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International Journal of English
Literature and Culture
Vol. 1(2), pp. 41–55,
November, 2013
ISSN: 2360-7831
DOI: 10.14662/IJELC2013.016
Full
length Research
Analogous study of
English Linguistic knowledge between monolingual and bilingual sixth
grade students
Shri Krishna Mishra* and Badri Yadav
* Principal, Shri
Kanwartara Institute for Teachers Training, Shri Nagar Colony,
Mandleshwar, Tehsil-Maheshwar, Dist.Khargone (M.P.), India. 451221.
*Corresponding author E-mail:
shreekrishnamishra@gmail.com
Shri Kanwartara Institute for Teacher‟s Training, Shri Nagar Colony,
Mandleshwar, Tehsil-Maheshwarm, Dist.Khargone (M.P.), India 451221.
E-mail: badriyadav9@gmail.com
Accepted 2 October, 2013
Language is a social phenomenon and a child
learning language, learns not just the rules of the linguistic
structure but learns them with reference to the social context. So,
in a multilingual set-up contextualized language instruction for
young learners must follow the principle of child-centered pedagogy.
Within which their views, voices and experiences are given primary
consideration and also their active participation is encouraged.
Teaching grammar and vocabulary (that is, giving examples from the
home language of the learners) in isolation will not yield the
desired result and learning will take place in a fragmented manner
whereas, we need to have a holistic perspective on language learning
(NCF 2005).
Key words : Monolingual and bilingual, Analogous study of
English Linguistic knowledge.
INTRODUCTION
The word ‘language’ is variously used as the system of expression of
one’s thought. The principal systems of communication used by
particular groups of human beings within a particular society
(linguistic community) of which they are members (Agnihotri and
Khanna, 1994). It is the dynamic, active and complete process
whereby speakers may be involved as producing agent and listeners as
the receiving agents. Actually it is a symbolic behavioral system of
encoding and decoding. Encoding involves the process of conforming a
given information with a set of linguistic material or a symbolic
system by the speaker. Where as, decoding is the process of
recognizing or extracting the given information from the symbolic
system or code by the listener.
Formally is seen as the pairing of a lexicon and a set of syntactic
rules, where it is systematically governed at the level of sounds,
words and sentences (Bose, 1999). It is also a system of verbal
behavior, which differs from group to group, and a system of
comprehending and collecting concepts to be stored in meaning. In
other words it is defined as a medium of comprehension and
communication. Roman thinkers described human beings as – ‘Homo
Loquens’ or speaking mammals. They are able to imagine, dream,
forget and think and speak things that have never happened and can
remember, recall and respond. Aitchison (1976) called them-
‘articulate mammals’. Thus, we need to examine in a multi
dimensional space, giving due importance to its structural literacy,
sociological, cultural, psychological and aesthetic aspects.
Language Learning Theory
Learning a language is as crucially dependent on factors within
learners as it is upon those without. People do not learn a language
which is not available to them either in visual, auditory or some
other forms. What do learners learn, how they learn, what the role
of social factors in this learning is and what is the role of
individual factors in the learning- all these are very interesting
questions.
Even though children appear to be born with an innate language
faculty, individual languages are acquired in specific
socio-cultural and political contexts. Not only this but language is
also species specific, though just as good food is required for
physical development, so linguistic development also requires the
nourishment of exposure. Every child learns what to say, to whom and
where. Languages are inherently variable and different styles tend
to be used in different contexts by different age groups.
The human being, we shall not hesitate to day, is born with a set of
similar facilities which at birth begin their development towards
maturity. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the mind of
the infant entertains any concepts earlier than the first encounter
with the world outside. Thus, this first encounter of the infant
with the external world, whenever it takes place, has a triple
dimension :
(a) It has a cognitive factor, namely, the first feeding ground for
the acquisition of concepts that form the content of thinking.
As the child is able to move around he sees, hears, tasts and
manipulates a greater number of things. Thus, the feeding ground for
his cognitive experiences is also greater. Such experiences which
take place initially at the level of the senses. The most take place
earlier than the first utterance, the child will be able to produce
in his language and the mind of the child also invariably finds
development.
(b) It has a linguistic factor, laying the foundation of further
language experiences.
The child’s cognitive faculty finds proper development along with a
level of comprehension that he achieves. This comprehension is not
only intellectual but also linguistic. As the child’s verbal and
non-verbal experiences (linguistic and cognitive experiences)
develop we find that he obtains better mastery of his language.
(c) It has a sociological factor, the first social experience of the
infant:
Both understanding of the world around, and comprehension and
production of language tremendously contribute to the process of
socialization in the child. The child’s interpersonal communion with
the members of his society gets intense as he obtains greater
command over his language and deeper understanding of what goes on
around him. Thus, cognitive development, linguistic development, and
socialization in the form of social interaction are things that have
this parallel development in the child and also his linguistic
systems separate and of course, mix them in legitimate ways when he
wishes to ((Gay, 2000)). Psychology of Language learning (80).
On the other hand, vygotsky believed that a child’s speech is
essentially a result of an interaction with society; in the course
of her language development, a child uses two kinds of speech and
social, one addressed to herself and the other addressed to the rest
of the world. He also noticed that small children not only develop
their own socially mediated speech systems but also a fairly complex
pre-writing system. Over a period of time, they need to develop a
complex verbal repertoire to interact with a multilingual world.
Thus, from all the above theories it is important to underline the
fact that Piaget and Vygotsky actually worked with children and
observed, documented, and analyzed their cognitive development.
First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning
The product of a subconscious process very similar to the process,
children undergo, when they acquire their first language. It
requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural
communication – in which speakers concentrate not on the form of
their utterances, but on the communicative act. ‘Learning’ on the
other hand, provides conscious knowledge about the target language.
