Advantage And Disadvantage Of Multilingualism

Everyone in America has had to learn a second language in order to obtain a high school diploma, however this ‘learning’ of a language is merely a short class that does little to tie one down to a second language. There are few students who continue to seek more and more knowledge about their intended language. Some lose interest, while others make excuses by saying that it is too hard. However, learning more than one language has so many benefits that it is mind boggling to me that more people like to remain monolingual. Obviously time and resources are a concern, but there are so many ways to learn a language that can be catered to one’s individual needs. Think about all of the people in our nation whose first language is not English.

As we know, English is the universal language in the world and everybody knows English. Many countries use English as official language for example Singapore, Korea, Australia and Etc. According to the language of government, English was an universal language and there were 58 sovereign states and 21 non-sovereign entities. English became an official language at the local or regional level and many countries have declared English as an universal language. Since English is important nowadays therefore many schools push their students to be able to speak English in early age. Many schools try to put English program to their lesson so the students are capable to speak English fluently earlier. By speaking English fluently, the students can build

If people maintain their native language, then they can represent their culture and linguistic needs in government. This way of thinking about multilingualism breeds acceptance and appreciation of other cultures and languages. Finally, I agree with and enjoyed Benjamin Rush’s commentary on multilingualism. He, “expressed his concern that, “narrow-minded people,” fearful of retention of the German language among Pennsylvania’s citizens, would not recognize the benefits a German college might provide the nation. The spread of learning among citizens, no matter what their native tongues, was crucial to the cause of the government” (23) by promoting democracy through freedom of speech and freedom of language. Additionally, multilingualism works to make stronger foreign relations, advances in science, math and all other research and allows America to communicate its success to other countries, The presence of multiple languages makes America the accepting, culturally diverse mixing pot that it is

After independence in 1947, India adopted Hindi as its national language and decided to make it an official language too. But in a multilingual country like India, establishing an official language was not an easy task. There were, however, several problems with selecting Hindi. After independence, the hatred feelings for British rule indulged with English languages, it reminds Indian mass of the colonial rulers. However, there was also a section of people who believed that the English language has contributed somehow in the freedom struggle of India and is having the capacity to do much good for independent India too. The difference in opinion of these two sections of Indians was one of the causes of language dispute. All these had created

“One of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time”, Federico Fellini once stated that “A different language is a different vision of life” and I, in my turn tend to say that he was perfectly right. A person who speaks more than one language can experience multiple personalities, visions and reflections consisting which language is he speaking. High School students should comprehend the real benefit of speaking a foreign language. Being a multilingual myself and speaking fluently four languages and studying another two, I consider that I am qualified enough to persuade that my argument is strong, plausible and not ultimately-right. In the following paragraphs I am going to address the following three reasons why should other High School students learn at least one foreign language? Firstly, learning a new language enhances performances in the academic domain and makes you smarter. Secondly, knowing a new language is a high estimated and a very valuable characteristic in your professional CV. Thirdly, international travel is more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.

In an increasingly interconnected world, America remains alarmingly isolated due to cultural rigidity. Though often dubbed a “melting pot” of people and ideas (Wolff, 2), this is quite the misnomer. Most Americans have no experience with anything outside of the country. In fact, almost 64 percent have never travelled outside their own familiar borders (Fischl, 1) and less than 25 percent can speak a foreign language conversationally (Wolff, 2). This lack of global literacy comes at a high price. In order to thrive internationally in areas such as economics and politics, the United States needs people proficient in the global culture (Altshuler and Skorton, 1). Fortunately, through the cultivation of foreign language, integration of foreign

The number of Languages spoken throughout the world is estimated to be 6,000. Although a few languages are for wider communication around the world, these are very often spoken as second, third, fourth, or later-acquired languages. Fewer than 25% of the world 's approximately 200 countries recognize two or more official languages, with a mere handful recognizing more than two. Despite there being lots of bilinguals and multilinguals, there is also a bunch of monolingual people in the world. The adult population is allowing their children not to learn a foreign language, drastically underfunding language courses in middle to high school level classes. Because they think it 's not necessary in this century, thinking they don 't require communication with other people from other countries. But the truth is that it can actually benefit in more ways than people think. The United States school system has started to not require foreign language class for graduation requirements, this places the U.S at a disadvantage in the world scene.

Learning to speak another language other than English is a highly debated subject in regards to education. Language in itself is an essential tool to everyday living,from whimsical conversations to important business meetings. Words have the power to inspire and change the world, but not everybody can understand the same words. There are hundreds of languages spoken around the globe how do we know which to speak? We can’t be certain. Therefore, it is not advantageous for English speakers to learn another language, there are too many languages for one to be exceptionally useful, and other countries are quickly learning English.

