From Attitudes to Settings: Factors That Make a Difference in Attaining Multilingual Proficiency

• In Event: Qualitative Insights Into Multilinguals’ Language Learning Experiences

Abstract

This study examines the experiences of self-identified multilingual second-plus generation immigrants, who achieved high proficiency in English and their heritage language in order to identify personal, educational and societal conditions that may foster additive bilingualism. In-depth interviews with 14 additive bilinguals reveal that the levels of bilingualism, particularly in literacy skills, are dependent upon the domains in which the language becomes a communication or a personal necessity. Although there was high individual variation, all informants shared the experience of having daily opportunities in their immediate settings to use the language and receiving public social validation for their linguistic proficiency. The findings suggest that individual or isolated family efforts alone do not provide a sufficient environment to develop additive bilingualism.

Author

• Jin-Sook Lee, University of California - Santa Barbara