It is therefore less important than acquisition for basic
communication, but it still plays an important role in language
learning.
Acquisition is a subconscious process identical in all important
ways to the process, children utilize in acquiring their first
language, while learning is a ‘conscious’ process that results in
knowing about languages. (Krashen, 1985).
It is also a mystery how children manage to acquire complex
linguistic systems at an extremely young age. Many children become
fluent users of not just one but two or three languages by the time
they are three or four years old. Not only this, but they also know
the language they should use in a given context. The evidences from
several studies of both first and second language acquisition also
imply that typical language occurs only when exposure to the
language begins early in life.
The first language is essential for survival, and the second
language, if learnt and used well, has always brought power and
prestige to its users. Yet people living in multilingual communities
have always sought to learn another language for various purposes.
In this world there is difference between the child learning or
rather acquiring his native language and the adult acquiring a
foreign language. There are several possible variations among what
we may call : the mother-tongue i.e. the language of parents (it
also happens that the parents belong to different linguistic
communities), the local language, the regional language and the
national language.
L1 first language acquisition is genetically triggered at the most
critical stage of the child’s cognitive development. Its syntactic
system-is encapsulated, which means that children are not even aware
of developing a complex, rule-governed, hierarchical system, also do
not even realize what they are using. Children never resist first
language (L1) acquisition, any more than they resist learning to
walk. It is typically acquired at the crucial period of pre-puberty
when the life skills are also acquired or learned. Even though
minimal input is done during critical pre-pubescent development, all
human beings acquire the L1 of the society or social group they are
born into as a natural and essential part of their lives. Even
brain-damaged or mentally challenged children usually acquire the
full grammatical- code of the language of their society or social
group.
Acquiring a language is ‘picking it up that is developing ability in
a language for use in natural and communicative situations, but a
variety of factors must affect the native language such as.
(1) The physical environment or the material surroundings of a child
have a lot to do with what and how he picks up a language. The dog,
the cat, the house and the trees around the house have a lot to do
with the way the child learns his first language because he gets
truly involved in it.
(2) To a greater extent, social environment also affects the
acquisition of a first language, because whether a child grow up
with parents or as an orphan makes a world of difference in
language. The child whose mother goes out daily to work and the one
who is always by the mother’s side can acquire the language
differently. The mother, the family and the neighborhood are social
elements most essential to the natural language growth of the child.
(3) Physical and economic resources affects the L1 learning process.
The language development of a child from an economically backward
family has every reason to be hampered in contrast to a child from a
well to do family. Economic factors determine the child’s overall
experience and to a greater extent the feasibility of the parents
the language development of the child.
(4) The acquisition of a first language has the most powerful
motivations behind it. These are compelling needs which are both
internal as well as external.
(a) There are several internal needs which compel the child to learn
his first language as quickly and perfectly as he can. Among these
internal needs the most compelling ones are the need for food,
warmth and Shelter, and also emotional needs such as the needs for
constant care, love and affection.
(b) There are several needs and motivations which are external in
nature. Social interaction, fulfillment of the social urges of the
child, requires mastery over a language for interaction with members
of society. There is also the need for self-expression and creative
behavior which raises the human being far above the level of sheer
biological organism, requires the mastery of some language for
communication. (5) (Psychology of language learning, (NCERT, 2005)).
Second language (L2) learning means learning the other language
after the first language is acquired. Human beings have some in born
capacity to acquire and use the highly complex system of human
language and speech other than one’s own. Language learning is a
natural phenomenon and occurs even without intervention.
Researchers report that there is a critical period or optimal age
for second language learning which ends around the age of puberty,
around 13 years of age. In this period the child’s brain is more
‘plastic’ the adults, so, it is more receptive. Thus, certain
aspects of language acquisition especially in the area of
pronunciation are facilitated by this plasticity. However, the
cognitive argument says that as an adult is superior to a child when
it comes to abstract thought. Learning another language involves
generalization, discrimination of different and identifying
similarities, and mastery of sentence structures.
Cognitive theory is the result of extensive research into the role
that mental processing plays in learning. The cognitive view of
language acquisition is usually credited to the work of Chomsky
(1965) who proposed that language is not learned as a form of
behavior, it is acquired as a set of grammatical rules. Chmsky also
hypothesized that the use of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) by
the children can enable them to create syntactically appropriate
utterances prior to imitation and repetition. But it is also true
that the students learn more easily when they can manipulate objects
rather than use abstract thought.
.Accordingly to Cummin (1979), knowledge learned in one language
transfers to a second language once students have acquired the
linguistic skills to express the knowledge and it takes an average
of three to five years for English speakers and four to seven for
non-English speakers to acquire Cognitive Academic Language
Proficiency (CALP). Because of this a second language learner can
also use higher order thinking skills, analysis, synthesis,
evaluation, generalization, conclusion, formulation etc.
Other cognitive psychologists have also addressed the theory of
second language learning. Explicitly affirms the principle that
language is processed by the human mind in the same way as other
kinds of information. Language proficiency is described with
reference to two dimensions
an analyzed factor and an automatic factor.
Bialystock’s two dimensional language proficiency model is like this
– Figure 1
Edutrack article, January Swain (1977) proposes a four part model of
second language learning-
(1) Input factors refers to input to the learning process or
situation and includes both linguistic and extra linguistic
variables.
(2) Learner factor refers to the contribution of learner variables
(age, attitude, motivation, etc.) to the learning process.
(3) Learning factors refers to strategies and processes used by the
learner to learn elements of the target language-generalization,
imitation, transfer, analogy, inference and so forth.
