Multilingualism in the global village Curse of Babel or gift of tongues?

Suzanne RomaineMerton College, University of Oxford

“the great issues of identity politics and self-determination are becoming fewer and fewer these days.”

Thomas Friedman 1999. The Lexus

and the Olive Tree. New York:Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 211.

Multilingualism: global patterns and trends

Uneven distribution of linguistic diversitySpread of Eurasian languagesIncreasing bilingualism in a metropolitan language, especially EnglishImmigration and migration leading to increasing diversity

And the Lord said, ‘Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language… let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’

Genesis 11:6-7.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:4

400+ languagesPapua New Guinea 820Indonesia 742Nigeria 516India 427

Total 2505

200+ languagesMexico 291Cameroon 280Australia 231 D.R. Congo 216

Total 1018

100+ languagesBrazil 188Philippines 180USA 162Malaysia 140 Tanzania 128Vanuatu 115Vietnam 102Russia 101 Total 1116

Language endangerment, a global crisisThe hundred largest languages account for 90% of all people, with the remaining 6,000 some languages confined to 10% of the world's most marginalized peoples. Experts’ estimates of the risk of language extinction range from 50% to 90% of the world’s 6,800 some languages.

Nettle, D. and S. Romaine. 2000. Vanishing Voices. The Extinction of the World’s Languages. New York: Oxford University Press.

In today's global village increasing bilingualism in a metropolitan language, particularly English, is making the majority of the world's languages in effect minority languages. Even small national languages such as Icelandic with its 290,000 speakers, and larger national languages such as Swedish and Hebrew, substantially protected by political boundaries and institutions, are dominated by English at the highest levels of international communication.

Nettle & Romaine 2000:191.

Status of the world’s languagesA small minority of dominant languages prevail as languages of government and education. The total number of official languages in the world is quite small ‑ probably no more than 100 languages. English is official in more than 70 countries. French has official or co-official status in 29. Most languages are unwritten, not recognized officially, restricted to local community and home functions, and spoken by very small groups of people. This reflects the balance of power in the global linguistic market place.

Amazon.co.uk: Music: Bilingual [ENHANCED]

They call this a community, Ilike to think of it as home.Arriving at the airport I‘mgoing at it alone Ordering a boarding passTravelling in business classThis is the name of the

game. I'm single bilingual

Single bilingualIn Brussels, Bonn andBarcelonaI'm in demand and quite athome there"Adelante" through the door

"Un momento por favor“This is what I get paid for("Muchas gracias senor")I'm a player in the continentalgame with unlimited

expensesto reclaimInformation's easy Tapping at my PCThat is the frame of the game

I'm single bilingualSingle bilingual

Hay una discoteca por acqui?

the best medium for teaching is the mother tongue of the pupil

UNESCO 1953. The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education. p. 6

Mother tongue instruction is essential for initial instruction and literacy and should be extended to as late a stage in education as possible.Bilingual and/or multilingual education at all levels as a means of promoting both social and gender equality and as a key element of linguistically diverse societies.Language as an essential component of inter-cultural education in order to encourage understanding between different population groups and ensure respect for fundamental rights.

UNESCO 2003. Education in a Multilingual World.