Trudgill, P. (1984). Applied Sociolinguistics. London: Academic Press.
Wardhaugh, R. (2004). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (4th ed.).
London: OUP.
UNIT 4 DIGLOSSIA AND POLYGLOTTISM
In this unit, we will examine the concepts of Diglossia and Polyglottism as different from bilingualism and multilingualism. If there is a structural and functional distribution of the languages involved, the society is termed diglossic or polyglot. Typical diglossic areas are those areas where a regional language is used in informal, usually oral, contexts, while the state language is used in more formal situations.
Some linguists like Labov, Halliday and Chomsky limit diglossia to situations where the languages are closely related, and could be considered dialects of each other. We will carefully examine these concepts and the theories that led to their emergence in sociolinguistics.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the unit, you should be able to:
• state what diglossia and Polyglottism mean
• distinguish diglossia from polyglottism
• discuss the theories of diglossia and polyglottism
• identify diglossia and polyglottism in the Nigerian linguistic situation
• explain the reasons for diglossia and polyglottism.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 General Overview
According to Encarta Encyclopaedia (2008), diglossia is the existence of a formal literary form of a language, considered more prestigious, along with a colloquial form used by most speakers and considered of lower status. It is a language with high and low forms. The term diglossia has tended to be defined in a number of ways. Fishman (1967), for example, distinguishes it from bilingualism, which refers to an individual’s ability to use more than one language. He sees diglossia as the distribution of more than one language variety to serve different communicative functions in the society. This implies that he differentiates the two concepts on the basis that bilingualism relates to an individual’s linguistic ability to control or command two different language varieties, and diglossia, the functional distribution of more than one language variety.
In the various studies on polyglottism, it is concluded that the development of competence in the native language serves as a foundation of proficiency that can be transposed to the second language – the common underlying proficiency hypothesis. They sought to overcome the perception propagated that learning two languages has two competing aims. The belief was that the two languages were mutually exclusive and that learning a second required unlearning elements and dynamics of the first in order to accommodate the second.
The evidence for this perspective relied on the fact that errors in acquiring the second language were related to the rules of the first language.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Explain the possibility of acquiring different languages in the learning process.
3.2 Concept of Diglossia
The term diglossia has been restricted to cases in the middle range of relatedness. Diglossia exists not only in a multilingual society which officially recognises several languages, but also in societies that employ several dialects, registers, and functionally differentiated varieties of whatever kind. It includes the study of language diversity, which refers to any degree of diversity right from the most subtle stylistic differences from or within the same simple language to the most complex form of diversity like two totally unrelated languages. So, we can talk about multilingual and bilingual diversities. Fishman (1980) further claims that the criterion for identifying diglossia is the degree of individual bilingualism found in a society in such a way that the linguistic differences are functionally distinguished within the society.
Based on the foregoing, diglossia could be used to refer to the functional distribution of High and Low varieties of a language within the society.
It is on the basis of this definition that Ferguson (1959) observes that there are four types of diglossic relationships:
1. A situation of diglossia and bilingualism 2. A situation of diglossia without bilingualism.
3. A situation of bilingualism without diglossia.
4. A situation of no diglossia and no bilingualism
Fishman (1980) discloses that it is difficult to find the kind of community described in (4) because in this situation, there is only one
linguistic variety that exists, and no differentiation of any form – functional, stylistic or dialectal.
Ferguson goes ahead to show a distinction between diglossia and the relationship that exists between standard language and regional dialects.
Fishman, however, is silent on the issue of regional dialects. He bases his own concept of diglossia on the totality of existing languages.
However, both of them (Fishman and Ferguson) recognise the functional distribution of varieties of two languages on the bases of H and L varieties. Fasold (1984) raises the question of the functional issue by trying to verify and identify the exact nature of the social function which H and L varieties are associated with. Fishman and Ferguson both note that the H-V is used for formal purposes while the L-V is reserved for less formal purposes. Fasold, however, still raises other questions. These include:
i. What happens in a multilingual setting where more than two languages exist?
ii. What is the extent of relatedness of the languages?
iii. What is the relationship between a standard language and dialects?
It is commonly assumed that language often develops varieties used to carry out different functions language is meant to perform; it is also an assumption that a bilingual in a speech community usually shares the same pairs of language which often results in the evolution or development of a new system of communication by means of hybridisation of the hybridised or the newly evolved mode of communication. On the other hand, Beardsmore (1982) refers to diglossia as an inter-language which Yoruba-English bilinguals usually use in spontaneous speech and in conversation for intra-group interactions.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Clearly discuss high and low varieties as the essential two in the study of diglossia.
