Bilingualism types and their didactic potential

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Bilingualism types and their didactic potential

N.V. Voinarovska, A.J. Angus

Current article is dedicated to such types of bilingualism as the coordinating and subordinated, pure and mixed, their substantial didactic potential, as well as the necessary conditions for bilingual capacity realization through creating a functional environment. Authors of the research have studied theories and concepts of bilingualism, organizational experience of bilingual and multilingual education, along with linguistic directions, determining bilingualism basically as the ability to communicate with two languages. Due to the methodological background of our research, which is composed of the outcomes of the analytic-synthetic examination of scientific-methodological works, logic methods of notions analyzing, methodological modelling, surveys results and experts' evaluations, we succeeded in identifying general concepts of the question and developing the methodological system for delivering new foreign language knowledge to bilingual students.

Key words: bilingual education, lingual interference and transferring, educational environment, cultural competence, communication skills, language functions.

ТИПИ БІЛІНГВІЗМУ ТА ЇХ ДИДАКТИЧНИЙ ПОТЕНЦІАЛ

Н.В. Войнаровська, А.Д. Ангус

Стаття присвячена таким видам білінгвізму, як координаційний та другорядний, чистий та змішаний, їх потужному педагогічному потенціалу та умовам, необхідним для реалізації білінгвальних можливостей шляхом створення функціонального середовища.

Розкрито основні принципи білінгвальної освіти, які охоплюють: дидактичну культурну доцільність, виявлення проблем та проблемних форм навчання, першочерговість навчання співпраці шляхом виховання та самовиховання, інтеграцію та інтерактивну взаємодію в умовах моделювання, полікультурної білінгвальної освіти, врахування освітніх прав особистості під час створення навчального культурного середовища. Розглянуто особливості функціонального використання рідної та нових мов. Проаналізовано випадки інтерференції, які постають в процесі вивчення другої іноземної мови в умовах полілінгвізму. Класифіковано найбільш поширені помилки респондентів дослідження. Отже, доведено, що увесь білінгвальний навальний процес варто організовувати відповідним чином для вдалого перенесення комунікативних умінь рідної мови на першу та другу іноземні.

Ключові слова: білінгвізм, білінгвальна освіта, мовна інтерференція та перенесення, освітній простір, культурна компетентність, мовні уміння, функції мови.

Introduction of the issue

bilingualism education foreign language

Currently, the Ukrainian system of higher education is dynamically involved in the process of integrating into the world educational environment. This process is closely connected with considerable transformations within theory and practice of pedagogics: it encompasses educational paradigm renovation, which expects new teaching content, new approaches and attitudes, as well as new pedagogical mentality. At the same time, global trends of the development of education, concerning life internationalization, advance specific requirements to lingual and intercultural competences of a personality. The modern lingual background is composed mostly of bilingual and multilingual representatives, resulting in establishing comprehension of two foreign languages as a common norm for the majority.

The pragmatism of bilingual and multilingual education in Ukraine is caused by its focus on the integration into the world community for solving human global issues, implementation of public-spirited projects in the various fields of international cooperation. This process influenced language status as a teaching subject, which allows enjoying the advantages of the open society. Besides, within the conditions of intercultural development of modern society, it is crucial to apply educational possibilities of the bilingual environment in the process of mastering the third language.

Bilingualism possesses massive didactic potential. It is crucial to find out what types of bilingualism exist in order to use this phenomenon in the educational process efficiently. According to the mutual correlation criteria of the mechanisms of the native and foreign languages, there are such types of bilingualism as coordinating and subordinated, pure and mixed. Subordinated bilingualism is divided into receptive, reproductive and productive. Subordinated bilingualism is more frequently generated while studying a second language, which is characteristic of not fluent language knowledge, unlike coordinating bilingualism with a higher and more professional level.

Necessary condition for bilingual capacity realization is the creation of a functional environment, which admits inserting a person into the bilingual surrounding where both languages become its integral parts. This factor is to be considered within the pedagogical process, in order to use the potential of the bilingualism for developing careful and polite attitude towards all studied languages [1].

