Why Multilingualism?

Introduction

This volume discusses different aspects of bilingual and multilingual education in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC, henceforth), a specific context with a combination of a minority language (Basque), a majority language (Spanish) and an increasing presence of English as an international language. In this chapter we are going to introduce some of the terminology that will be used in the book and we will discuss the concept of multilingualism and relate it to two different phenomena that are taking place in the world: the spread of English as a language of international communication and the revival of minority languages. The last section of the chapter focuses on languages in the Basque Country and provides the necessary background information about the linguistic, sociolinguistic and socio-political context so as to discuss different aspects of multilingual education in the following chapters.

Multilingualism

Multilingualism and multilingual education are becoming more and more important not only in the Basque context but all over the world. As Edwards (2007:447) points out 'Multilingualism is a powerful fact of life around the world, a circumstance arising, at the simplest level, from the need to communicate across speech communities'. Indeed, multilingualism is very common taking into account that there are almost 7000 languages in the world and about 200 independent countries. According to the Ethnologue, the number of speakers of the different languages is unevenly distributed and 40% of the world's population have one of the most common eight languages as a first languages: Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, English, Bengali, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian (Gordon, 2005). More than 4000 of the world languages are spoken by less than 2% of the world's population and 516 of these languages are nearly extinct. The most multilingual continents are Asia and Africa.

Some researchers have drawn a comparison between linguistic diversity and biodiversity because in both cases some of the species are at risk and need specific protection (Krauss, 1992; Crystal, 2000; Maffi, 2000). Krauss highlights the great loss that the death of a language implies and argues that linguistic diversity is not less important than ecological diversity:

Surely just as the extinction of any animal species diminishes our world, so does the extinction of any language. Surely we linguists know, and the general public can sense, that any language is a supreme achievement of a uniquely human collective genius, as divine and endless a mystery as a living organism. Should we mourn the loss of Eyak or Ubykh any less than the loss of the panda or California condor? (Krauss, 1992: 8)

The idea of sustainable development as maintaining a balance between economic growth and the maintenance of natural resources and ecosystems has been extended to cultural diversity. For example the European network of excellence 'Sustainable development in a diverse world' (www. susdiv.org) aims at providing instruments to manage cultural diversity (including linguistic diversity) as a strategy to achieve sustainable development. The idea of linguistic diversity and multilingualism acquires a different dimension in this context. They have an added value and as Cenoz and Gorter (2009) show when discussing the linguistic landscape, an economic valuation model used in the study of biodiversity can be applied to the use of different languages.

Multilingualism is at the same time an individual and a social phenomenon. It can refer to the acquisition, knowledge or use of several languages by individuals or by language communities in a specific geographical area. Multilingualism has been defined as 'the ability of societies, institutions, groups and individuals to engage, on a regular basis, with more than one language in their day-to-day lives' (European Commission 2007: 6). Multilingualism usually implies more than two languages but individual and social bilingualism can also be considered as part of multilingualism as it is the case in this definition. A broad definition such as this also includes different levels of proficiency in the different languages. Proficiency can range from basic communicative abilities to a very high level in different skills and languages.

Multilingualism is a very complex phenomenon and it can be studied from different perspectives in linguistics, psycholinguistics, anthropology or sociolinguistics. Different aspects of multilingualism receive more or less attention depending on the discipline. For example, a psycholinguist can be interested in the way a multilingual person processes different languages and a sociolinguist in the relative vitality of languages which are in contact. The study of multilingualism in education can bring different perspectives together. It is possible to study language processing, language acquisition and language use by individual learners at school but schools are necessarily linked to the society in which they are located. Schools are not only influenced by society but can also have an important effect on society. Specific studies on multilingualism in education often focus on only one aspect of multilingualism but need to take into account the complexity of the whole phenomenon.

Multilingualism in a specific area can be the result of different factors. One of them is the mobility of the population. Mobility includes immigrants but also refugees, business workers, international agency workers, international students, international aid work (such as NGOs) and soldiers. Languages are also affected by specific historical and political factors such as colonial expansion or the union or separation of different countries.

Definitions and Terminology

In this section a number of terms about multilingualism, multilingual education and the Basque educational system will be defined as used in this volume.

