Re: Bilingualism in 'migrant' children

From: mb (azythos2_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 01/05/05 

Date: 4 Jan 2005 21:50:20 -0800

Nathan.....

>I disagree that bilingualism is "discouraged". I have observed
>'migrant' children being reprimanded for using their first
>language at school, but this doesn't mean they're being told not to
>learn and use it at all. They're being taught that different
>languages are appropriate in different social settings. In my
>opinion, it's rude and inconsiderate to speak a language in front
>of people who don't understand it. Even tourists ought to keep such
>conversations as discreet as possible.

The mechanism that discourages high-level bilingualism and creates
learning difficulties has not much to do with school.
Basically, it works through the perceived cultural prestige of the host
language (to which school also contributes, no matter your
(schoolteacher's) interpretation of the repression. The earning level,
social prestige and other things associated with mastery of the host
langage are obvious and well-advertised; also peer pressure mainly
among adults, especially in countries with a high degree of latent
xenophobia and racism, is harsh. A couple of well-meaning words at
school are certainly not enough to make all this go away (especially if
coupled with interdictions to use one's mother tongue).

That perceived cultural prestige, as in any contact situation, leads
many families to use the host language at home. A language that is not
their mother tongue (and in which they are generally incompetent). The
expected result is language (both host and native) and other learning
difficulties in children. It is frequently observed that children of
uneducated migrants who don't know a word of the host language on
arrival (and so are not able to mix tongues) do generally better than
those growing up in families where mixing goes on.

Jarosciak is also right in that highly educated, privileged groups, not
only among the host country aristocracy but also educated migrants,
have totally different value judgments here. They are also much more
aware of the dangers of mixing languages with children and are more
likely to stick to the principle of having each reference adult use his
own mother tongue, in order to encourage competent multilingualism in
the child. And, of course, educated migrants are much more likely to
provide education in the written / standard imported language.

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