Because it is difficult or impossible to master many of the high-level semantic aspects of a language (including but not limited to its idioms and eponyms) without first understanding the culture and history of the region in which that language evolved, as a practical matter an in-depth familiarity with multiple cultures is a prerequisite for high-level multilingualism. This knowledge of cultures individually and comparatively, or indeed the mere fact of ones having that knowledge, often forms an important part of both what one considers ones own personal identity to be and what others consider that identity to be.[13] Some studies have found that groups of multilingual individuals get higher average scores on tests for certain personality traits such as cultural empathy, openmindedness and social initiative.[14][15] The idea of linguistic relativity, which claims that the language people speak influences the way they see the world, can be interpreted to mean that individuals who speak multiple languages have a broader, more diverse view of the world, even when speaking only one language at a time.[16] Some bilinguals feel that their personality changes depending on which language they are speaking;[17][18] thus multilingualism is said to create multiple personalities. Xiao-lei Wang states in her book Growing up with Three Languages: Birth to Eleven: Languages used by speakers with one or more than one language are used not just to represent a unitary self, but to enact different kinds of selves, and different linguistic contexts create different kinds of self-expression and experiences for the same person. However, there has been little rigorous research done on this topic and it is difficult to define “personality” in this context. François Grosjean wrote: What is seen as a change in personality is most probably simply a shift in attitudes and behaviors that correspond to a shift in situation or context, independent of language.[19] However, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis according to which a language shapes our vision of the world may suggest that a language learned by a grown-up may have much less emotional connotations and therefore allow a more serene discussion that a language learned by a child and to that respect more or less bound to a childs perception of the world.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:43:20 +0000
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