As the title suggests, “Speaking in Tongues: The Many Benefits of Bilingualism” is an article that examines the advantages of bilingualism. Due to the nature of the world, a great number of people have acquired the ability to speak more than one language. The author explores the benefits such an ability offers, arguing that bilingual children develop social, linguistic and cognitive skillsets that not only provides a chance to explore different cultures, but raises a child’s awareness of how language functions. The author also weighs on the cognitive aspect; applying the works of Ellen Bialystok to their ( the author’s ) argument. In the author’s view, bilingual children are better at dealing with conflicting cues and assessing information.

The United States is first in imports and second in exports, where in 2015, 2.16 trillion dollars’ worth of products were imported into the country, and 1.38 trillion dollars’ of American products were exported (Simones). Even in the United States knowing a foreign language can give an individual many experiences that only knowing English cannot provide. One can imagine walking through Manhattan neighborhoods, where Spanish can be heard from the Dominican barrio of Washington Heights, or Mandarin from the vibrant Chinatown. The experience would be completely different for a monolingual person compared to a bilingual or trilingual person. Three possible solutions to improve world language education in the United States is to offer more foreign languages to teach, such as Arabic or Chinese, require three or four years to graduate from high school and be admitted into a college or trade school, and to teach foreign

On planet earth, there are a lot of smart animals and primates, however, none of them can talk to each other in the way that human beings do. The biggest distinction between humans and animals, is language (The Children of the Code Project, 2012). Language is a shared symbolic system, it is a means to expressing ideas and concepts, it is inquisitive, and it is also the link between the past and the future (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013, p. 97). Language consists of groups and combinations of words and is the prime means of communication between humans (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014, p. 17). Many linguists question whether language is a naturally inherited process, or whether it emerges and develops through instruction. Others however, like Noam Chomsky, an American linguist and cognitive scientist, believe that with more than 4000 languages existing today, some are too complex to the learned through formal instruction and that children possess an inborn “language acquisition device” (O'Donnell et al., 2016, p. 127). Chomsky believed that language is made of words, nouns, verbs and subsequently, the rules on how those are moved around for example syntax and grammar (O'Donnell et al., 2016, p. 127); this is also known as a cognitive phenomenon (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 6). During his / her career, a teacher will have in the classroom a vast variety of students with diverse linguistic backgrounds, and it is imperative that educators use language as the social bridge that connects his /

More than half of the people around the world speak more than one language. In the US, a fifth of the population between the ages five and older speaks another language in addition to English. There are conflicting views on whether bilingualism offers more benefits than drawbacks. The almost obligatory question is: does bilingualism provides a greater benefit than just talking and understanding to people with different languages. This paper short-paper aims briefly explain some findings in these regards. It also examines the pros and cons of acquiring language at different ages. And finally, discusses how being bilingual can help people in their work environment.

Why should people nowadays see languages as a big prize? A person speaks more languages have more opportunities are skewed to him because he benefits the profit comparing to a person who speaks only one standard language. It is time for globalization and its effects on children for speaking other languages as a must. In two articles “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez and “Whose Voice Is It Anyway?” by Victor Villanueva, the two authors both expressed their opinions on native language and how the assimilation impacts a child. However, Rodriguez believed that the assimilation was beneficial for him as he had grown up in the English-speaking world and he disliked bilingual education which created many controversy.

Talking about “dialects”, a term often mentioned along is “standard language”. When being brought into comparison with “dialect”, “standard language” usually serves as a legitimate variant with the highest level of excellence (Bex & Watts, 1999). Though positive in nature, standardization - the procedure of standardizing a language – often raises heated controversy because of its consequences on not only linguistics field but also the society. In the second part of the essay, I will focus on the disadvantages of language standardization.

It is everywhere. About 380 million speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many as their second. A billion are learning it, a third of the world’s population are in some sense exposed to it and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient at it. It is the language of globalization - English. Though defining globalization is a contested and divisive issue, according to the “Arab World English Journal,” “Globalization can create a world without boundaries in which people of this world can communicate with each other, interact and share their cultures, economies, and generally their lives via development in the fields of information technologies, communications, and transportations” (Alfehaid 104). Cultures have mixed and economies have become interdependent. Berube’s article, “From Mapping the Bilingual Brain,” exposed the connection between higher IQ levels and knowing more than one language; this investigation ignited a spark of curiosity, one which allowed me to observe the decrease in the memorization of foreign/native languages and the increase and dependence on English in the global community today. This overall aided in developing an extensive research question: In what ways has the globalization of the English language worldwide impacted society? Through exploratory research, the views of English language globalization is widely debatable; although a majority of linguists and