(4) Learned factors refers to the particular feature of the target
language being acquired by the learner (question forms, auxiliaries,
negatives, phonology etc.)
Thus, the major source of theoretical issues in second language
classroom learning is concerned with the nature of instruction that
results from different learning situations. Most broadly, second
language instruction occurs in two contexts. One foreign language
context, relevant to some of the second language learners, where the
learner acquires the second language when there is a natural use of
the language in the surroundings, and in the second type of
situation the second language is not only the content of instruction
but the medium of instruction.
Bilingualism and Monolingualism
Child to express their feelings, ideas and wishes in a socially
accepted manner. Language is the medium through which the child
acquires the cultural, moral and other values in society. A child
may acquire social identify from it and within its framework,
develop one’s our personal identify also. The effects over age of
language exposure are approximately linear through childhood with a
flattening of the function in adulthood. Though our command of
language shows little progress in some are such as in vocabulary,
but the language learning continues through out our life span. There
are various ways in which this may happen, and the transition
between L1 and L2 / L2 and L3 languages are incremental. A child may
expose to two or even more languages right from the beginning of
his/her life. In such cases, the child is called to be a bilingual
and in some cases who have the ability of using only one language in
wide spread area is known as monolingual. In debating monolingualism,
Auerbach (1993) raised a number of important issues that monolingual
(L1) usage ‘validates the learners’ lived experiences and allows for
language learning to become a means of communicating ideas rather
than an and in itself: Most recently, cumonins (2009) also sounded
the call for seriously considering pedagogical strategies which
incorporate students L1 in the classroom. Thus, monolingualism needs
to be re-examined in terms of its effect in helping learners develop
positive attitudes towards L2, motivating them and providing them
with the basis necessary to build solid foundations.(6)
Bilingualism is a socio-linguistic phenomenon that has received much
scholarly attention, not only because of its importance in
communications but also because of political and demographic
considerations. People use the term ‘bilingualism’ in different
ways. For some, it means an equal ability to communicate in two
languages. For others, it simply means the ability to communicate in
two languages, but with greater skills in one language. Infect, it
is more common for bilingual people even those who have been
bilingual since birth, to be somewhat ‘dominant’ in one language.
Bloom field defines bilingualism as “a native-like control of two
languages”. Diebold gives a minimal definition when he uses the term
“incipient bilingualism” to mean “the initial stages of contact
between two languages”.
In some cases, people are ‘multilingual’ who is fluent in three or
more languages. Weinreich (1953) proposed that there were three
types of bilingualism depending on the way in which the two
languages are learned. These are –
(a) Compound bilingualism.
(b) Co-ordinate bilingualism
(c) Subordinate bilingualism.
Compound bilingualism is the type of bilingualism whose totally
integrated arrangement could only arise when equal prominence was
given to each language in childhood. Here, the person learns the
languages in the same context where they are used concurrently, so
that there is a fused representation of the languages in the brain.
This is the case when a child is brought up by bilingual parents or
those from two different linguistic backgrounds. Such speakers may
become “balanced bilingual” and any two language systems using by
them, no matter how different they are have some features in common
Lamber (1974) says that this likely to occur when learners have a
positive view of their own ethnic identity and of the target
language culture.
Co-ordinate bilingualism is a types where one person learns the
languages in the separate environments and words of the two
languages are kept separate with each word having its own specific
meaning. Here, the person acquired another language as a second
language, adding to their first language and initially develops one
system and also can operate the two in parallel. In extreme cases,
the use of the second language may involve merely the substitution
of second language phonological structures for the first language
structures within an other wise unified system that provides for a
suitable correspondence of second and meaning.
The case where the second language develops so that it is entirely
parasitic on the first language is known as subordinate bilingualism
and it arises when one language is learned before another.
So, Bilingual children not only have control over several different
languages but they are also accordingly more creative and socially
more tolerant. The wide range of linguistic repetitive that they
control equips them to negotiate different social situation more
efficiently. There is also substantial evidence to show that
bilingual children excel in divergent thinking. Such bilingual
children are also known to show some of the following dominant
traits, which are themselves subject to different interpretations.
Cognitive Flexibility
Bilingual experience offers children certain cognitive flexibility
in their task performance, however, this flexibility slums from
reliance on the self-regulatory functions of language, such as
code-switching, investigators also believed that the possibility of
switching linguistic codes while performing cognitive tasks gave
bilingual children an added flexibility that monolingual children
did not enjoy. It is also unique in bilingual that they translate
forms one language to another language which requires the translator
to mentally move from the linguistic representation level of one
language to the logical level of world reference.
Code-Switching and Code Mixing
It is considered as one externally important aspect of both
cognitive development and social communication. Sometimes called as
language switching. It is the common tendency of bilinguals when
speaking to other bilinguals to switch from one language to another,
often to more appropriate words or phrases even though distinction
between borrowing and transfer where the second language influences
the first language influences the first language, and substratum
transfer where the 1st language influences the second language is
not clear.
AS Diat (1983) (1983) says the following in his research :
(1) Bilingual children are thinking verbally while performing the
non-verbal tasks.
(2) Bilinguals switch from one language to the other wile performing
these tasks, and
(3) Bilingual’s habit of switching language while performing these
tasks result in improved task performance.
Metalinguistic Awareness
Metalinguistic awareness is defined as an awareness or bringing into
explicit consciousness of linguistic form and structure in order to
consider how they relate to and produce the underlying meaning of
utterances. It is the ability to view and analyse language as a
‘thing’, language as a ‘process’ and language as a ‘system’. Thus,
bilingualism can increase the child’s metalinguistic awareness and
promote are analytic orientation to linguistic input.
