Monolingual Culture Research Articles

Effects of bilingualism on the cognitive development of selected Nigerian University undergraduates

This study is an exploration of the perceptions and experiences of Igbo-English bilingual undergraduates in relation to the social, cultural and cognitive benefits and drawbacks of bilingualism. In this study, a questionnaire was designed and then given to 150 Igbo-English bilinguals from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Enugu State University of Science and Technology. All the responses were identified, categorised and analysed qualitatively. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development was adopted as the theoretical framework for this study. The findings showed that bilingualism has both positive and negative social, cultural and cognitive effects. Positively, from the perceptions and experiences of the undergraduates under study, bilingualism improves selective attention, and enhances the auditory stem response, among others, while negatively, it can be viewed as a threat to monolingual culture, and also affects speaking a second language other than that of the home environment, which creates conflict and confusion among parents and children.

Root Cause Analysis of Demotivation in the EFL Classroom: The Role of Task Value in a Monolingual Culture

Root Cause Analysis of Demotivation in the EFL Classroom: The Role of Task Value in a Monolingual Culture

From “Latin” to the Vernacular: Latin-Romance Hybridity, Scribal Competence, and Social Transformation in Medieval Castile

This study presents an alternative interpretation of language represented in Latin-Romance hybrid documents of early-thirteenth-century Castile based on analysis of local legal documents produced by Nicholaus Martini, a scribe of the city of Burgos. Most scholars have attributed hybrid practices primarily to some kind of scribal ignorance of “Latin” norms. In contrast, we highlight evidence of scribal competence by focusing on the production of a single, typical scribe, arguing that he (and peers) worked within a monolingual culture characterized by spectroglossia. The patterns of switching, mixing, and blending of registers in Nicholaus’s texts cannot be accounted for primarily as a result of incompetence. Rather, they develop as conventions in response to larger sociocultural changes (e.g., urbanization, laicization) and a number of social and cultural factors that favored representation of “Latin,” representation of “Romance,” and representation of a hybrid register. In so doing, we also argue against an overemphasis on ease of comprehension as a factor shaping the design and reception of written texts and oral performances of them. The study suggests that this type of hybrid document corresponds to a period that set the stage for subsequent development of practices and conceptions that differentiated sharply between Latin and Romance(s) as separate languages.

Comparison of Disease Patterns and Outcomes Between Non-Japanese and Japanese Patients at a Single Tertiary Emergency Care Center in Japan.

BackgroundJapan’s historically low immigration rate and monolingual culture makes it a particularly interesting setting for clarifying non-national medical care. Our study objective was to examine disease patterns and outcome differences between Japanese and non-Japanese patients in a rapidly globalizing nation.MethodsA secondary data analysis of 325 non-Japanese and 13,370 Japanese patients requiring tertiary care or intensive-care unit or high-care unit admission to the emergency department at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University medical hospital from 2010 through 2019 was conducted. Multivariable linear and logistic regressions models were applied to examine differences in percentage of diagnosis, mortality rates, and length of stay, stratified by Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores to consider the impact of language barriers. Sex and age were adjusted.ResultsNon-Japanese patients had more anaphylaxis, burns, and infectious disease, but less cardiovascular diagnoses prior to adjustment. After adjustment, there were significantly more anaphylaxis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7–4.4) and infectious disease diagnoses (aOR 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3–3.7), and marginally more burn diagnoses (aOR 2.3; 95% CI, 0.96–5.3) than Japanese patients. Regardless of GCS scores, there were no significant differences between non-Japanese and Japanese patient length of stay for anaphylaxis, burn, and infectious disease after covariate adjustment.ConclusionThere were more non-Japanese patients diagnosed with anaphylaxis, burns, and infectious disease, but no notable patient care differences for length of stay. Further prevention efforts are needed against anaphylaxis, burns, and infectious disease for non-Japanese tourists or residents.

Exploration on Way out of Achieving Chinese-English Bilingualism from Early Childhood in China

Worldwide, there has been a number of researchers studying how children acquire two or more languages since bilingualism or multilingualism were increasingly prevalent. China, a monolingual culture is a late participant engaged in the field of bilingualism studies. Recent years witnessed a growing number of Chinese parents who attempted to raise their children bilingual by speaking English to them at home, however, relevant research on bilingualism acquisition in China lagged behind. This article reviews existing studies on early child bilingualism acquisition and bilingual parenting, displays language context in China, and explores solutions to difficulties Chinese parents face. Different from their counterparts in culturally diverse context, these Chinese parents were confronted with unique and more challenges: the quality of English they speak to children; the quantity of English input; the monolingual environment in China; and resistance to English by children. Solutions are proposed to tackle these issues respectively.