Additive bi/multilingualism: A language is added to the linguistic repertoire of the speaker while the first language continues to be developed.

Basque: Language spoken by 30.1% of the population in the Basque Country. It is a non-Indo-European language of unknown origin.

Basque Autonomous Community (BAC): One of the autonomous regions of Spain. It has three provinces: Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.

Basque Country/Euskal Herria: The Basque historical and cultural territory including two autonomous communities in Spain (the BAC and Navarre) and the Northern Basque Country (Iparralde) in France.

Bilingual models: School programs in the Basque Country according to the language of instruction. Model A has Spanish as the language of instruction, model D has Basque and model B has both Basque and Spanish.

Bilingualism: Ability to use two languages in communication.

Bilingual education: The use of two languages in education provided that schools aim at bilingualism and biliteracy.

Castilian: Castilian is the most common word to refer to Spanish in many areas of Spain. In this volume we will use the word Spanish unless we quote other authors.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): It is a tool developed by the Council of Europe setting standards for different levels of language learning so that there can be mutual recognition of language qualifications. It establishes six stages or levels in language learning: Al, A2, Bl, B2, Cl and C2.

Content- and language-integrated learning (CLIL): A context in which an additional language (in many cases a third or fourth language) is used as a medium in the teaching of content. It does not give preference for content or language and it has its roots in Europe.

Ikastola: A Basque medium school that can be either public or private. Ikastolak were the first schools to teach through the medium of Basque and most of them are part of the network Ikastolen Elkartea.

Immersion education: Educational programs using a second language as the language of instruction for all or some subjects.

Immigrant languages: Language spoken by speakers coming from countries where other languages are spoken.

Indigenous language: Language originally spoken in a specific territory. The term autochthonous is also used.

Language of wider communication: The language people commonly use to communicate for many purposes in many parts of the world

Language planning: Plans to influence the acquisition, corpus and use of languages.

Lingua franca: A language systematically used to communicate among people who do not share the same language

Linguistic landscape: Written information available on language signs in public spaces.

Majority language: Dominant language in a community. It is used at the institutional level (education, government, etc ...) and spoken by most inhabitants of a specific area. For example, Spanish is the majority language in the Basque Country.

Minority language: Language spoken by a group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State with a more restricted use at the institutional level. For example, Basque is a minority language in the Basque Country.

Multilingual education: The use of two or more languages in education provided that schools aim at multilingualism and multiliteracy.

Normalization: Common term in the Basque Country to refer to the aim of using Basque as the common language in all functions of public and private life.

Plurilingualism: Individual multilingualism.

Subtractive bi-multilingualism: A new language is learned and replaces the first language.

Multilingualism and the Spread of English

Even though multilingualism is more common than monolingualism there are still many countries where the ideal of 'one nation/one language' is central. In fact, most languages in the world do not have an official status and are not used in education. This means that many children in the world do not have their first language as a school language. The idea of linguistic uniformity is still strong in some parts of the world including European countries but European institutions are clear defendants of multilingualism (see also Baetens Beardsmore, 2008). For example, the European Commission (2005a: 2) states:

It is this diversity that makes the European Union what it is: not a 'melting pot' in which differences are rendered down, but a common home in which diversity is celebrated, and where our many mother tongues are a source of wealth and a bridge to greater solidarity and mutual understanding.

According to the European Commission (2005a: 3), multilingualism has advantages in many different ways. At the individual level, it can improve individual cognitive skills and develop first language skills. Multilingualism can also make European citizens more aware of other cultures, and increase European mobility. The aim of the European Commission (2005a: 4) is that all European citizens have practical skills in three languages: their mother tongue and two more. One of the recent developments to promote multilingualism has been to make multilingualism a separate portfolio for one of the commissioners since January 2007. It is considered that languages have a cultural value and provide a sense of identity. The Council of Europe also fosters multilingualism. It has established the European Centre for Modern Languages (http://www.ecml.at/) and developed some key instruments for language learning such as the European Language Portfolio (ELP) or the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The ELP (http:// www.coe.int/portfolio) is a document where personal language learning experience is recorded and the CEFR is a tool for setting standards for different stages of language learning allowing for international comparison in learning and evaluation (Council of Europe, 2002). Both instruments have been developed to promote multilingualism and language learning.