Translation
Since, a bilingual child masters two mutually incomprehensible
languages, he becomes a translator. Such children are also
consciousness of their linguistic knowledge and can easily transfer
from one language to other. The problem with translation is that any
translated version must lose something of the author’s original
intent. Especially in poetry, the translation is sometimes said to
be a better work than the original and, in such cases one is
actually dealing with a new, though derived, work and not just a
translation.
Thus, Bilingualism is the state which enhances the degree of
metalinguistic awareness i.e. code-switching and translation in
children so that they have the advantage of acquiring new language.
Not only this they equip the learners with such politeness
strategies and powers of presentation that they are able to
negotiate all communicative encounters with tolerance and dignity.
English in Indian School Context
In a multilingual and multicultural society in which all the major
languages are given the status of national languages,
socio-political tungs and pulls may force a nation to accept an
exoglosie language as an associate or auxiliary link language : this
is one of the functions of English at the national level in India
today. It must, however, be added that it is restricted to educated,
urban, English based bilinguals.
English with its our phonological, syntactic, morphological and
lexico-semantic systems has been functioning in our socio-cultural
and socio-linguistic setting for more than two hundred years. Thus,
the socio-cultural interactions have generated a new variety of
English with its our sub-varieties. Code mixing and code switching
have also been used as strategies to present a faithful picture of
the linguistic performance of English-based bilinguals.
Hindi-English bilingualism has set in motion two processes-Englishication
of Hindi and Indianization of English. It is therefore, necessary to
recognize the distinctive properties of English in India and promote
the stabilization of a pass-Indian standard based on regional
literature, radio and TV, all-India news paperes and magazines and
teacher-learning interactions in classrooms. This is important
because the main objective of teaching English in our situation is
not simply to make the learners learn the language skills but to
enable them to play their communicative roles effectively and select
language/registers/ styles according to the roles they are playing.
Thus, there is very reason to promote bilingualism in school
curricula and it is also essential to have a holistic perspective on
language pedagogy, because it should be seen as resource rather than
an obstacle in education.(8)
Second language acquisition, socio-cultural and linguistic aspects
of English in India.
Rationale of the Study
In a multilingual set-up like India bilingualism or multilingualism
is a natural phenomenon. The skills and knowledge learned by the
child in the mother tongue can be transferred, as the medium of
instruction changes, strengthening the child’s ability and
achievement in other languages. It is also suggested that
bilingualism can increase the child’s meta-linguistic awareness
which is helpful in explaining the execution and transfer of
linguistic knowledge across the languages (e.g. code switching and
translation among bilinguals). Some studies also suggest that
bilingual students have an advantage in learning a new language in
comparison to monolinguals (Thomas, 1988, Valencia and Cenoz 1993).
Several explanations have been suggested for this advantage of L3 in
contrast to (L2) learning. According to Corder (1979), Hao He
(2008). Kim Myoyoung (2007), Sikogukira (1993), Thomas (1988)
bilinguals leaning a third language have more sensitivity to
language as a system, which helps them to perform better in formal
learning activities than monolinguals learning a new language for
first time.
Various studies such as Cummins and Swain (1986), Gardner and
Lambert (1972), Peal and Lambert (19629) have shown that there is
highly positive relationship between bilingualism, cognitive
flexibility and scholastic achievement. Such bilingual children not
only have control over several different languages but they are also
more academically creative and socially more tolerant. Thus, the
researcher has taken this study in order to compare the linguistic
knowledge of two groups to verify whether both of them experience
the same level of difficulty in learning English and whether
bilinguals do have more sensibility than monolinguals in English.
Statement of the problem
The problem of the study can be stated as “Analogous study of
English Linguistic knowledge between monolingual and bilingual sixth
grade students”.
Objectives
(i) To compare the English reading ability between monolingual and
bilingual sixth grade students.
(ii) To compare the English grammatical ability between monolingual
and bilingual sixth grade students.
(iii) To compare the English vocabulary ability between monolingual
and bilingual sixth grade students.
Hypotheses
(i) Three exists significant difference in reading ability of
monolingual and bilingual sixth grade students.
(ii) Three exists significant difference in vocabulary of
monolingual and bilingual sixth grade students.
(iii) Three exists significant difference in grammatical ability
monolingual and bilingual sixth grade students.
Methodology
This present study is a comparative type of study used to compare
the English linguistic knowledge between monolingual and bilingual
sixth grade students. Design of the study, sample, tools and
techniques of data analysis has been presented in their section.
Design of Study
As the present study is designed to compare the English linguistic
knowledge of sixth grade Hindi native speakers studying in
monolingual situation and bilingual situation it demands for
descriptive survey type research through quantitative method.
Sample
The total sample comprised of 60 students, out of which 30
monolingual students were selected randomly from class six of Govt.
High School, Khargone Distt. and 30 bilingual students were selected
from class six of Kanwartara School, Khargone Distt..
Tools
Two types of tools were used here:
(i) Self-constructed test (items)
(ii) Interview-schedule for the teacher.
As the study is done in order to compare the English Linguistic
Knowledge of sixth grade monolingual students (that is Hindi as
their medium of instruction) and sixth grade bilingual students
(i.e. English as their medium of instruction), the researcher has
conducted a similar type of text in both the situations. The test is
mainly made for comparing their ability in English grammar,
vocabulary and reading skill. The test items were mainly of
multiple-choice type, true and false, comprehension passage, fill in
the blanks, arrangement of sentences, etc. After collecting the data
of English linguistic knowledge of monolingual and bilingual
students, researcher conducted interview of English teachers in both
the schools inorder to know the socio-economic background of
students and also the methods of teaching. The interview was mainly
taken to know the factors behind the differences of English
linguistic knowledge of both bilinguals and monolinguals.
