What is bilingualism? The importance of speaking languages

Speaking several languages has its rewards: bilingualism and science, under analysis.

It is easy to recognize that the phenomenon that gives this text its title is in vogue. These days we don't just talk about any kind of bilingualismof course.

From the small prehistoric tribes who, precisely because of their small size, needed to understand their neighbors in order to negotiate, to, for example, the koiné of ancient Greece, the ability to speak several languages has always been present and has been an essential characteristic of the most primitive societies.

What is bilingualism?

The bilingualism we live in today is that of a massively globalized world, with a clearly prevailing lingua franca (English) and minority languages that to a greater or lesser extent are exposed to the whole world. The possibility of being bilingual today means the virtual possibility of knowing any language that exists right now somewhere on the planet.. 

And all this because, at some point in human evolution, the brain became so complex and malleable that it became capable of laying the foundations for a linguistic system, all its possible variants, and the ability to learn them. How can this be explained?

A priori, almost all definitions of bilingualism understand that in bilingual people there is a mother tongue or dominant language, and a second language (less rigorously speaking, it can be understood that it can also occur when there is more than one "secondary" language, or else we can speak of multilingualism), and it is very rare that this hierarchical distinction between languages is obviated by simply defining bilingualism as the ability to master two languages. Ambilingual or equilingual people are practically non-existent. Therefore, in the vast majority of cases the bilingual person will have a primary language. primary language (L1) and at least one secondary language (L2).

However, we have not yet offered a complete definition. This is because the very conceptualization of bilingualism is a controversial issue. While some authors may argue that bilingualism only occurs when a person controls the grammatical structures of both L1 and L2, there are also definitions of bilingualism as the ability to possess a minimum competence in speaking, understanding, reading and writing in a language other than one's mother tongue.

Types of bilingualism

It is useful to know the distinction between additive bilingualism y extractive bilingualism. 

This classification corresponds to cases in which one language complements the other (the first category) and those in which one language tends to replace the other. This substitution mechanism can be explained by the habits, customs and contexts linked to the use of the languages that the same person masters, rather than by the Biological structures common to all human beings. If one language is more valued than another, has more prestige, is listened to more, or there are simply no communicative situations in which one of the languages can be used, the command of one of the languages will eventually diminish. This process is not explained, therefore, by neuropsychological bases, but it exists nonetheless.

Another important distinction is that of simultaneous bilingualism y successive bilingualism. 

The former is the result of exposure to different languages during very early stages of growth, even in the pre-linguistic stages of the first months of life. In the latter, a language is learned when there is already a well-established primary language. These are constructs designed to explain the differences in the mastery of L1 over L2, which are more evident in cases of successive bilingualism.

The development of bilingualism

The fit between the primary language and the secondary language is made from the first exposures to speech. The first thing that emerges is a phonology cross-languagethat is, a phonology that uses a repertoire of phonemes that is virtually the same in both languages. This would be followed by parallel development in phonetics, morphology and syntax, and finally by awareness of bilingual ability (and, therefore, ability to translate deliberately).

In later stages, by learning the contextual use of different languages, language is related to attitudes, affects, specific situations, etc. in a subconscious way. In other words, it becomes a contextual tool. This is why, for example, some people always speak Catalan in academic contexts, even though there is no written or unwritten rule requiring it. It should not be forgotten that language acquisition and production is mediated by the environment, and it is in a given context that a language is used.

The scientifically proven advantages of speaking several languages

There is scientific consensus that at earlier ages there is more brain plasticity, i.e., the brain isthat is, the brain is more sensitive to external stimuli that produce modifications in the nervous system. This plasticity makes it possible to learn new languages with relative ease (there is even talk of critical periods, establishing a time threshold up to which any language can be learned quickly), and this learning in turn brings with it many other advantages. The main advantage of these young learners is not only in the speed with which they can begin to speak in another language: their ability to pronounce the phonemes of the secondary language faithfully is also significant compared to successive bilinguals.

This is consistent with the fact that newborns have an "unlimited range of phonemes". As a general rule, the closer in time between birth and learning a new language, the less likely it is that the ability to differentiate and produce certain phonemes used in that language will have been lost.

On the other hand, adults, when learning a language, have resources that younger children may not have. The most obvious is cognitive ability, but also the ability to be self-motivated, to learn deliberately, etc. However, beyond developmental psychology, it is necessity that makes language learning possible. In this sense, both simultaneous and successive bilinguals use languages in response to a given context..

There are many criteria to explain and predict the bilingual development of individuals. From a more positivist perspective, the variable "exposure to a language" measured by the time during which the subject is subjected to each language seems valid to us. The same is true of the variable "language to which the subject has been exposed before". However, going further, we could also consider variables such as the child's feeling for the speaker of each language (in his or her immediate environment, of course), the context in which he or she uses each language, and therefore the need linked to the use of each language. However, this type of qualitative analysis escapes the pretensions of most lines of research, which are more focused on a labor or academic environment defined by the asepsis and unidimensionality of human relations.

In context

The capacity of the human mind to learn more than one language can be understood as both an advantage and a limitation. There is no doubt that it is an advantage in that it allows for the emergence of new ways of thinking. allows for the emergence of new ways of thinking, feeling and even problem solving.and even problem solving. There is even talk of advantages for the brain beyond the linguistic sphere. However, the possibility of mastering languages is also a limitation in a world in which knowledge and skill have become featurestraits that help to position oneself in a competitive world that is always demanding new and greater competencies.