The Mysteries of Bilingualism. Francois Grosjean
mentioned language use. Two of these mentioned use by itself (e.g., Macmillan: “the use of two languages by a person or a group”); two mentioned ability and use (e.g., Merriam-Webster: “the ability to speak two languages,” as well as, “the frequent use… of two languages”); and one, Google dictionary, indicated the one or the other possibility: “fluency in or use of two languages.” Again, none indicated two or more languages, and none added dialects to languages. In sum, the definitions of “bilingualism” put much less emphasis on language fluency and made more room for language use. But overall, dictionary definitions follow the lay persons’ view of what “bilingual” and “bilingualism” mean. We can now turn to experts who study bilingualism.
What Language Scientists Say
Do language scientists have a different view of what it means to be bilingual? Some have indeed put the emphasis on language fluency (which they also term language proficiency or language knowledge), but over the years we have seen a gradual movement away from the very restrictive definition proposed by Bloomfield (1933) who stated that bilingualism is the “native-like control of two languages.” This stance was still present with Thiery (1978) who wrote that “a true bilingual is someone who is taken to be one of themselves by the members of two different linguistic communities, at roughly the same social and cultural level.” Movement away from this position can already be seen with Hakuta (1992) who simply talks of control of languages: “a bilingual individual is someone who controls two or more languages.” At the time, Haugen (1969) was one of the rare exceptions who stated that fluency did not need to be that high. He stated that bilingualism begins “at the point where the speaker of one language can produce complete, meaningful utterances in the other language.”
Since the turn of the century, those who use fluency or proficiency as the main criterion have been much less demanding of bilinguals. They are aware that the majority of bilinguals do not have equal proficiency in their languages, many have an accent in at least one of their languages, and many acquired their other language(s) at different points in life, and not just as children. They use their languages for different purposes, in different domains of life, to accomplish different things and so their level of proficiency in a language depends on their need for that language (Grosjean 2013).
This is starting to be reflected in the definitions proposed. For example, Luna, Ringberg, and Peracchio (2008) state that bilingualism is the “ability to communicate relatively well – including the ability to speak, understand, read, and write – in two different languages.” And De Houwer (2019) actually goes all the way to simply accepting an ability to comprehend two languages. She defines a bilingual interlocutor as “a person who is in principle able to understand two (or more) language varieties at levels that are minimally appropriate for a given life stage.” Finally, some researchers have decided to remain neutral on the topic of fluency. Thus, Li Wei (2007), states that a bilingual is “someone with the possession of two languages,” and similarly Dewaele, Housen and Li Wei (2003) write that bilingualism is “the presence of two or more languages.”
Various theoretical positions on bilingualism, such as Grosjean’s holistic view (Grosjean 1985, 1989) as well as Cook’s (1991) multi-competence of speakers of two or more languages, have left greater room for language use as a definitional factor. It had started appearing in the last century with Weinreich (1953) who stated that bilingualism is “the practice of alternately using two languages,” and Mackey (1962) who proposed that it is “the alternate use of two or more languages by the same individual.” The language use definition took on more importance over the years, included more than two languages (already mentioned by Mackey (1962)), and became the standard academic definition. Thus, Appel and Muysken (1987) wrote that a bilingual is “somebody who regularly uses two or more languages in alternation,” Romaine (2013) stated that bilingualism is “the routine use of two or more languages in a community,” and de Bot (2019) proposed that multilingualism is “the daily use of two or more languages.”
For the last 40 years or so, I have defined bilinguals as those who use two or more languages (or dialects) in their everyday lives. Putting the emphasis on language use does not do away with language proficiency though, since you cannot use a language if you do not know it to some extent. But the range of who can be considered bilingual increases considerably with this definition. As I wrote in Bilingual: Life and Reality (Grosjean 2010), at one end of the range we find the migrant worker who may speak with some difficulty the host country’s language and who does not read and write it. At the other end, we have the professional interpreter who is fully fluent in two languages. In between, we find the scientist who reads and writes articles in a second language but who rarely speaks it, the foreign-born spouse who interacts with friends in his first language, the member of a linguistic minority who uses the minority language only at home and the majority language in all other domains of life, the Deaf person who uses sign language with her friends but a spoken language (often in its written form) with a hearing person, and so on. Despite the great diversity among these people, they all share a common feature: They lead their lives with two or more languages.
I insist on two or more languages in my definition as some people use more than two languages regularly. If one wants to be specific regarding a particular person, one can specify exactly how many languages they use on a regular basis by using words like “trilingual,” “quadrilingual,” “quintilingual,” etc. As for the word, “multilingual,” many prefer to use “bilingual,” as “multilingual” is mainly used to characterize societies or countries (e.g., Switzerland is a multilingual country). In addition, at least in Western societies, the majority of bilinguals only use two languages regularly, reinforcing the bi- in bilingual even though they may know several others. For example, I know some Italian, Spanish, American Sign Language, and even Latin, but I only use English and French on a regular basis. Thus, in terms of language use, I am only bilingual. Finally, dialects is in the definition I propose, and it is starting to appear in others too, as in some parts of the world (e.g., Italy, Switzerland, Arabic-speaking countries, etc.), dialects are a linguistic reality and people can be bilingual in a majority language and a dialect. They can also be trilingual in a national language, and in two dialects, for example. A final point should be made regarding emphasizing language use in definitions. I have found that it allows many people who live with two or more languages to accept their bilingualism and be proud of who they are. This they could not do when fluency – often equal fluency – in two or more languages was the main criterion for identifying oneself as bilingual.
Describing Bilinguals
Definitions have never replaced a good description of a phenomenon, and this also true for what it means to be bilingual. In what follows, I will present some important characteristics of bilingual people, first at a particular point in time in their lives, and then over the years, as is revealed in their language history.
At a Particular Point in Time
Language proficiency and language use are probably the two foremost factors (variables) when describing bilinguals at a particular point in time. A third one, when they actually started to become bilingual, will be dealt with in their language history below. A grid approach proposed by Grosjean (2010) can help us visualize proficiency and use together (see Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 A visual representation of a bilingual’s language proficiency and language use.
Language use is presented along the vertical axis (from Never used at the bottom all the way to Daily use at the top) and language proficiency is on the horizontal axis (from Low proficiency on the left to High proficiency on the right). These labels can be replaced with numerical values if necessary. An example allows us to see the three languages of Lucia, a bilingual, and where they stand in relation to one another. Her most used and most proficient language is La (French). Her other language, Lb (English), is used slightly less frequently and she is slightly