Statistical analysis
After collection of data the scores were analysed by applying mean,
standard deviation and t-test in order to know the significant
difference of English linguistic knowledge between the monolingual
and bilingual students. Accordingly, interview schedule was
qualitatively analysed to know the reasons of differences in between
monolingual and bilinguals.
Operational Definition
In many parts of the world it is just a normal requirement of daily
living that people speak several languages according to their need.
In this study the researcher is going to compare the English
Linguistic knowledge of monolingual and bilingual students.
Monolingual are those who have the ability to use only one language
and such language choices become the part of the social identity.
Whereas bilingual are those who have exactly equal ability to
communicate in two or more than one language. Thus in this study the
monolingual are those students whose medium of instruction is Hindi
or they refer to 12 students whose only language is Hindi before
they learn English. The bilingual are those whose medium of
instruction is English and they refer to L3 students who have
mastery in Hindi (their mother tongue) and they are studying Hindi
and English simultaneously.
The linguistic knowledge is constituted of vocabulary, grammar and
reading skill (Raykov, T & Marceouldis, 2006) because innate
language faculty of a child leads to the communicative competency
which is the speakers’ internalize knowledge of both in grammatical
rules of a language and of the vocabulary for appropriate use in
social contexts.
Reading skills is the receptive skill which comes before the
productive skill i.e. speaking and writing. It is the understanding
of cohesions between parts of a text through grammatical rules,
recognizing vocabulary and deducing the meaning by recognizing the
sentences.
Delimitation
The study is confined to the following :
(i) Only sixth grade students are taken for this study.
(ii) Monolingual are confined to Government Hindi medium school of
Khargone Distt..
(iii) Bilingual are confined to Government English medium school of
Khargone Distt..
(iv) The linguistic knowledge is confined to vocabulary, grammar and
reading ability.
(v) The reading ability is to examine the various strategies used by
the students in sentence processing.
Mostly, reasonable thinking and comprending the sentence.
Research Design
The present study is a descriptive survey type of research.
Descriptive research generally includes collection of data in order
to test the hypothesis or answer the questions concerning to the
current status of the study. Basically such type of research is used
to assess the competencies of individuals in a particular condition
or situation. In the present study also the self-constructed items
and interview schedule are used to collect the data to now the
English linguistic knowledge of monolingual and bilingual sixth
grade students.
As the present study is designed to compare the English linguistic
knowledge of Hindi native speakers studying in monolingual situation
(Hindi as their medium of instruction) and bilingual situation
(English as their medium of instruction), it demands for descriptive
survey type research through quantitative method.
Sample of the Study
The researcher has taken all the co-education Hindi medium schools
and co-education English medium schools of Khargone Distt. as a
population. Then the whole population is divided into two strata on
the basis of nature of the schools. After that the sample has
randomly selected from one of the schools of each stream. This
sample consists of 30 monolingual students selected randomly from
class six of Hindi medium school and another 30 bilingual students
are also selected randomly from class six of English medium school
Table 1.
Tools
Two types of tools were used in the present study –
(i) Self-constructed test.
(ii) Interview-schedule for English teacher.
Self-constructed test
In order to fulfill the objectives of the study the researcher has
prepared test (self-constructed items) to test the English
linguistic knowledge i.e. vocabulary, grammar and reading ability of
monolingual and bilingual students.
Selection of items
The test items of the present study are made according to the sixth
standard of both state Hindi medium board and CBSE English medium
board Table 2.
Validity of Construction
In the study the test items are also judged by a panel of experts
for content validity.
Construction of items
Order the guidance of supervisor the researcher has constructed 30
items out of which 10 items are from reading comprehension, 10 items
from vocabulary and 10 items from grammar Table 3.
Figure within brackets indicates the number of questions and figures
outside the bracket indicates marks i.e. 1 x 5 (some mark for each
question).
Interview schedule for English teacher
In order to know the reasons of difference between the grammar,
vocabulary and reading abilities of both monolingual and bilingual
students the interview schedule is used.
In the present study the items of interview-schedule are made
according to the need of the study.
Under the guidance of supervisor the researcher has constructed 16
open-ended questions, out of which 10
are from English teaching learning
process, 2 are from teaching profession and 4 are from
socio-economic background of students Table 4
Procedure of data collection :
As the study is done in order to compare the English Linguistic
knowledge of sixth grade Hindi native speakers studying in
monolingual situation (i.e. Hindi as their medium of instruction)
and Bilingual situation (i.e. English as their medium of
instruction), the researcher has to conduct a similar type of exam
in both the situations. The exam is mainly made for comparing their
ability in English grammar, vocabulary and reading ability.
In the beginning the researcher has to create a rapport with the
principal and teacher of the concerned school and subject. After
that she has conducted a test in a particular period in Govt. High
school of Khargone Distt. of 30 students of class VI B. After
collecting the data and evaluating the copies the researcher felt
the need of interviewing the English teacher in order to know the
socio-economic background of students and also the methods of
teaching English. Then she went for taking interview for some
another day.
Likewise, she has randomly selected 30 bilingual students (i.e.
English as their second language and Hindi as their first language)
from class VI A, VI B and VI C of KANWARTARA English Medium school
with the help of English teacher, named Joshna Jena and conducted
the same test in VI A. In the process of her work the researcher has
collected the data and also taken the interview of English teacher.
After collecting all the data from both the schools the researcher
has to go for statistical analysis.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Objective
To compare the English reading ability between the monolingual and
bilingual sixth grade students.
Hypotheses
There exists significant difference in reading ability of
monolingual and bilingual sixth grade students.