Current state of the issue

Theories and concepts of bilingualism have been reflected in the researches of various aspects. Therefore, from the psychological-pedagogic point of view, P. Homel, M. Palij and D. Aaronson considered bilingualism as the social- cultural phenomenon, which is expressed through enhancing social- cultural components of education [2]. V. Benz, T.K. Bhatia and W.C. Ritchie, J. Brutt-Griffler and M. Varghese studied the demand for bilingual education as a certain component of professional training. Investigations of S.B. Chumbow [3] concern the development of the global informational surface and the role of bilingualism in the field of innovative information- communicational technologies. J.C. Bertin analyzed bilingual aspects of the progress of distance learning and training.

Remarkable number of the pedagogical studies are devoted to the organizational experience of bilingual and multilingual education, including issues of creating a joint educational environment, stimulating people's desire to reach general high European level of knowing foreign languages (Z. Bekerman, C. McGlynn) [4], growth of students' and teachers' academic mobility (L. Sciriha) [5], taking into consideration ethnic-psychological specifications of the learners.

Scientists of linguistic directions determine bilingualism basically as the ability to communicate with two languages (H.B. Beardsmore, B.L. Boswell, R.J. Harris, F. Grosjean, J. Lyon). Therefore, A. Pavlenko represented an approach to the second language learning, as a process including conceptual development and restructuring, and not simply the mapping of new forms onto pre-existing meanings [6]. Annette M.B. de Groot proved that "control in unimodal bilinguals does not result from their knowing two languages but from the requirement to unrelentingly and inevitably select one language: Unimodal but not bimodal bilinguals responded faster than monolinguals on both" [7]. A. Ardila and E. Ramos paid their attention to the fact that "a person can decide to learn a second language becoming bilingual. Some specific schools, activities, and jobs may require the person to learn a second and even a third language" [8].

Aim of research is to define types of bilingualism from linguistic and pedagogic points of view, identify the didactic potential of natural bilingualism in the process of multilingualism formation. Our research is dedicated to the detailed analysis of the specifications of the second foreign language learning by the bilingual students. We aimed at working out such a consequence of presenting efficient teaching content, which would enable maximum decrease of another language interference and transfer all lingual skills, obtained within native and the first foreign language, to the new foreign one. The practical value of current research is predetermined by the encounter of the didactic potential of bilingualism for the foreign language training.

Research methods

Our investigation encompassed students specialized in Philology of Germanic languages and Translation theory and practice. All of them are the representatives of bilingualism - certainly, delegates of their native language, fluent users of the English language, as their first foreign language, and learners of German - as their second foreign language.

Methodological background of our research was based on the analytic- synthetic examination of scientific- methodological works, logic methods of notions analyzing, methodological modelling, surveys outcomes and experts' evaluations. Processing of empirical data has been performed through statistical methods: percentage scattering and ranging.

The initial stage of the research was dedicated to the basic theoretical and methodological approaches towards the problem statement, level of the investigated issue being studied within scientific resources, as well as to identifying general concepts of the question. Next step covered the development of the methodological system for delivering new foreign language knowledge to bilingual students.

Results and discussion

In accordance with the criteria, concerning the connection between spoken language and thinking process, such types as unaffected bilingualism (unconscious-intuitive comprehending of both, prior and lateral, lingual codes) and mediate bilingualism (where the second language operates as the new code system) are recognized.

Criteria of lingual environment presence or absence in the process of language mastering identify natural and artificial kinds of bilingualism. Natural bilingualism occurs in the process of individual communication in the native language at home, but outside home - in the second language. Artificial bilingualism is gained as a result of learning the second language consequently after the native one.

Corresponding to the approach of careful and polite attitude towards all studied languages, basic principles of bilingual education include:

a) didactic cultural rationality;

b) problem-searching and problematic forms of education;

c) priority of teaching cooperation through education and self-education;

d) integration and interactivity of modelling multicultural bilingual education;

e) didactic cooperation of traditional pedagogics and individuality-focused education;

f) consideration of the educational rights of a person while modelling cultural training environment.