According to a recent survey, 56% of citizens in the European Union are able to have a conversation in a second language (European Commission, 2006). The percentages vary between countries. Ninety-nine percent of the citizens in Luxembourg speak at least one second language, followed by 97% of Slovaks and 95% of Latvians. At the other end, the least multilingual in Europe are the native speakers of English. Sixty-six percent of the citizens of Ireland and 62% of the citizens in the UK only speak one language. In non-English speaking countries, the ones with the highest percentages of monolingual speakers are Italy (59%), Hungary (58%), Portugal (58%) and Spain (56%). English is the most widely spoken language in the European Union and 51% of the European citizens can speak English (13% as a first language and 38% as a second or additional language).

English is the most important language of intra-European communication and it is also the most international language all over the world but English is in contact with other languages even in English speaking countries (Edwards, 2004). Nowadays, English is considered a resource which opens doors for better opportunities and it is associated with social and economic mobility. There have been languages of international communication in the past. For example, Latin or classical Arabic have been used as languages of wider communication but the intensity of the use of English both geographically and affecting different domains is new. This intensity is such that, as Graddol (2006) points out, in some countries (for example, Colombia, Mongolia, Chile or South Korea) the idea is not to learn English as a foreign language but that the country becomes bilingual in English and the national language. Hu (2007) also discusses the spread of English in China and large scale government supported experimentation with Chinese-English bilingual education.

The spread of English is also felt as a threat. For example, Skutnabb-Kangas (2000) considers that English is a killer of languages. Carli and Ammon (2007) focus on the disadvantages that non-native scholars of English have in scientific publications and other aspects of academic life. The spread of English is seen as a reflection of globalization and the loss of cultural identity. On the other hand, the spread of English in the world today is linked to its use along with other languages and can result in the development of multiple identities and in language diversity. Graddol (2006) provides an example of this language diversity in the case of internet. The use of English on the internet is very important in relation to the number of speakers of English as a first language but the relative proportion of English on the internet has gone down in the last years because other languages such as Spanish, French and Arabic are becoming widely used and also lesser-used languages are increasingly used.

The spread of English has resulted in its global use and nowadays the number of non-native speakers of English has outnumbered the number of native speakers (Crystal, 2003). Seidlhofer (2007) points out that the use of English as a lingua franca means that it gets a delimited and distinct status and it is not a threat to other languages. Alcón (2007) supports the use of English as a lingua franca in Europe because of its spread and also because interlocutors use it as a language for communication not as a language for identification. She proposes to accept different types of English that have emerged around the world as well as the need to analyze the discourse constructed by speakers of English from a perspective of intercultural communication.

The Revival of Minority Languages

Minority languages such as Basque are referred to as autochthonous languages but they are also called less widely used languages, indigenous languages, or regional minority languages. Speakers of languages such as Basque are usually fluent in a majority language. In the case of the BAC, this language is Spanish and speakers with Basque as a first language can also communicate in Spanish. In this volume, we will refer to the big effort made in the Basque Country by speakers of Basque and Spanish to use Basque in education. The effort to use a minority language when it seems to be more practical just to use a strong language in education is not very often well understood by speakers of strong languages. Bernardo Atxaga, the most well known Basque writer describes how he tried to explain the use of Basque to an American journalist concerned about his interest in the survival of Basque. His reasoning was the following:

'We want our language to last, not because it's pretty or because it's ancient, but for one simple reason, because it's a language we know well and which is useful to us in our daily lives'. I wanted to add: 'Just as English is to you.' But I didn't dare. 'Some people say that Basques could communicate perfectly well with each other in Castilian', she went on, meaning: 'Why insist on continuing to speak a minority language when you could use one spoken by three hundred million people?' I told her that we were bilingual and that, as a writer, I published in both languages, and that since two languages were better than one I could see only advantages in that. 'But advantages apart,' I continued my defence, 'what matters is reality. With some people I speak euskara and with others Castilian. Obviously, I could phone my wife and talk to her in Castilian, but she would find that very odd. We've been speaking to each other in euskara for the last twenty years. (Atxaga, 2007: 23)