T-ratio of English reading ability of sixth grade monolingual and
bilingual students, is as follows in Table 5.
The obtained value is greater than the table values that is. 2.00
and 2.66 at 0.05 level and 0.01 level respectively. With degrees of
freedom (df) 58. It indicates that there is significant difference
in English reading ability between monolingual and bilingual sixth
grade students.
From the mean scores we can conclude that the English reading
ability of bilingual students is better than monolingual students.
Discussion of the results
It is observed from the results that the reading ability of
bilingual students is better than monolingual students. Now the
question arises that why bilingual students are better in reading
ability their monolingual students.
As in the present study the reading ability is confined to only
reading comprehension and identification of sentences, our result is
also confined to it. Here monolingual students are those whose
medium of instruction is Hindi. So, they got less scope in reading
English rather in English period, because frequency of exposure of
second language, because they were studying their other subjects
such as, History, Geography, Maths and Science, etc. in English,
which also gave them an advantage of reading English.
Another important factor is that the bilingual students were
studying English from class one whereas, monolingual students were
studying English from class three. Thus, bilinguals were in
advantage of learning. English for six years of longer period of
exposure than monolinguals who had only three years of exposure.
Some studies such as, Klesmer, 1994, Collier, 1987 and Curmmins 1981
also reported that an average of at least 5 years was required for
second language learners to attain grade norms in academic aspects
of English proficiency. Thus, monolingual are in learning stage and
as soon as they pass the threshold on linguistic ability, they
should be able to pass that strategy on English learning.
Despite of this the bilingual were also getting an opportunity of
reading newspapers, magazine, comics and cartoon articles in library
periods of school and also at home whereas the monolingual were not
exposed to such reading materials.
2. Objective II
To compare the English vocabulary between monolingual and bilingual
sixth grade students.
Hypotheses II
There exists significant difference in vocabulary of monolingual and
bilingual sixth grade students.
t-ratio of English vocabulary of sixth grade monolingual and
bilingual students is as follows Table 8
The obtained value is greater than the table values that is 2.00 and
2.66 at 0.05 level and 0.01 level respectively, with degrees of
freedom 58. It indicates that there is significant difference in
English vocabulary between monolingual and bilingual sixth grade
students.
From the mean scores we can conclude that the English vocabulary of
bilingual students is better than monolingual students.
Discussion of the results
It is observed from the results that the English vocabulary of
bilingual students is better than monolingual students. Now the
question arises that why bilingual students are better in vocabulary
than monolingual students.
As we know that the good reading skill leads to good stock of
vocabulary. So, bilinguals had good stock of vocabulary than
monolinguals. In a bilingual situation the students were in habit of
reading more and more English books such as non-detailed study, read
for pleasure book and main course book, etc. which was lacking in
monolingual situations.
Despite of this in bilingual situation the students were studying
other subjects such as social studies, maths and sciences, etc. in
English, whereas monolinguals were studying in Hindi. We also
observed that a wide range of learners, locations and classes would
after the condition of exposure to the bilinguals that they acquire
more than a smattering of vocabulary items with which again they
pepper their speech in mother tongue.
Moreover bilinguals were raised in an environment around the urban
centers that were relatively more open to the outside world.
Whereas, most of the monolingual were staying in rural areas,
because the multilingual situations were also very conducive to
second language acquisition.
Objective III
To compare the English grammatical ability between monolingual and
bilingual sixth grade students.
Hypotheses III
There exists significant difference in grammatical ability of
monolingual and bilingual sixth grade students.
t-ratio of English grammatical ability of sixth grade monolingual
and bilingual students is as follows Table 6.
The obtained value is greater than the table values i.e. 2.00 and
2.66 at 0.05 level and 0.01 level respectively, with degrees of
freedom 58. It indicates that there is significant difference in
English grammatical ability between monolingual and bilingual sixth
grade students.
From the mean scores we can conclude that the English grammatical
ability of bilingual students is better than monolingual students.
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS
From the mean scores of English grammatical ability of both
monolingual and bilingual students. We found that there was no such
substantial difference in between the two groups. It means that both
of them had almost equal ability in English grammar though the
bilinguals were studying English for six years and monolinguals for
three years. We can understand this language acquisition theory
through the Chornskian theory of “Innate language faculty”.
According to him the persons who were good learners of their first
language, would also learn well the second language, because the
ability of first language is passed to the ability of second
language. Actually, the capacity to acquire the first language was
universally found among all the human beings, but it was also
related to their capacity to learn a language other than their own.
The students of monolingual situation were much competent in their
first language than the students who were studying in bilingual
situation, because they were learning their first language at home
as well as at school whereas, the bilinguals got less scope to learn
their first language. Thus, the proficiency of first language of
monolinguals would transfer to their second language. But in this
present study bilinguals show good performance in grammar than
monolinguals, because they were in practice of more reading texts
and also written exercises in the class hours, which was again a
valuable means of gaining command over their new language items.
Overall performance in English linguistic knowledge
t-ratio of English grammatical knowledge of sixth grade monolingual
and bilingual students is as follows Table 7.
The obtained value is greater than the table value that is 2.00 and
2.66 at 0.05 level and 0.01 level respectively with degrees of
freedom 58. It indicates that there is significant difference in
English linguistic knowledge between monolingual and bilingual sixth
grade students.
From the mean scores we can conclude that the English linguistic
knowledge of bilingual students is better than monolingual students.
