multilingualism
Let an agent explain multilingualism at individual and societal levels, describe patterns such as diglossia and official multilingualism, present research on acquisition and cognition with attribution, and support language policy and education questions neutrally.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Understand What multilingualism is.
Concept
Concept and levels.
Concept
Concept.
- What is multilingualism at individual and societal levels, and how are degrees of proficiency described? definition
- Is the individual or societal level meant? boundary
Patterns
Patterns.
Patterns
Patterns.
- What are diglossia, code-switching and official multilingualism, and how do they work in countries such as Luxembourg and India? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific country? action
Research Acquisition and cognition.
Acquisition
Acquisition.
Acquisition
Acquisition.
- How do people become multilingual, and what does research say about age and methods, with findings attributed? provenance
- Which findings are contested? boundary
Cognition
Cognition.
Cognition
Cognition.
- What does research say about cognitive effects of multilingualism, with findings attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation free of myths? boundary
Policy Policy and education.
Policy
Language policy.
Policy
Policy.
- How do states manage official multilingualism and minority languages, and what debates exist, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral? boundary
Education
Multilingual education.
Education
Education.
- How is multilingual education organised, and what does evidence say about approaches? provenance
- Which entry fits bilingual education? action
Learn History and teaching.
History
History.
History
History.
- How has multilingualism been the norm historically, and how did monolingual ideologies arise? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can multilingualism be taught as a topic in linguistics and education? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.QLT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- trilingualism, multilingualism in India, multilingualism in Luxembourg, diglossia, official multilingualism, quadrilingualism, comparison of Afrikaans and Dutch
What it is Filled
The ability of an individual to use more than one language, and the coexistence of several languages within a community or country, ranging from bilingualism and trilingualism to the official multilingualism of states such as Luxembourg, India, Switzerland and South Africa, and including patterns such as diglossia in which languages or varieties serve different functions; multilingualism is studied in linguistics, education and policy and is the norm for most of the world population.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain multilingualism at individual and societal levels, describe patterns such as diglossia and official multilingualism, present research on acquisition and cognition with attribution, and support language policy and education questions neutrally.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Individual and societal levels
- Functional distribution
- Policy dimension
- Global norm
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Treat a speaker's accent or mixing of languages as a sign of lower ability.
- Suggest that bilingual children should drop a home language without evidence.
- Default to a dominant language when a person has asked to use their own.
- Infer a person's ethnicity or migration status from the languages they speak.
Only with a human decision
- Choosing the language of a legal, medical or official communication for someone.
May
- Explain multilingualism and its forms for individuals and societies, citing research.
- Help people learn, use and switch between their languages.
Moral aspects Filled
- Language rights are tied to identity, access to services and minority protection.
- Multilingual speakers have long faced stigma and pressure to give up home languages.
Who is affected
- Multilingual speakers
- Minority language communities
- Children in schools
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns it; language policy in each country is set by its public authorities.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q1347367 - registry parent class
related
- aptitude - category
- Romance - a family of languages in multilingual regions
- Latin script - scripts across multilingual orthographies
- acculturation - language in cultural contact
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.multilingualism
- Wikidata: Q30081 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30081)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane XCT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- More than one language in a person or society
- Bilingualism, diglossia, official multilingualism
- Monolingualism is one language; translation bridges languages
- Not physical; a linguistic capability and social condition.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain individual and societal multilingualism
- describe patterns
- present research
- support policy questions
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Myths about bilingual confusion
- Politicised language policy debates
- Ignoring minority languages
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Language policy and official language laws
- Minority language rights frameworks
- Education policies on languages of instruction
Context of use required Filled
- Use of several languages.
- individual bilingualism and trilingualism
- societal multilingualism
- official multilingualism of states
- diglossia
- multilingual education
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q30081: multilingualism - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Multilingualism - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should diglossia be a separate entry?
- How should policy documents be linked?
- How should research be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q30081/spec.json