Alisia Maendel
Canadian Mennonite University
PSYC 1010/3 Intro to Psychology
I am Bilingual. I was born and raised on a Huttarian Community here in Manitoba, where my first and only language until the age of 5 was Hutterisch. The Dialect, also called Tirolian in its original form, has Germanic Bavarian roots, and is still spoken in some German and Austrian communities. However, the Hutterisch variant of this dialect has taken on and adopted words from Russian, Albanian, and Ukrainian, since these were regions that the early Hutterite communities migrated to and spent considerable lengths of time in between the 16-19th century. Once I reached the age of five, my education was primarily conducted in English, which I picked up rather quickly. English became the language of school and therefore more complex ideas and thoughts, while Hutterisch was the automatic language that I most naturally speak and express myself with. But with this Germanic dialect and English mixture “churning” in my head I have observed interesting phenomena in the way I perceive the world and even process my own thoughts.
Firstly, when I speak, the natural language that comes to me most normally is Hutterisch. As a dialect, however, it lacks a lot of modern words for technology or more complex ideas that I quickly, without thinking, fill in with English substitutes. This results in me speaking with my fellow Hutterites is a conglomerate hybrid language of Hutterisch and English, borrowing the grammatical rules of both languages at random- and therefore breaking all the rules altogether.
I have also found that when I speak English (this is usually in my university setting, where I spend most of the time when I am not on my colony) with a native English speaker, I can “switch off” my Hutterisch language completely, and even hide my accent entirely. But then, in the middle of a conversation, I will simply lose the English word I want. I will remember the Hutterisch, and even possibly the German, but the English word is just gone.
I expressed this idea to friends and family, especially those of whom I know speak more English in their day-to-day life and have found that they can relate. While understanding that the cultural context of both languages, as well as the people engaged with as I speak various languages also play a Biopsychosocial role in these dialectic processes, this short piece will explore some of the research and theories surrounding the idea of Bilingual Cognition and Articulation.
The psychological study of language is an entire subfield called Linguistic Psychology (Chomsky, 1998). Bilingualism and how knowing and understanding two distinct languages shapes an individual has been studied in considerable depth, and several different perspectives on the topic can be viewed.
The first is the role Bilingualism plays in early child language accumulation and development. In his book “Language and Thought,” American Psychologist John Carroll (1964) identifies several theories around the role multiple language accumulation plays on Child development. Firstly, when a child learns its first language, they are not merely learning a word, but rather the Sign and Signifier or Meaning of the word as well (Carroll, 1964, p.78). For example, when learning the word “Ball,” the child first learned the word for it in Hutterisch: “Kuhg’l.” The child would learn the signifier –holding a physical “kuhg’l” first, before learning the correct word. Carroll referred to this signifier-first-than-afterwards-sign method of language accumulation as “Meaning Response” (Carrol. 1964, p.78-79). Further meaning is applied to the object through what B.F. Skinner believed to be Classical Conditioning, learned in 3 different ways:
1. Echoic Response (Carroll, 1964, p.36): The child simply repeats the words the parent is saying:
Parent: “sohg kuhg’l (say ‘ball’)”
Child: “Kuhg’l.”
The child is then rewarded with: “good job!”
2. Mand Response (Carroll, 1964, p.37-38): The child asks for a something in gibberish, indicating towards the object and is rewarded with what they wanted.
Therefore, the child now uses the word which granted them the results.
3. Tact Response (Carroll, 1964, p.37-38): The child identifies an object though expressing a similar sound to full word and is rewarded with acknowledgment.
Child: “sha! kuhg! (Look! ball!)” – The Hutterisch word is shortened by the child, and the contraction “eh” or in English “a” is left out altogether, but the thought is still communicated.
Parent: “That’s right!”
When it comes to a bilingual child where a second language is just beginning to be taught, even as the child is already fluent in the first, one goes through these same conditioning processes all over again. However, Carroll notes, there are differences in the development of a second language.
Firstly, is the idea of Concept Theory. A concept is an “internal representation of a class of experiences” (Carroll, 1964, p.90). Therefore, learning to use a word, specifically words that are no longer verbs or nouns, involves the learning of applied meaning. This, Carroll argues, is a part of language that can only be learned through “consistent social reinforcement” (p.90). 5-year-old Alisia had already learned the Hutterisch concept of “Kuhg’l” when entering kindergarten. Kuhg’l, for example refers to the noun, “Ball,” but when one adds prefixes and suffixes to the word, you get “gehkuhgl’t,” which transforms the noun into a verb meaning “to curl up,” or “become round”. Kuhg’l is in fact the only Hutterisch word for circle. When I entered Kindergarten, I was exposed to the term Ball -a concept referring to a specific type of circle, but also the word “circle” as the mathematical concept of roundness. Hutterisch did not make such distinctions, but rather lumped all these different explanations and concepts into a single world, adding the prefixes and suffixes as the language required it.