Bilingualism is functioning as a powerful factor of lingual development for intercultural communication, realizing possibilities for people to master the next (third) language and, consequently, to realize their location in the process of cooperation with the representatives of other cultures. Such educational surrounding contributes to the successful integration of the participants of the educational process into the international educational environment. It is obvious that comprehending the third language cannot be objectively fulfilled on a similar level as the previous two ones, composing the bilingualism character, but, nevertheless, a learner is capable to become an equal member of the intercultural dialogue [9]. It is underlined that a bilingual person already owns the image of the world, created on the basis of his social life experience, but, at the same moment, a newly learned language introduces its impact to this general world outlook by the means of fresh notional forms, new ways of expressing ideas and goals, supplementing to the process of logic reflection of the world with individual verbal descriptions.

Questionaries' outcomes proved that nearly half of the scrutinized group of bilingual students belong to the category of coordinating bilingualism representatives, admitting the knowledge of the first foreign language on a remarkably high fluent level, being able to use it in their everyday life. For the rest of the students the subordinated bilingualism is characteristic, as far as their first foreign language level is not so fluent and cannot be used easily for their common communication. Similar proportion can be applied for estimating active bilingualism (regular referring to the first and native languages) and passive bilingualism (predominance of native language). Naturally, all the learners expressed their contact type of bilingualism, with constant and frequent keeping in touch with the native language speakers. We were pleased to identify that natural bilingualism was typical for the majority of the students (availability of the bilingual environment in the process of mastering their first foreign language for a considerable long period), that subsequently predetermined all the following types.

It is worth underlining the fact that the interaction of two language systems within the consciousness of the definite part of the bilingual people, by no means, the native language system occupies the dominant position. Whereas, the first foreign language (namely English) is being ambiguously considered. Accidents of using first foreign language by the individuals within the international surrounding and, nevertheless, remaining the representative of their national culture, are still more frequent. For that reason, it is rational to differentiate "native language” and "functional active language". The native language is the language of national affiliation, ethnic and spiritual culture. The notion of the "functional active language" refers to the level of the language's being used. As for the international community, English language (the first foreign language) can be rather defined as the "functional active language", which is successfully applied as the tool of realizing intercultural communication.

After having identified the type of bilingualism of the investigated group of the respondents, let us study the cases of the interference, rising in the process of studying a second foreign language (German) in the conditions of multilingualism. It is commonly known that the closer two languages are, more the bilingual learner relies on the similarities and equivalents since it is easier to learn related languages. Therefore, one of the methods of teaching lingual material appears to be comparative-contrast approach, which is important for pointing out common and specific features of every studied language. This method is expected to reflect bilingual students' ethnic characteristics, apply their linguistic experience within their native and first foreign languages.

Our investigation deals with two languages, belonging to the same West Germanic branch of the Germanic family of languages, in particular, German and English, predetermining definite similarities in their morphological level. Therefore, together with native language interference, the written speech of the bilingual students is effected by the models of the first foreign language, which proves the dominance of English within the system of their linguistic way of thinking. Considering the scientific outcomes of the researches, we analyzed the mistakes of the respondents-leaners. The first group of the respondents include mistakes in the structures concerning similarities of English and German structures and their differences with students' native language structures. The second group displays the errors caused by the differences of the phonological systems of the dominant foreign language of the bilingual students and their second one.

Speaking about the first group of the inaccuracies, we would like to underline the fact that the participants of the research with the coordinating type of the bilingualism easily comprehend the formation order of the cases in the second foreign language, referring to their knowledge of the first foreign language and discovering in it appropriate equivalents for the structures of the newly learned German grammar. Current grammar issue seemed to be complicated for the respondents with the subordinated type of bilingualism due to the absence of the branched local case system in English language. Widely diverged case system of the native language appeared to be very beneficial for mastering theoretic backgrounds of German cases.

Another advantageous interference of the first foreign language proved to be the compulsory usage of the indefinite pronouns in the subjective functions in the impersonal sentences, which is known to be absolutely uncertain in the native language of this group of learners. The next issue is the usage of possessive endings in the second foreign language supported by the specifications of using genitive case in the native one, but contradicted by scares flexions of the possessive case in the first foreign language of the bilingual students. Failures of using genitive and possessive cases are easily omitted by the respondents with the coordinative type of bilingualism.