Solitary Reapers: Reading Cultural Interjections in a London School

This essay explores the problematic nature of an enforced monolingual culture promoted by the current Conservative-led UK government. It comments upon the paradoxical nature of the 2014 curriculum that promotes heritage texts and ‘proper’ English, when such poets embraced a Bakhtinian tolerance of languages. It focuses primarily upon the social relationships fostered with a Year 10 class by a new teacher within the English department in North London school. It questions the rejection of the Bullock Report and explores the importance of culture and linguistic interjections in pupils’ negotiation of meaning in and outside the classroom.

Transnationaal, maar toch neerlandistiek?

This article pleads for a ‘transnational approach’ to modern Dutch literature, with proper consideration of the national and even local perspective. In fact, the tension between local, national and international tendencies is one of the factors constituting the literary system. In this respect, the study of Dutch literature has been based on the romantic idea of a ‘nation state’ and a monolingual culture, thereby neglecting the essential role of transnational factors in establishing an autonomous literary system. The authors elaborate on this argument and present two examples (i.e. the success of international regional literature and the ambivalent reception of international modernism in Flanders) to illustrate this theoretical and methodological stance.

Fifth-Grade Bilingual Students and Precursors to “Subtractive Schooling”

In this paper, we present a yearlong ethnographic study of fifth-grade students who are either immigrants or the children of immigrants from Latin American countries, predominantly Mexico. We examined how they used their two languages at home, in the community, and at school. We also examined their perspectives, and those of their parents and teacher, about bilingualism and their awareness of barriers they may face in the future. Interviews and observations suggest these students were in a supportive bilingual environment. Their teacher provided materials and instruction in both languages. As a fluent Spanish speaker and cultural insider, she believes that proficiency in Spanish is important and serves as a strong foundation for acquiring English. The students' parents all valued maintenance of Spanish, and several were proactive in trying to ensure their children remained fluent Spanish speakers. At the time of the study, most students could speak, read, and write Spanish fluently and were concurrently learning English. At first glance, it appeared that the students in this study had been largely sheltered from the pressures to assimilate and that their prospects for maintaining their native-language proficiency were favorable. However, contradictory messages about bilingualism soon became apparent. Students demonstrated awareness of the pressures they will face in the future and acknowledged they must be prepared to struggle to maintain their language and culture. This study's findings help to explicate the conflicts that students in upper elementary grades feel about being bilingual within the dominant English monolingual culture.

Rearing Bilingual Children in a Monolingual Culture: A Lousiana Experience

REARING CHILDREN TO BE BILINGUAL in a culture which is overwhelmingly monolingual is a formidable task. There are a multitude of obstacles to achieving this goal which arise from the constant invasion on all sides of the dominant culture's language. These obstacles seem to be particularly magnified in North America, where there has been a long history of intolerance to any language but English. According to one linguist, the dominant attitude seems to be, It would be so much simpler if we all spoke the same language, namely English (Darbelnet 1976, 5). This article is a descriptive ethnography of a genre similar to Heath's study (1983) of language acquisition and usage in two small Carolina piedmont communities. We attempt to describe a particular family's experience in a specific social milieu. Though we feel as though there are certain universal principals of language acquisition, we caution against the generalizibility of our study experiences. Our story begins in 1980 with our marriage, and Stephen's exposure for the first time to French Canada. Stephen stepped off an airplane in Quebec City and into the middle of the separatist movement. Though never taking sides in this heated issue, the experience sensitized him to the threatened French culture and language of his own state and planted the seed for our family project. The French-speaking Acadians (Cajuns) of South Louisiana, originally exiled from Nova Scotia in the mid-eighteenth century, successfully resisted linguistic assimilation for almost two centuries. However, even this exceptionally close-knit culture has not been able to withstand the onslaught of American English. As a testament to this fact, though Stephen is the son of an Acadian woman, he spoke no French before marrying his Quebecoise co-author. Suzanne likewise spoke no English. Our initial attempts to communicate were centered around a French-English paperback dictionary which was quickly reduced to tatters by our romantically inspired efforts to understand each other. In this work we outline our efforts to achieve bilingualism ourselves, and our subsequent project to raise our three children to be French/English bilinguals in the increasingly monolingual culture of South Louisiana.