Re: Connglish

Den 19. nov. 2006 kl. 14.53 skrev Mark J. Reed:
>
> In the second case, there have been conflicting results as to whether
> or not the minority language learning is harmful to progress in the
> majority language, but the consensus seems to be that it isn't.  It'd
> be nice if more professionals (educators, speech therapists, etc) were
> familiar with such research.  At least in the US, it's very common for
> parents raising bilingual children to encounter resistance or
> hostility from professionals who are far too ready to lay any problems
> at the feet of the bilingual environment.
I should think bilingualism would be rather an advantage. At least if
the child has average to good linguistic abilities. (Scientific
research does have a tendency to forget individual differences inside
a population.) I grew up in a somewhat bilingual environment myself,
as my father came from the upper class and my mother from the working
class, with markedly different sociolects. Maybe this is part of the
reason for my fascination for language.

BTW, what is the percentage of bilinguals among conlangers compared
to the overall population?

OTOH bilingualism may be a necessary evil in a minority population.
For example Breton today is losing its distinct phonetics because
nearly every speaker is bilingual.

LEF

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