Bilingualism Vs Multiculturalism

Bilingualism – a skill often regarded with most admiration and envy, can also be a marker of an individual. It may be written down on resumes or applications in a positive light all to show how talented the said person is. However, what is not often examined is how the bilingual views themselves rather, it is how the world is beneficial or better for the bilingual. In the following paragraphs I argue that bilinguals see themselves differently than monolingual people. And as a result, often grasp a sort of contrast between the language of the mother culture and the language they decided (or had) to acquire.

To begin, identity is one of the most fundamental parts of what we are as human beings. Another fundamental part of who we are as human

“I think of myself not as a unified cultural being but as a communion of different cultural beings.” (Chen et al., 2008) the impact of globalization has transformed what it means to be bilingual and in some circumstances can be a convergence of many different places, faces, and names. Earlier studies comparing bilingualism and biculturalism has given the implication that perhaps using and integrating two cultures and languages can be handicapping in some circumstances (Chen et al., 2008). Although – in more recent studies, this has shown not to be the case. Bilingualism has proven to be most beneficial and leads to positive development and social well-being (Chen et al., 2008). What researches across the field of sociolinguistics argue is that as long as bilinguals do not internalize any potential conflict between different cultures, they will not experience any linguistic confusion (Chen et al., 2008). The consensus of this study was shown that globalization has a large impact even in places where there tends to be a homogenous concentration of people. Mainland Chinese immigrants, Filipino domestic workers, and multicultural college students all in Hong Kong noted that their ability to use at least English or Cantonese effectively determined their ability to adjust and thrive in the different cultural environment (Chen et al., 2008). What this means for the argument of bilingualism being so closely linked with identity is that by being forced to learn an L2, individuals find themselves more included and part of the group instead of isolated. This allows these individuals in question to pseudo “assimilate” into a culture, and will begin to identify with some aspects of this culture via the use of their