This collection, edited and created from the conference “Language in Contact in a Multilingual Society: Implication for Language Learning and Teaching”, discussed the global multilingualism phenomenon with detailed analysis of examples from Asia and Europe. It is apparent that Asia and Europe are two great place to conduct the research of multilingual practice, for both of them have long history and a large quantity of countries with different language and independent culture background. This collection, summarized European practice as a model, and give several analysis on Asian multilingual practice and education. The collection is organized from overview to details. It begins with an overview on the bilingual education in Europe, then ASEAN, followed by studies of individual topics on education in a various country.
Education is a important factor of one's life. As we are analyzing how multilingualism can affect people's life, we cannot ignore the role bilingual education, if presented, played in the early stage of people’s lives. In a larger scale, a general education conducted in a bi- even tri-lingual manner may enhance the multilingual practice in the society. The passage When is a language worth teaching? Native languages and English in India by a Singaporean researcher M. Tickoo gives us an analysis on the necessity of bilingual teaching in some special circumstance. In this particular case, Kashmiri, the first language of a large number of Indian people, features like a minority language in both daily life and educational system in modern days.(p.29) M. Tickoo concludes some of the reasons that lead to Kashmiri's loss of place to other languages, including English, a foreign language. He points the axes to the policy makers and government who failed to realize the rightful place of the language and its relationship with cultures.(p.41) A failure in bilingual education make Indian people lost one of their own languages and cultures. In short, a failure in education can make a language less dominant in a society, thus education is an important factor deciding the prominent language in a society. Now we may further understand Ivy's narrative that why Cantonese values their language so much. The education system in China, similar to India, fails to realize the importance of a local language or accent, Cantonese. Therefore, in order to protect their own language inherited from their family, Cantonese need to propose a way to preserve it outside school- they teach Cantonese in family and practice it in daily life. This counterbalanced some of the effect brought by the monolingual education in Putonghua. Therefore, Cantonese is much better preserved than Kashmiri, thanks to the efforts of local people who actively preserved it from disappearing. People’s reorganization and protection of their own culture, according to this comparison, can shape the atmosphere of multilingual practice.
Another interesting study in this collection is an experiment done to Chinese students studying in Singapore. In the essay “Strategies for the construction of meaning: Chinese students in Singapore writing in English and Chinese” by R.Y. L.Wong, evaluations are done to compare individual's Chinese (mother language) writing skills with his or her English (secondary language) writing skills. (p.95) After analyzing the data they collected, it appears that a good Chinese writer, when learning English, can "transfer" the writing skill into English writing, as they tends to be better English writers, making use of "a common underlying proficiency."(p.103) While the single experiment may not represent the relationship between all other languages, if the conclusion of this study is universal, we can conclude that a good learner of one language tends to be a good learner of other languages. As Singapore is a multilingual country with dominance influence of both Chinese and English, (p.95) and the experiment shows that Chinese skill positively influence one's English skill, we can say it is beneficial for a bilingual education of English and Chinese to be implemented into school system. Therefore, a multilingual environment can positively influence one's skill in both languages. Comparing this conclusion to the study of Tibetan Exiles “Accommodating Deviance: Tibetan Exiles in India” by T. Dorjee in the first collection I described, we can find the results seemingly contradictory on whether the acquisition of one language improve or compromise the skill of another language. Both studies make good points, yet they focus on different aspect: the Tibetan exiles lose their pure language identity and culture while engaging in a multilingual practice, while Chinese students in Singapore successfully transferred their writing skill between Chinese and English, making them better writer in both languages. The multilingual practice make some people’s life worse, and some better.
Education is a important factor of one's life. As we are analyzing how multilingualism can affect people's life, we cannot ignore the role bilingual education, if presented, played in the early stage of people’s lives. In a larger scale, a general education conducted in a bi- even tri-lingual manner may enhance the multilingual practice in the society. The passage When is a language worth teaching? Native languages and English in India by a Singaporean researcher M. Tickoo gives us an analysis on the necessity of bilingual teaching in some special circumstance. In this particular case, Kashmiri, the first language of a large number of Indian people, features like a minority language in both daily life and educational system in modern days.(p.29) M. Tickoo concludes some of the reasons that lead to Kashmiri's loss of place to other languages, including English, a foreign language. He points the axes to the policy makers and government who failed to realize the rightful place of the language and its relationship with cultures.(p.41) A failure in bilingual education make Indian people lost one of their own languages and cultures. In short, a failure in education can make a language less dominant in a society, thus education is an important factor deciding the prominent language in a society. Now we may further understand Ivy's narrative that why Cantonese values their language so much. The education system in China, similar to India, fails to realize the importance of a local language or accent, Cantonese. Therefore, in order to protect their own language inherited from their family, Cantonese need to propose a way to preserve it outside school- they teach Cantonese in family and practice it in daily life. This counterbalanced some of the effect brought by the monolingual education in Putonghua. Therefore, Cantonese is much better preserved than Kashmiri, thanks to the efforts of local people who actively preserved it from disappearing. People’s reorganization and protection of their own culture, according to this comparison, can shape the atmosphere of multilingual practice.
Another interesting study in this collection is an experiment done to Chinese students studying in Singapore. In the essay “Strategies for the construction of meaning: Chinese students in Singapore writing in English and Chinese” by R.Y. L.Wong, evaluations are done to compare individual's Chinese (mother language) writing skills with his or her English (secondary language) writing skills. (p.95) After analyzing the data they collected, it appears that a good Chinese writer, when learning English, can "transfer" the writing skill into English writing, as they tends to be better English writers, making use of "a common underlying proficiency."(p.103) While the single experiment may not represent the relationship between all other languages, if the conclusion of this study is universal, we can conclude that a good learner of one language tends to be a good learner of other languages. As Singapore is a multilingual country with dominance influence of both Chinese and English, (p.95) and the experiment shows that Chinese skill positively influence one's English skill, we can say it is beneficial for a bilingual education of English and Chinese to be implemented into school system. Therefore, a multilingual environment can positively influence one's skill in both languages. Comparing this conclusion to the study of Tibetan Exiles “Accommodating Deviance: Tibetan Exiles in India” by T. Dorjee in the first collection I described, we can find the results seemingly contradictory on whether the acquisition of one language improve or compromise the skill of another language. Both studies make good points, yet they focus on different aspect: the Tibetan exiles lose their pure language identity and culture while engaging in a multilingual practice, while Chinese students in Singapore successfully transferred their writing skill between Chinese and English, making them better writer in both languages. The multilingual practice make some people’s life worse, and some better.