Language Awareness in Multilinguals: Theoretical Trends
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LANGUAGE AWARENESS IN MULTILINGUALS: THEORETICAL TRENDS
INTRODUCTION
Interest in language awareness or knowledge about language has grown over the last twenty years, mainly stimulated by the language awareness movement in the UK. A literature survey reveals considerable discrepancies in definition and terminology (language awareness, metalinguistic awareness, linguistic awareness, etc.) and the reasons seem to be linked to the vast theoretical scope of the field with studies stemming from linguistics, developmental psychology and education (Pinto, Titone and Trusso, 1999). Over the last decade the growing interest in multilingualism has given rise to a wave of research emphasis on the role of language awareness in multilingual learning and education. In the following sections I try to bring together the various strands of research, from their beginnings to their current works. Problems in the field will be discussed with regard to terminological confusion and various dichotomies in relation to the consciousness-debate. In the final section I discuss a number of issues that present a challenge for future studies on multilingualism covering first, second and third language learning and use. The main focus of this contribution is on studies of the contact between two or more languages. E A R LY D E V E L O P M E N T S
In his review article Van Essen (1997 and Language Awareness and Knowledge about Language: A Historical Overview, Volume 6) goes back to the works by Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) to mark the beginnings of the early history of language awareness studies. Jespersen (1904) followed as another prominent scholar dealing with foreign language teaching. Like Humboldt he assumed that conscious reflection on language form and use would be beneficial for the language-learning process. Apart from Leopold’s famous study of the German-English development of his daughter Hildegard (1939–1949), for a long time most studies of language awareness focused on the onset of metalinguistic awareness in monolingual children and formed part of cognitive psychology. Most influential contributions stem from Flavell (1979), J. Cenoz and N. H. Hornberger (eds), Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd Edition, Volume 6: Knowledge about Language, 357–369. #2008 Springer Science+Business Media LLC.
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who stated that metalinguistic abilities form an integral part of metacognition, and Tunmer, Pratt and Herriman (1984) who dealt with questions concerning the relationship between metalinguistic awareness and literacy or language acquisition (see review by Gombert, 1997, Volume 6). Tunmer, Pratt and Herriman (1984, p. 12) defined the onset of metalinguistic awareness as ‘to begin to appreciate that the stream of speech, beginning with the acoustical signal and ending with the speaker’s intended meaning, can be looked at with the mind’s eye and taken apart’. That emergent metalinguistic abilities form the reflection of underlying changes in cognitive abilities was already pointed out by Piaget and Vygotsky who stated
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