3.3 Concept of Polyglottism
A person who speaks several languages is called a polyglot. However, there is no clear definition of what it means to “speak a language.” A tourist who can handle a simple conversation with a waiter may be completely lost when it comes to discussing current affairs, or even using multiple tenses. A diplomat or businessman who can handle complicated negotiations in a foreign language may not be able to write
a simple letter correctly. A four-year-old French child usually must be said to “speak French fluently”, but it is possible that he cannot handle the grammar as well as even some mediocre foreign students of the language do, and will surely have a very limited vocabulary despite having a perfect pronunciation.
In addition, there is no clear definition of what “one language” means.
The Scandinavian languages are so similar that a large part of the native speakers understand all of them without much trouble. This means that a speaker of Danish, Norwegian or Swedish can easily get his count up to 3 languages. On the other hand, the differences between variants of Chinese, like Cantonese and Mandarin, are so big that intensive studies are needed for a speaker of one of them to learn even to understand a different one correctly. A person who has learned to speak five Chinese dialects perfectly is quite accomplished, but his “count” would still be only one language.
Another example could be that a person who learnt five different languages like French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian and Portuguese, all belonging to the closely related Romance languages, has accomplished something less difficult than a person who learnt Hebrew, Standard Mandarin, Finnish, Navajo and Welsh, out of which none is remotely related to another.
Furthermore, what is considered a language can change, often for purely political purposes, such as when Serbo-Croatian was assembled from Serbian and Croatian and later split after Yugoslavia broke up, or when Ukrainian was dismissed as a Russian dialect by the Russian tsars to discourage national feelings. Another such example is Romanian and Moldovan, which are almost the same, barring a few spelling differences.
Characteristics/Theories of Polyglottism
Reasons for native language literacy include sociopolitical as well as socio-cultural identity arguments. While these two camps may occupy much of the debate behind which languages children will learn to read, a greater emphasis on the linguistic aspects of the argument are necessary.
In spite of the political turmoil precipitated by this debate, researches continue to espouse a linguistic basis for this logic. This rationale is based upon the work of Jim Cummins (1983).
1. Sequential Model
In this model, learners receive literacy instruction in their native language until they acquire “threshold” literacy proficiency. Some
researchers use age three as the age when a child has basic communicative competence in L1. Children may go through a process of sequential acquisition if they immigrate at a young age to a country where a different language is spoken, or if the child exclusively speaks his or her heritage language at home until he/she is immersed in a school setting where instruction is offered in a different language. The phases children go through during sequential acquisition are less linear than for simultaneous acquisition and can vary greatly among children.
Sequential acquisition is a more complex and lengthier process, although there is no indication that non language-delayed children end up less proficient than simultaneous bilinguals, so long as they receive adequate input in both languages.
2. Bilingual Model
In this model, native language and the community language are simultaneously taught. The advantage is literacy in two languages as the outcome. However, teacher training must be high in both languages and in techniques for teaching a second language.
3. Coordinate Model
This model posits that equal time be spent separately in both instruction of the native language and the community language. The native language class however focuses on basic literacy while the community language class focuses on listening and speaking skills. Being a bilingual does not necessarily mean that you can speak, for example, English and French.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3
Using the Nigerian linguistic environment as reference, discuss the three models of polyglottism.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The coexistence of two varieties of the same language throughout a speech community is diglossia while polyglottism entails the co-existence of three or more languages. Such situations exist in many speech communities throughout the world. Sociolinguists may also use the term diglossia to denote bilingualism and polyglottism to denote multilingualism, the speaking of two or more languages by the members of the same community. For example, in Lagos, many members of the Yoruba and Igbo communities speak both English and other languages, switching from one to the other, according to the social situation or the
needs of the moment. It is the environment that determines the varieties of language in use for proper interaction.
5.0 SUMMARY
An interesting outcome in the study of diglossia and polyglottism, however confirms that students who do successfully complete bilingual instructions perform better academically. These students exhibit more cognitive elasticity, including higher analytic performance of abstract visual patterns. Those who receive bidirectional bilingual instruction, where equal proficiency in both languages is required, perform at an even higher level. Examples of such programmes include international schools and multi-national education schools such as French-American, Korean-American, Nigerian-British and Swiss-American schools.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Discuss the cases of diglossia in the Nigerian linguistic situation.
2. Identify the key differences between bilingualism and diglossia.
3. Explain the relationship between multilingualism and polyglottism.
4. Polyglots are not necessarily good users of every language.
Discuss, with cogent references.
5. Discuss the various characteristics of polyglots and diglossics.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Fasold, R. (1984). The Sociolinguistics of Society. New York:
Blackwell.
Fasold, R. (1990). The Sociolinguistics of Language. Cambridge:
Blackwell.
Ferguson, C. A. (1983). “Syntactic Aspects of Register Variation”
Language in Society 12:153-172.
Fishman, P. (1980). “Interactional Shiftwork” Heresies 2: 99-101.
Garland, S. (2007). The Bilingual Spectrum. Florida: Guirnalda Publishing.
Wolff, E. (2000). “Language and Society”. In: Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse (eds.). African Languages - An Introduction. Cambridge:
CUP.