Monolingualism: Difference between revisions

[[Suzanne Romaine|Suzzane Romaine]] pointed out, in her 1995 book ''Bilingualism'', that it would be weird to find a book titled ''Monolingualism''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Romaine |first=Suzzane |year=1995 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |title=Bilingualism |pages=1 |isbn=978-0-631-19539-9}}</ref> This statement reflects the traditional assumption that linguistic theories often take on: that monolingualism is the norm.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pavlenko |first=Aneta |title=L2 influence on L1 in late bilingualism. |journal=Issues in Applied Linguistics |year=2000 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=175–206 }}</ref> Monolingualism is thus rarely the subject of scholarly publications, as it is viewed to be an unmarked or prototypical concept where it has the sense of being normal and [[multilingualism]] is the exception.<ref name="ellis">{{cite journal |last=Ellis |first=Elizabeth |title=Monolingualism: The unmarked case |journal=Estudios de Sociolingüística |year=2006 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=173–196 |doi=10.1558/sols.v7i2.173}}</ref>

It is important to note here that bilinguals' overall vocabulary size in both languages combined was equivalent to monolinguals' in one language., even Whilethough monolinguals may excel in vocabulary size for the one language they speak, their vocabulary content is not greater.{{clarification needed|date=April 2023}} Bilinguals may have smaller vocabularies in each individual language, but when their vocabularies were combined, the content size was approximately similar to that of the monolingual. Monolingual children demonstrated larger vocabulary scored than their bilingual peers, but bilingual children's vocabulary scores still increased with age, just like the monolingual children's vocabulary scores (Core et al., 2011). Despite a variation in vocabulary scores, there was absolutely no difference between monolingual and bilingual children in terms of total vocabulary size and total vocabulary gains (Core et al., 2011). Bilingual children and monolingual children have the same vocabulary size and gain the same vocabulary knowledge.

It is believed that bilingualism contributes to [[cognitive reserve]] by preventing effects of cognitive delay and prolonging the onset of sicknesses such as dementia. Cognitive reserve refers to the idea that engaging in stimulating physical or mental activity maintains cognitive functioning (Bialystok et al., 2012). In that case, knowing more than one language is similar to stimulating mental activity. To test whether or not bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve, Bialystok et al. (2012) looked at hospital records among monolingual and bilingual adults who have dementia. The researchers found that elderly bilingual adults were diagnosed with dementia about three to four years later than elderly monolingual adults. The results have been replicated and validated, with outside factors being controlled. In fact, outside factors such as socioeconomic status and cultural differences always helped monolinguals, making the argument the bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve even stronger (Bialystok et al., 2012). That finding enhances the fact that bilinguals are at an advantage because of their ability to speak two languages, not because of outside factors. A probable explanation for this phenomenon is that knowledge of multiple languages keeps the brain alert and therefore more mentally aware for a longer period of time.