanding
that other outlooks are possible. Indeed,
this has always been seen as one of the
main educational advantages of language
15. KatherineNelson, (1996), Languagein
cognitivedevelopment,
Cambridge
University
Press.
16. KatherineNelson, (1996), Languagein
cognitivedevelopment, University
Cambridge
Press,P.3.
17. KatherineNelson, (1996), Languagein
cognitivedevelopment, University
Cambridge
Press,P.331.
478
teaching"8.Thus we can say,multilinguals
can expand theirpersonalhorizons.
Ellen Białystok (2001)" studied
the Language, literacy and cognition
togetherand in her work 'Bilingualism
in Development' states a few important
points. According to her research, the
bilinguals may have differentlevel of
proficiency in each language20. These
children excel in problems requiring
control of attention.The reason is they
need to focus on differentlanguage forms
their
to differentiate two language codes.21
James P.Cummins22in his work on
language development says 'foreign
language learning enhances children's
understanding of how language itself
works and their ability to manipulate
language in the service of thinkingand
problemsolving'.
The linguists have proved that
childrendon't get confusedwhile learning
two languages at a time in early age. On
childrenget benefited23.
the contrary, The
multilingual children understand better
18. Cook, Vivian J. (2001) Requirements
for a multilingual model of language
production.Retrievedfrom homepage,
ntlworld.com/vivian. c/Writings/Papers/
RequirementsForMultilingualModel.htm2. Mothertongue
19. Ellen Białystok,(2001), Bilingualism in
development,Cambridge University press.
20. R60,EllenBiałystok,(2001),Bilingualism in
development,Cambridge University press.
21. R151, EllenBiałystok, in
(2001), Bilingualism
development,Cambridge University press.
22. CumminsJamesP., (1981), The role of
Primary development
language
23. SuzanneRomaine, (2004) Researcharticle
'BilingualLanguageDevelopemenť in Kate
SushieDobbinson andPatrick Griffiths
Trott,
(ed.) TheChildLanguageReader, Routledge,
NewYork,P.303.
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Bulletinof theDeccan College 72-73 (2012-2013)
than theirmonolingualpeers. If children
are exposed to more than one language
in their formative years of cognitive
development,theydevelop betterthinking
capacity. They get exposed to different
culturesand so greaterlevel of tolerance
and open-mindedness is developed in
them.The ideas are inculcatedin children
e.g. all people, languages and culturesare
equal in value and dignityand no language
is superiororinferior to others.Culturaland
is
linguisticdiversity somethingpositive
whichdoes notresultin disadvantages,but
is somethingto enjoy and cherish!
Based on thisresearch,an experiment
was carried out in Jnana Prabodhini
Navanagar Vidyalay,Pre primaryschool.
Questionnaire was designed for the
childrenin Sr.Kg. (4.5 yrs).
The English medium studentswere
selected forthis experimentwho already
know threelanguages Marathi,Hindi and
English. Germanwas introducedto them.
Aftersix monthsof trainingin German,
Questions in thequestionnairewere asked
to them.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Name
Father
tongue
3. Problem- solution(Intention-to test
the problem solving capacity and
number of solutions suggested. A
problem was given and the solutions
were recorded)
4. Concept-What comes to mind
(Intention- to test how differently
theycan think.A thingwas suggested
and what comes to their mind was
recorded)
Role of Multilingualismin cognitivedevelopment
5. Synonyms- (Intention- to test how
many alternative words they have
in their mind. Two things with an
action was shown and the words they
suggestedwere recorded.)
6. Antonyms- (Intention- to test the
concept of antonymyin their mind,
two concepts were shown with
miming and their responses were
recorded)
7. Ways of communication-(Intention-
to test what ways of communication
they can thinkof. A situationtelling
that 'you want to convey something'
was given and whatwill you do? Was
asked. The answerswere recorded)
8. Open mindedness-(Intention-to test
how limited their world is. Some
questionslike -
( 1) whatdo you like to eat?, (2) names
and people (includingcharacters)you
like, (3) I'm writinga story.There
are threebrothersin the story.One is
Jack.Name the othertwo, (4) where
would you like to go in a plane
Were asked and the responses were
recorded)
9. Colour terms(Intention- to testtheir
capacityto analyse,differentcolourful
objects with littledifferentin shades
were shown and colour names were
asked and theanswerswere recorded)
10. Embedded figure test (Intention-
to test their selective attention.
Embedded figurewas shown and the
number of figuresthey could figure
out was recorded)
The responses were recorded by the
teachers.Based on therecordedresponses
following points were observed. By
making children multilingual we give
thema chance to -
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479
• Have two or morewords foreach idea
or object.(They understandvery well
thatthe 'desk' is not a desk but a four
legged, piece of furniture with a flat
surface)
• Be more sensitive to the needs of
listeners
• Have a betterthinkingcapacity
• Be open minded.
• Get encouraged to become global
about
citizens who are self-confident
theiropinions and yetflexibleenough
to bridge the gap between different
cultures.
• Grow up with differenta language
which sharpens sensitivity for
different cultures, enhances brain
power and increases learningability.
Based on this experimentand theories,
I would like to state that the cognitive
development of the children doesn't
get affected by multilingualism.
Multilingualismplays vital role in the
a
cognitive development of the children.
The child should be exposed to as many
languages as possible (with the help
of proper language teaching methods)
in the formative years of cognitive
development irrespectiveof the medium
of education.Thereis a veryfamousquote
by PhilosopherLudwig Wittgenstein 'The
limit of my language means the limits
of my world'. It is duty of the parents,
teachers and educationiststo provide the
children with all possible facilities to
help themgrow widen theirhorizonsand
become the 'global citizens'.
480 Bulletinof theDeccan College 72-73 (2012-2013)

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