While describing correspondences and differences between the first and the second foreign languages and the native one, it is reasonable to mention the auxiliary verbs. The matter is, the native language of the respondent group does not expect using auxiliary verbs for building interrogative and negative sentences, which lead to the pretty frequent automatic omission of these verbs by the students in the process of communicating in English, especially within their elementary stage. However, structures of the second foreign language, although complicated by the rigid rules of the word order, proved to be more comfortable.

Further errors deal with the misusage of the past tense forms of the first foreign language. Especially often it occurs in the situations describing actions in the past but somehow corresponding with the present, expressed by the perfect tense forms. Here, both representatives' groups, coordinated and subordinated bilingualism, tent to apply verbs in present or past simple tenses, literary due to the specifications of their native language tense system. Additional discrepancies of the three languages are converted by the formation of the plural form of the nouns, as far as each of the analyzed language appears to have its own unique rules of plural formation, even irrespective of belonging to the same language family of both foreign languages.

Consequently, it is evident that learning a foreign language by the bilingual students is characterized by the number of peculiarities. Process of comprehending the third foreign language is accompanied by the interaction of three lingual systems. In spite of the fact, that German language is genealogically relative to English, students frequently attempt to perceive it through their native language background, probably identically to their previous early experience of learning the first foreign language at school.

Conclusions and research perspectives

Modern Ukrainian system of higher education pays considerable attention to developing conditions for the students' individual creative potential increasing and widening their possibilities of gaining qualified education, including multilingual communicational education, where bilingual approach using is getting gradually more significant. Obligatory criteria of the mobility of modern people is the knowledge of foreign languages. Therefore, bilingualism forms the background for the development of further multilingualism.

Bilingualism is commonly known as the co-existence of two languages inside one lingual collective surrounding, using these languages in the definite communicative fields, depending upon the social situation and various forms of the communicative act. Here, bilingual individuals experience double world overviews, one of which reflects the peculiarities of their native culture and the other one - foreign values and philosophy. Therefore, we accept bilingual training as the focused process of integrating into the world culture by the means of bilingualism.

Comprehending foreign languages by the bilingual students is very specific due to the inevitable interaction between several foreign lingual systems and their structures, that is why the comparative-contrast teaching methods appeared to be the most efficient one, which encourages discovering common and diverse features in every language. The choice of integrating native and first foreign language is reasoned by the following conditions: a) learning a genetically relative language simplifies the process of its mastering; b) learning foreign language within a comparative- contrast context is favourable for creating and developing new foreign language thinking skills while widening general literacy. The whole learning process is composed in order to transfer communicative skills of the native and the first foreign language to the second one. Our analysis allowed us to conduct the required corrections and develop the necessary complex of the exercises favourably for more efficient mastering German language by the bilingual students. The suggested material is recommended to be implemented in both: integrated courses and mutual scientific-research projects. From our point of view, it is able to benefit students' learning and professional motivation and, consequently, enhance productivity and quality of their education.

Still, some aspects of the studied topic remain unsolved and may require further developments, such as: the

phenomenon of codeswitching and its perspectives for the bilingual education, the demand for specialized teachers' training before educating bilingual students, as well as sociolinguistic issues of the multilingual learning environment.

References

bilingualism education foreign language

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2. Homel, P., Palij, M., & Aaronson, D. (2014). Childhood Bilingualism: Aspects of Linguistic,Cognitive, and Social Development. New York, USA: Psychology Press [inEnglish].

3. Chumbow, S.B. (2018).Multilingualism and Bilingualism. London, UK: IntechOpen [in English].

4. Bekerman, Z., & McGlynn, C.(2007). Addressing Ethnic Conflict through Peace Education: International Perspectives. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference [in English].

5. Sciriha, L. (2016). International Perspectives on Bilingualism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing [in English].

6. Pavlenko, A. (2011). Thinking and Speaking in Two Languages. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters [in English].

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