Vilma Bačkiūtė from British Council Lithuania has given a talk at a conference back in 2009 suggesting that our mindset is changing and that the role that languages play in our lives has become curiously significant. The themes she tackles are still very much relevant today. Feel free to share your thoughts in our comment section!

MULTILINGUALISM: CHANGING THE MIND SET
by Vilma Bačkiūtė, British Council Lithuania

Abstract
‘There is a need to convert what is viewed in some ways as a language problem, into language potential’.
Marsh D., CLIL/EMILE – THE EUROPEAN DIMENSION 2002

According to D.Hall, the term bilingualism (and multilingualism) “…is currently used to refer to pupils who live in two languages, who have access to, or need to use, two or more languages at home and at school. It does not mean that they have fluency in both languages or that they are competent and literate in both languages.” (Hall, 2001). But are teachers, especially those involved in developing language education policies, sincerely positive about those bilinguals whose dominant language is a language of a minority, i.e. sequential bilinguals, who are not competent equally in both national and minority languages? How bilingualism and multilingualism are viewed by educationalists varies in relation to the social and political status accorded to the languages in contact in a particular society (Cummins, 2000).

J.Cummins states that where bilingualism involves high status languages it is viewed positively, as an educational advantage; and where the languages have low status (for example, because they originate in immigration), bilingualism is viewed as an educational handicap. Sadly, in Lithuania I hear opinions suggesting that in our society the Lithuanian language (which is the only state language) should displace languages acquired earlier by the citizens. Often this political and social status accorded to the languages used and learned by the citizens in Lithuania worries me in terms of how ready we are for the mobile and diverse European reality / community that we live in. And how successful will our society be in this diverse world?

The report Language Teaching in the EU (2007) to the European Commission on the diversity of language teaching in the European Union among other things concludes that “the motivation for selecting language as an area of study relies on the acceptance of the notion of language prestige.” Also, it suggests that legislation to introduce a greater number of compulsory languages, and/or to introduce languages at an earlier age, is clearly the most efficient method for expanding the teaching of languages. According to a liberalisation model schools with high autonomy are well placed to expand the number of languages taught. Efficient formal education systems consider the implications of these conclusions.

I am going to share some insights and statistics, which hopefully will provoke more of changing common mindset. Here I include quite a few rhetorical questions, as I do not intend to give answers or offer solutions. I actually intend to provoke more of changing common mindset.

Here is some statistics on language learning in Lithuania: according to the Ministry of Education and Science, 45% of primary school learners and 82% of secondary school learners learn English. According to the Department of Statistics, a bit more than 80% of university students and nearly 80% of college students learn English. Thus, English is definitely the choice of language learners in Lithuania.

The traditional national minorities in Lithuania still prefer ‘monolingual’ education either in their national language or the state language. According to the available statistics, 55% attend ‘monolingual’ schools, 21% attend ‘bilingual / trilingual’ schools, 21% attend ‘Lithuanian’ schools.

How well are the students and their parents informed to make decisions for language learning?
An informed decision when choosing languages to learn would consider education and career opportunities, employment security and social inclusion. There are serious studies publicly available to inform parents and students what languages could contribute to their employability, i.e. their welfare.

The study on Effects on the European economy of shortages of (foreign) language skills in enterprise (ELAN study, 2007 CILT) commissioned by the European Commission, points to a link between language policy and export success. Enterprises that demonstrate successful export performance have language management elements, a language strategy for appointing native speakers, recruiting staff with language skills, using translators and interpreters. Apparently, our schools and education policy makers can learn form the business world. Have we realised that working across several languages and cultures is conductive to the generation of knowledge and specific learning activities? And that these factors play a central role in innovation?

The British Council undertook a survey across 10 European countries, the USA and Russia into the characteristics of the next generation of leaders. The survey participants were highly motivated young people who are extremely well-educated, of the average age of 29, at the forefront of today’s mobile and well-connected world. Their profiles show that language skills (multilingualism) are one of prerequisites for influencers and innovators. All of them speak fluently in at least one foreign language: 33% speak fluently in another language, 41% in two foreign languages, 17% in three, and 4% in four or five. Their level of English is high, with half at advanced level in both written and spoken English:

Level of spoken English
Elementary – 5%
Lower intermediate – 12%
Upper intermediate – 31%
Advanced – 52%
Level of written English
Elementary – 5%
Lower intermediate – 18%
Upper intermediate – 30%
Advanced – 48%

Unfortunately, the survey questionnaire did not include a question on whether they had made conscious decision to acquire fluency in more than one foreign language and whether the languages they speak are foreign to them indeed.

It might be interesting to look more closely at the terminology we use when speaking about languages. Isn’t it the time to stop speaking about foreign languages? Can ‘foreign’ be change into other languages: European, world, international and native? Are we to learn the first and second foreign languages or just one language, two or yet another?

List of resources
Cummins J., 2000. Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Hall D., 2001. Second Edition. Assessing the Needs of Bilingual pupils: Living in Two Languages. London: David Fulton.
The diversity of language teaching in the European Union, 2007. A Report to the European Commission.
ELAN: Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise, 2006. CILT.
Making a Difference: Young Influencers in Europe, North America and Russia, 2007. British Council.