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Multilingualism

Language contact

 
 
There is a certain phenomenon that is admitted by most of linguists called code switching. It is the process of swallowing between languages. It happens when a person substitutes the phrases of his own language with phrases from a co-existing language.

There is a certain phenomenon that is admitted by most of linguists called code switching. It is the process of swallowing between languages. It happens when a person substitutes the phrases of his own language with phrases from a co-existing language.

There exists a concept of communicate competence that defines the level of proficiency this or that person has in other (non-mother-tongue) languages. There are two types of communicate competence that is presently distinguished by modern linguists.

Prospects of multilingualism

In the light of all above-presented information, we may sum up certain conclusions and make several hypotheses in consideration to the way multilingualism is going to develop in future.

The first conclusion is that the current order of things is impossible out of multilingualism all around the world as it became an ideal globalization instrument within past fifty years.

The second aspect is doing with the impact multilingualism has on the leaning of languages in particular and general academic process at all. We shouldn't forget about the role of state support in this context and inclusion of multilingualism into basic social policies.

The third conclusion reminds of the influence of modern technical devices (Internet and mass media primarily) on the wide-spreadness and speed with which multilingualism paces globally. The faster and more profoundly we include IT technologies in multilingual process, the more fruitful and useful results we shall have.

And the last but not the least criterion concerns the importance of multilingual knowledge when speaking about employment and career opportunities. As people often have to migrate nowadays looking for better living standards, they need to master the language of the country they head to. Appropriately, the more languages a human knows, the more countries he may move to.

Language contact and change as a result usually takes place between minority and majority languages. It is the field of research connected with code switching and code mixing. The studies investigate the elements one language get completely integrated in elements of the other one (complete switch) and partially (partial switch).