Carroll addresses this language difference with the following: “The vocabulary size of a language is a function of the state of advancement of the civilization which underlies it (Carroll, 1964, p.94).” For most Hutterites, Kuhg’l is sufficient for fulfilling the purpose of understanding everything round. The singular word is enough to fulfill the needs of the culture. In English, where education spans twelve years, the concept of round, ball, curling up, and spherical, all answer different questions across kinesthetic, mathematical, and philosophical fields. The expanded vocabulary is necessary for a concept which requires these distinctions within the cultural context of the language being spoken. The bilingual child learns all these concepts separately and perhaps takes that much longer to grasp the entire breath of this second, more involved language.
Compound Bilingualism is the term Carroll applies to children who learn a secondary language after their first (Carroll, 1964, p.42). Rather than being learned parallel and independently (as is the case with Coordinate Bilingualism) the child is grafting the 2nd language onto their understanding of the first (Carroll, 1964, p.42-43). This explains why sometimes grammatical slips spill over from the unconscious rules of Hutterisch Dialect, where sentences do not have to follow the English “Who-where-what-why-how” rules. Speakers of multiple languages simply do not sound “fluent” due to overlap from the first language which remains primary, and not coordinate or parallel.
This leads to the final concept and explanation for the behaviours of Bilingual individuals: The Adaptive Control Hypothesis (Hofweber, 2020). The past theory around Bilingual language code switching maintained that language’s different applied meanings to different concepts (such as the differences between “Kuhg’l” and “ball,”) was due to different parts of the brains localized language regions being “switched on or off” based on which language was being actively used at the time. However, Researcher Julia Hofweber (2020) notes that, “Neural studies have shown considerable shared overlap of neurocognitive mechanisms between bilinguals’ language switching and cognitive control processes” (Hofweber, “Examining Language Switching,” 2020). The two languages are occupying the same brain regions.
Think back to Carroll’s use of the word “grafting” to describe language acquisition. Through experiments with Delayed Feedback Technology where the participant’s hearing of the words they spoke where delayed, Researchers found that “code switching” and speaking of any language requires “continual self-monitoring of speech (Carroll, 1964, p.95).” When we switch languages, it is not an effortless choice but rather an active, conscious, switch that can become less noticeable with increased use due to Sensory Adaptation. The fact that both languages occupy the same brain regions means that both “compete for primacy” (Hofweber, “Examining Language Switching,” 2020). The Adaptive Control Hypothesis argues that this competition in code switching plays out in three ways that result in different behavioural attributes:
1. Single Language Context (Hofweber, 2020): The two languages are spoken in separate environments.
At home, the concept of “Kuhg’l” is enough for the simplistic cultural environment of my Hutterisch upbringing. In school however, where English is spoken, “ball” replaces Kuhg’l” as I “switch” towards viewing this 2nd understanding of the concept as multiple separate concepts.
2. Dual Language Context (Hofweber, 2020): Different languages used when speaking to different people. Language switch is frequent but still separate.
When I have lunch between classes I talk with one of my Hutterisch classmate in Hutterisch, then turn around and speak for my English classmate in English. Switching between the two is difficult, in fact, when I switch to English, I must make a conscious effort to change sentence structure. The Hutterisch sentence “gleichs’t dah ess’n oddohr wohs?” translates directly to the English “do you like your food or something?” but this is not a polite, or grammatically correct english sentence. A full code switch to English would result in a completely differently structured sentence to gain the same information from the English friend: “You much really be enjoying your meal!”
3. Dense Code Switching Context (Hofweber, 2020): The languages are used carelessly and switched at convenience.
This is how I speak to my friends who speak both languages fluently. The sentence- “what are you doing heint ih da class (What are you doing in class today)?” -is structurally flawed and breaks the rules of both languages, and involves rapid code switching.
Overall, one can understand how within this switch, there is room for a lot of error. Sometimes an entire word simply escapes me. I blank and forget words because the code switch is not possible. My brain will attempt to keep up with the grafted second language but reach a point where there is no grafted word alternative for the 1st language concept I am speaking of, so it blanks.
Language is fascinating, and to be able to speak two languages is like living in two separate conceptualizations of our world and psychological research shows that those who grow up in a Bilingual environment are mentally stepping rapidly between two worlds. It highlights the intricacy and magnificent complexity of the human brain as two ways of interpreting our environment are held together and equally within the same space, for some people, up to ten languages occupy their minds.
A kuhg’l is a ball, but can also be so much more; sometimes, however, I cannot recall either, and psychological research says that is okay.
References
Carroll, John B. (1964). Language and Thought. Foundations of Modern Psychology Series. Prentice Hall Inc.
Chomsky, Naom. (1998). On Language: Chomsky’s classic works “Language and Responsibility” and “Reflections on Language” in One Volume. The New Press.
Hofweber, Julia E. (2020). Examining Language Switching and Cognitive Control Through the Adaptive Control Hypothesis. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01171/full
Krause, M., Corts, D., & Smith, S.C. (2021). An introduction to psychological science (3rd Cdn. ed.). Pearson Canada.
Wade, Lizzie. (2016). Being Bilingual Changes the Architecture of Your Brain: making a Decision With Every Word you Say May Actually Be Like Weightlifting For the Brain Wired Science. https://www.wired.com/2016/02/being-bilingual-changes-the- architecture-of-your-brain/
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