Discussion of the results
From the present study we found that there is significant difference
in English linguistic knowledge of both the groups. The bilinguals
show better performance in vocabulary, grammar and reading ability
than monolinguals. But the analogous analysis of relationship
between monolingual and bilingual students in linguistic knowledge
shows that there is significant difference between two groups in
vocabulary, and reading ability, however there is no substantial
difference in grammatical abili² ? between two groups. It was
because the bilinguals have advantage over monolinguals in many
ways, such as, they started learning English earlier, they were
raised in an environment that are relatively more open to the
outside world and also English as their medium of instruction. But
monolinguals have an advantage of good understanding in their first
language which again helps them in using the grammatical rules in
their second language.
Interview-schedule for teachers
In the present study an interview schedule was used in order to know
the factors behind the differences of English linguistic knowledge
of both monolinguals and bilingual sixth grade students. It was for
interviewing English teachers of both the schools, such as Joshna
Jena of KANWARTARA School and Pranati Dash of Govt. high school,
Vani Vihar. The questions of the interview schedule were made by
taking into account the need of the study. Mostly the questions were
constructed to know the English teaching learning process to be
followed in school, about the teaching career and profession of
teacher and also about the socio-economic background of students.
After analyzing the results according to the hypotheses of the study
the researcher got that bilingual students show better performance
in all the three linguistic aspects of English i.e. grammars,
vocabulary and reading ability than monolingual. The result of the
study indicates that the componential model (questions made for
knowing all the 3 skills) of English linguistic knowledge is valid
for both monolingual and bilingual learners. But the analogues
analysis of the result show significant difference between
monolingual and bilingual students on vocabulary and reading
ability, however it is minor in grammar. It was because of several
factors that bilinguals had advantage over monolinguals. Thus, from
the teacher’s response the researcher got certain factors of better
performance of bilinguals and low performance of monolinguals in
English.
Discussion on the responses
Age-Linguistic factor :
As we know that the earlier people expose to a foreign language, the
earlier they master the language and also developed a better
linguistic skill in that language. Thus, bilinguals were in
advantage of learning English from class one or even from nursery
classes or from the age of puberty. They had received an average of
6 or more than 6 years of education in EFL (English as Foreign
Language) where as monolinguals started learning English from class
three only, and had an average of 3 and half years of Education in
EFL.
Actually puberty is the time when human brain takes a ‘set’ in the
‘language center’ having the best capability of memorizing and
processing the language details, and the flexibility and
effectiveness of the language functionality also losses after then
(Jorge Chavez, 2002).
Not only this bilinguals had an advantage of learning third
language, such as Hindi with English, and with equal competence,
which again improves their met linguistic awareness and made them
more sociable and academically creative whereas, monolinguals would
not get such opportunity.
English-teaching factor :
Though in Indian context English is considered as foreign language,
people are using it by modifying or Indian zing it according to
their need so, learning of English for non-native speakers is a
typical work and mostly depend on its teacher, teaching environment
and ways of teaching strategies.
Thus in the study monolingual students used to speak in their mother
tongue/first languages (Hindi) and teachers also, whereas, in
bilingual situation teacher usually preferred English and also faced
the students to talk in English.
According to the response of English medium teacher- ‘She used to
talk in English period and also allowed the students to give
response in English. But in certain cases for slow learners she was
using bilingual method of teaching’.
According to the response of Hindi medium teacher- ‘She used to talk
in Hindi and mostly used bilingual method in class and also had a
thought that the Hindi medium students are not capable enough of
such English medium students.’Here in the monolingual situation we
found that the faculty measures of teaching English of Hindi medium
schools and incapacity of language teacher was mostly responsible
for the low performance of students in English. We also got that the
English teacher was not only the English teacher of class VI rather
she was teaching Math and science of class VII. Despite of this,
suitable classroom tasks and reading materials were also not
properly given to the students, whereas, in bilingual situation the
students had a practice of several tasks, assignments and projects
of English. Such bilingual students were also engaged in several
debate, word games, essay writing and newspaper reading activities
by the teacher. In this bilingual situation the teacher was also
trained for English teaching and anxious for using various new
methods of teaching English.
Psycholinguistic Factor
Due to cultural and environmental difference monolingual students
faced several barriers in learning English whereas, the
environmental again helped bilinguals in learning English.
Bilinguals were raised in an environment that were relatively more
open to the outside world and also brought up in urban centers.
Thus, they had less confusions and conflicts in learning English and
also had more opportunity to make comparisons about the English
structure and characteristics. Whereas, monolingual students grew up
in rural area and their environment and culture was also relatively
obdurate. Such students were also self-contradictory, complicated
and therefore tend to be shy in discussing with opposite sex.
Whereas, bilinguals were overwhelmed and challenged by modernism in
their culture, mentality and life.
Socio-linguistic factor
The social and environmental factors of family and society are also
an important reason of affecting learning process. Which again
determined one’s way of thinking and learning? In the study most of
the monolingual students were coming from such families where
parents were employed and also not aware of their child’s learning.
Whereas, the social status of bilingual students could change their
way of thinking and processing.
According to the response of Hindi medium teacher-“Sometimes
students were coming to the class with empty stomach and had also
not able to pay fees of the school. Like wise their parents were
also not aware of their studies and sometimes some parents were very
much anxious of their child’s studies”.
According to the response of English medium teacher- “the parents
were in good profession and also some of them were RIE faculties,
but the necessary thinking was that the school environment and
multicultural and multilingual peer grouping would boost the child
to think in a different way and also helped him in learning English.
Interpretation of results
After getting results and responses from the English teachers and
analyzing, it the researcher got that, there exist significant
difference in English vocabulary and reading ability between the
monolingual and bilingual students, whereas less difference in
grammatical ability. It means that bilinguals performed well in
reading comprehension and vocabulary than monolinguals, because they
were enough intelligent in making logical judgment of the sentences
in their reading ability and also had several advantages over
monolingual such as, they started learning English earlier, they
were raised in urban centers which was more open to the outside
world, and had less confusions and conflicts in learning English
because of the better teaching learning strategies followed in
schools. But monolinguals faced several learning barriers caused by
social, psychological, age and teaching-learning factors.
