I'm actually surprised it took this long but researchers have found that people who know more than one language have more gray matter in the language section of the brain. Questions:
1. Is this a zero-sum game? That is, is gray matter LOST in other places? Sounds like a stupid question...but it should at least be considered.
2. What constitutes a second language? There are a number of different dialects of Chinese, and I am pretty sure that a number of them have different pictographic systems as well. In other words, if we were to go to China, hear someone speak Mandarin (and see the pictographs), and then hear someone speak Pinghua (and see the pictographs), I am sure that we would think of them as two different LANGUAGES rather than two different dialects.
If John McWhorter would keep his head out of grown folks' business, he'd be the perfect person to talk about this. And it does relate to the question of whether Ebonics constitutes a language. If we could employ the same methods on an inter-racial group here, we could find this answer out.
From what it appears, it seems like this article makes the best case to scrap most English-Only programs. What's the joke?
What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Tri-lingual.
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual.
What do you call someone who speaks one langauge? American.
PS: Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no such thing as "Chinese" language. There is Mandarin, and I think there's a Cantonese, and a few others, but it's about like Latin vs. Spanish vs. Italian etc.
Posted by: True_Liberal at October 14, 2004 05:46 PMA couple of points:
1. While you are right in that attempts to either recognize Spanish or English dialects have been widely acknowledged as failures...I am fairly sure common sense is wrong here. I don't have citations--again McWhorter would help--but I think the research points in the opposite direction.
2. We would consider the various forms of Chinese separate languages. But most consider them to be dialects. I guess if Europe were one country, French, Spanish, Italian, and German WOULD probably be considered dialects. They use the same signs right?
Posted by: Lester Spence at October 14, 2004 08:46 PM
Depends on what you mean. I've never heard of "English-Only" as a curriculum element. I took a year of Latin in High School, not because my family & friends spoke Latin, but because of the way it stretched my intellect.
Teaching in Spanish or whatever (EBONICS? - heh...) as a crutch for poor English comprehension is widely acknowledged to be a mistake, in that it ill prepares a student for gainful employment. If the abolishment of "bilingualism" is now termed "English-only", I submit it's a red herring.
I am reminded of a edict in a Middle-Eastern country, 20+ years ago, that all expatriate students had to study Arabic. The result? American and British students (and probably French as well) scored higher in Arabic than did the natives!
Posted by: True_liberal at October 14, 2004 04:36 PM