How Bilingualism

informs Language Teaching

a presentation by Steve McCarty at the JALT International Conference

Hamamatsu, Japan October 14, 2012

an attitude or stance that more languages are better (an "-ism")

a discipline in Applied Linguistics - the study

of languages in contact

a state of being or becoming bilingual to a useful extent

a goal of education, learning, or a child's natural acquisition

Bilingualism as

Individual level (Bilingual development)

Societal level (Social context)

Family level (Bilingual child-raising)

School level (Bilingual Education)

Levels of Bilingualism

In what ways does this analysis inform language teaching?

Why should mastering L2 as much as possible NOT be the goal of L2 education, learning, or children's acquisition

in all cases?

• Extrinsic norms and goals in terms of proficiency tests and so forth supersede the whole person's needs and developmental path.

• Implausible or overly idealized goals like the native speaker model demotivate and disengage students from realistic goals.

• "The goal of L2 education should not necessarily be the unequivocal and complete mastery of that language. In subtractive cases of L2 replacing L1 (Baker 2006: 4), often where immigrants' children's L1 is not valued in the community (Vaipae 2001), more can be lost cognitively than gained."

Among the many reasons to reconsider L2 goals:

McCarty, S. (2008). The bilingual perspective versus the street lamp syndrome. IATEFL Voices, 203, 3-4.

"Bilingualism is the ostensible goal

of second and foreign language education"

McCarty, S. (1992). The JALT N-SIG on Bilingualism: The

bilingual perspective. The Language Teacher,

16 (5), 3.

First / native (L1 acquisition)

Second / foreign (L2 / SL / FL learning)

Multilingual (L3, L... learning or acquisition)

2 native languages (Bilingual Acquisition,

La & Lb, or BFLA)

Types of Language Acquisition

Biculturalism (C1+C2) and multiculturalism (C3, etc.) are also

included in the broad field of bilingualism.

The JALT Bilingualism SIG serves the needs of intercultural families to raise well-adjusted (bilingual) children.

Bilingualism also

sheds light on language teaching,

in some of the following ways.

Bilingualism constitutes the goal of plural language acquisition as well the means of becoming bilingual, thus providing an overall orientation to language teaching. Bilingualism sheds light on identity issues involved in becoming bilingual, so learners can be given guidance on the option of biculturalism. Bilingualism clarifies the standpoint of students developmentally and socially, so language teachers can grasp the levers of group dynamics and motivation. Knowing the types of bilinguals, critical periods, and what to expect when L2 learning is started after early childhood, language teachers can advise the public and policy makers on when and how to start L2 learning. Bilingualism counters many misconceptions held in Japan and much of the world about languages in contact in individuals and societies, so language teachers can help learners overcome barriers to becoming bilingual.

Bilingualism clarifies the societal context of language education, such as the relative value of languages, unstated government policies and cultural attitudes, so language teachers can adjust their expectations and navigate educational institutions in the host society. Bilingualism clarifies the different domains and purposes affecting language choice and use, and the harmlessness of mixing languages or strategic code-switching, so language teachers can add nuanced realism to the basic aim of balanced input and interaction in each language. Bilingual education, focusing on the medium of instruction, clarifies the effectiveness of content-based language teaching, so language teachers can evaluate educational options such as mainstream, ethnic, international, or bilingual schools.

Finally, bilingualism sheds light on language acquisition, how research on first language acquisition, bilingual acquisition, and bilingual education informs L2 teaching. Reflecting on these and other insights from bilingualism can make a difference in everyday decisions in practice as well as in cultivating theories to undergird one's language teaching.

Thank you!

Do you have any questions, ideas or suggestions to add to this presentation?

See the handout for the author's online publications on Bilingualism in English and Japanese, available at

http://waoe.org/steve/epublist.html