The result of this study supported by a number of studies, such as,
Hao, He (2008); Sikogukira (1993); Valencia and Cenoz (1993); Thomas
(1988), and Corder (1979) have been suggested that bilinguals
learning a third language have more sensitivity to language as a
system, which helps them to perform better in formal language
learning activities than monolinguals learning a new language for
the first time. Furthermore, the studies such as, Acoopmans; Quene
and Velde (2004); Garcia, Majo (2003) and Munoz, C (2000) also
supported that length of exposure to the foreign language seems to
have a positive effect than earlier exposure and the development of
bilingual lexicon also strongly depends on the type of grammatical
knowledge which is acquired with the degree of lexical conditioning.
Findings of the Study
After analysis and interpretation of the data, the researcher has
come to the conclusion with the following findings:
1. There exists significant difference in reading ability of
monolingual and bilingual 6th grade students and bilinguals show
better performance than monolinguals. (MM=6.4 and MB=8.6,
t-value=4.29, which is significant at 0.01 and 0.05 level at degrees
of freedom 58).
2. There exists significant difference in vocabulary of monolingual
and bilingual sixth grade students and bilinguals show better
performance than monolinguals. (MM=2.3 and MB=5.2, t-value=0.01 and
0.05 level at degrees of freedom 58).
3. There exists significant difference in grammatical ability
between monolingual and bilingual sixth grade students and
bilinguals show better performance than monolinguals. (MM=3.6 and
MB=5.2, t-value=2.84, which is significant at 0.01and 0.05 level at
degrees of freedom 58).
Here, MM=Mean of monolinguals
MB=Mean of bilinguals
Factors of getting advantage by the bilinguals
1. Age-factor :
More duration of exposure of second language (L2)
2. Psychological factor :
• Brought up in urban centers which is more open to the outside
world.
• The prone to be more sensitive to English, because of school
environment.
• More peer group interaction irrespective of gender.
3. Teaching factor :
• Better teaching strategies followed by the teacher.
• Teacher was specially trained for the particular subject.
• More reading materials and practice texts were available to the
students.
4. Social factor :
They were from well to do family where most of the parents were well
educated and paying attention to their children.
Whereas, monolinguals had faced several barriers caused by age,
social, psychological and teaching factors. But despite of that the
result shows that there is less mean difference in grammatical
ability of monolinguals and bilinguals than the reading ability and
vocabulary, because the monolinguals were more competent in their
first language than bilinguals which helps in transfer of their
innate grammatical ability to second language i.e. English.
(according to Chomsky’s Universal Grammar theory).
Educational implications
The present study is relevant to educational field in the following
ways:
1. As language is the central to all learning process, we can say
that all teaching is also a way of learning language. So, there is a
need to appreciate the fact that the language learning is not only
confined to language classroom rather the science, social science
and mathematics class is also a language class, because it gives
ample opportunity to the learners to speak and when they speak, a
lot of language learning takes place. Thus, all possible efforts
should be made by curriculum designers, textbook writers, and
teacher trainees to build network across different subjects and
languages in order to enhance levels of language proficiency.
2. Possible efforts should be made to build bridges between the
languages of home, peer group, and neighbourhood, on the one hand,
and the languages of the school, on the other.
3. Mother tongue or regional language should continue to be taught
unfill all levels because high levels of proficiency in it ensure
better cognitive growth, faster healthier interpersonal
communication skills, and promote conceptual clarity.
4. The medium of instruction at the level of primary school must be
the mother-tongue of learners for building up of rich experimental,
linguistic, and cognitive resources that they bring to schools and
English should be introduced at the post-primary stage, but for the
first couple of years it should focus largely on oral skills, simple
lexical items, or some day-to-day conversation.
5. It is essential to have a holistic perspective on language
pedagogy. Texts involving the use of language in a variety of
contexts should constitute the basis of teaching.
6. There is a need to locate language education programmes in
multilingual prospective, because it sensitizes the child to the
cultural and linguistic diversity around his/her and encourages them
to use it as a resource for their development. Moreover, these
languages are repositories of rich cultural traditions and knowledge
system and every effort needs to be made to keep them active.
(According to position paper of the National Focus Group and also
NCF 2005).
7. Flexibility in implementation of languages in schools by
decentralizing language in education policy at both the intra and
interstate levels.
CONCLUSION
Language is a social phenomenon and a child learning language,
learns not just the rules of the linguistic structure but learns
them with reference to the social context. So, in a multilingual
set-up contextualize language instruction for young learner must
follow the principle of child-centered pedagogy. Within which their
views, voices and experiences are given primary and also their
active participation is encouraged. Teaching grammar and vocabulary
(i.e. giving examples from the home language of the learners) in
isolation will not yield the desired result and learning will take
place in a fragmented manner whereas, we need to have a holistic
prospective on language learning (NCF 2005).
REFERENCE
Agnihotri RK, Khanna LA (1994). Second language Acquisition,
Socio-Cultural and Linguistic aspects of English in India, Sage
Publication India, Research in Applied Linguistics, Vol-1, First
Published, (P-93-101).
Bose k (1999). Teaching of English a Modern approach, Doba House,
New Delhi, Fourth revised edition, (P-72).
Gay RL (2000). Educational Research, Competencies for analysis and
application, Prentice-Hall, Sixth edition, (P-2787,291).
Ghosh MB (2006), Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Anmol Publication,
First NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework 2005, Publication
Department by the Secretary, NCERT New Delhi, (P-36-39).
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