Cargando…

Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals

Monolingualism has typically been understood as a homogeneous phenomenon. The linguistic experiences of monolinguals are usually overlooked when analysing the impact of foreign language experiences on language processing and cognitive functioning. In this study, we analyse the linguistic experiences...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Castro, Sofía, Wodniecka, Zofia, Timmer, Kalinka
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8936441/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35312725
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265563
_version_ 1784672218882506752
author Castro, Sofía
Wodniecka, Zofia
Timmer, Kalinka
author_facet Castro, Sofía
Wodniecka, Zofia
Timmer, Kalinka
author_sort Castro, Sofía
collection PubMed
description Monolingualism has typically been understood as a homogeneous phenomenon. The linguistic experiences of monolinguals are usually overlooked when analysing the impact of foreign language experiences on language processing and cognitive functioning. In this study, we analyse the linguistic experiences of 962 English-speaking individuals from the United Kingdom (UK) who identified as monolinguals. Through an online survey, we found that more than 80% of these monolinguals had learned at least one foreign language, dialect, or type of jargon. More than half of this 80% of monolinguals also used languages they had learned at some point in their lives. Moreover, nearly 40% of all the studied monolinguals confirmed that they had been passively exposed to foreign languages or dialects in their environment; approximately a fourth of these monolinguals who declared exposure to at least one foreign language (or dialect) confirmed that they also used these languages. Furthermore, activities that involved passive use of languages (i.e., activities that require reading or listening but do not require speaking or writing; e.g., watching TV) were occasionally carried out in foreign languages: around 26% of these monolinguals confirmed the passive use of more than one language. Lastly, around 58% of monolinguals who had visited one or more non-English-speaking countries declared the active use of foreign languages during their stay(s). These results suggest that the linguistic experiences of monolinguals from the UK often include exposure to and use of foreign languages. Moreover, these results show the need to consider the specificity of the monolingual language experience when analysing the impact of foreign languages on cognitive functioning, as differences in the language experiences of bilinguals also have divergent impacts on cognition. Lastly, monolingual experiences are different from bilingual experiences; therefore, existing questionnaires that evaluate language experiences should be adapted to capture the particular linguistic experiences of monolinguals.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8936441
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-89364412022-03-22 Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals Castro, Sofía Wodniecka, Zofia Timmer, Kalinka PLoS One Research Article Monolingualism has typically been understood as a homogeneous phenomenon. The linguistic experiences of monolinguals are usually overlooked when analysing the impact of foreign language experiences on language processing and cognitive functioning. In this study, we analyse the linguistic experiences of 962 English-speaking individuals from the United Kingdom (UK) who identified as monolinguals. Through an online survey, we found that more than 80% of these monolinguals had learned at least one foreign language, dialect, or type of jargon. More than half of this 80% of monolinguals also used languages they had learned at some point in their lives. Moreover, nearly 40% of all the studied monolinguals confirmed that they had been passively exposed to foreign languages or dialects in their environment; approximately a fourth of these monolinguals who declared exposure to at least one foreign language (or dialect) confirmed that they also used these languages. Furthermore, activities that involved passive use of languages (i.e., activities that require reading or listening but do not require speaking or writing; e.g., watching TV) were occasionally carried out in foreign languages: around 26% of these monolinguals confirmed the passive use of more than one language. Lastly, around 58% of monolinguals who had visited one or more non-English-speaking countries declared the active use of foreign languages during their stay(s). These results suggest that the linguistic experiences of monolinguals from the UK often include exposure to and use of foreign languages. Moreover, these results show the need to consider the specificity of the monolingual language experience when analysing the impact of foreign languages on cognitive functioning, as differences in the language experiences of bilinguals also have divergent impacts on cognition. Lastly, monolingual experiences are different from bilingual experiences; therefore, existing questionnaires that evaluate language experiences should be adapted to capture the particular linguistic experiences of monolinguals. Public Library of Science 2022-03-21 /pmc/articles/PMC8936441/ /pubmed/35312725 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265563 Text en © 2022 Castro et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Castro, Sofía
Wodniecka, Zofia
Timmer, Kalinka
Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
title Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
title_full Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
title_fullStr Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
title_full_unstemmed Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
title_short Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
title_sort am i truly monolingual? exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8936441/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35312725
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265563
work_keys_str_mv AT castrosofia amitrulymonolingualexploringforeignlanguageexperiencesinmonolinguals
AT wodnieckazofia amitrulymonolingualexploringforeignlanguageexperiencesinmonolinguals
AT timmerkalinka amitrulymonolingualexploringforeignlanguageexperiencesinmonolinguals