Prejudice against plurilinguals by monolinguals?

[Bonsoir]

I live in a plurilingual sort of environment and have done for much of my life. Bringing up my DD bilingually, I have become aware of a great deal of prejudice against bilinguals and plurilingualism by monolinguals. Has anyone else encountered this? Do you think it is fueled by fear? Ignorance? Envy?

If you are French on your passport your university will raise the question.

UCAS asks applicants for all their nationalities btw.

kelda - yes, you should be proud! Well done your DS (and you, of course, since no child is plurilingual without parental support).

In some respects we've encountered quite the opposite here in Germany - the vast majority of Germans have expressed envy that my children are bilingual. This seems to be largely because their 'other' language apart form German is English, which has an incredibly high status here, both as a lingua franca when travelling and as a company language. Yet there are bilinguals who speak excellent Turkish or Arabic and their linguistic capacity is either ignored or held in contempt.

However, there is real ignorance about WHY our children are bilingual; people genuinely seem to think we've done it solely so our children will get good grades in English lessons without having to work at it, while of course for us it's much more about giving them access to the language spoken by the rest of their family, and the language spoken by DH and myself.

On the other hand we've heard of many bilingual children who have suffered quite badly in their English lessons because their English skills are actually better than those of their teachers - and the teachers seem to want to 'show them who the real expert is' by, for example, marking down their work because they've used a particular tense that hasn't yet been covered officially in class. For that reason we found it extremely important for our children to be taught in bilingual schools as English native speakers, surrounded by other bilinguals, and taught by teachers who understand the particular challenges (such as interference between the two languages).

Recently DD1 has had to take a certain exam in English which must be sat by all year 10 pupils in our region - whatever their native language. The teacher actually had to practice with them how to answer the test much more simply than they otherwise would have done, because it was designed for speakers of English as a foreign language. The level required was 'I am 15. We have a cat and two dogs. I want to become an engineer', and DD1 was heard to sigh 'couldn't they just give a nice juicy bit of Shakespeare to analyse'. This is what she would have faced if she'd been forced to attend English as a foreign language classes.

I don't think it's about not working, bonsoir. It's about whether the skills you picked up doing that work are going to be useful to you in your future studies. Now, I'd argue they are to be honest - bilingualism is basically good for your brain. But they may not be quite as useful as the study skills you'd gain from doing a different A Level.

but nationality is not the same
sorry, was just trying to interpret the other posters question. i didnt envisage a french person doing a levels in france then applying to a british university, i was thinking more british person with maybe french parent doing a levels in britain - why bother disclosing the native speaker detail unless it helps your application?

Plurilinguals have gills, dont they?

LRD - obviously DCs need to do the A-levels (or IB or whatever) that are going to prepare them for whatever they choose to study at university. If they are going to do an essay based subject, such as History, why would German and Italian A-level be discounted for a half-German, half-Italian DC who had grown up in England? Said DC would have to pick A-levels that were not German or Italian whereas his English counterparts could, say, take A-levels in History, Economics and two MFL.

sanfairyanne - you have to disclose your nationality/ies to UCAS - no choice. Where it is super unfair is when DC have learned a language in the home from a GP or stepparent, for example, but that can be hidden from UCAS because the DC doesn't have the nationality. And I do know of such cases.

Ds will have the option of doing Norwegian in his new secondary, as the school strives to offer all home-languages, but I am not sure I want him to do it, as it would mean not doing another subject which would be more useful to him. In my opinion, he can speak and write and read Norwegian, he wont need a paper to show it. But, his English is still a bit lacking in vocabulary, and I sometimes wonder if rather than being fully bilingual he is bi - twothirds- lingual instead. And maybe that is what the pluralingual-fearing teachers are scared of?

I did mention history as a possible exception upthread, actually.

Where does your DS want to do his HE, Quintessentially?

It could be History, or Theology, or English literature, or History of Art, or Film Studies... there are lots of subjects where a high level of language competence (a higher one than A-level) is useful but DC need to have followed some kind of syllabus and taken an exam in order to prove their written skills.

I have to say (admittedly, I might be bitter because I could have been brought up as bilingual, but wasn't) if I had another language at a high level I don't think I'd have wanted to take it at A-level, if I could speak it with others, and had access to books etc.

I could do another subject I wanted to and actually needed to be taught instead, and just add that my level in x language was this, that or the other on applications.

IIRC, at my school you could take a native language GCSE/A level if you wanted to, but it was generally assumed it would be an 'extra' and taken in addition to a normal complement. If it were a compulsory subject (that wouldn't actually happen at my school, an MFL was compulsory but you had a choice of which to do), I expect you'd be offered an 'extra' subject if it could be timetabled.

Oh, and I have no prejudice, other than in a "lucky thing" type way!

YY, I agree. In those subjects, I think universities are wrong to discount it.

What do you mean by HE, Bonsoir? HE as far as I know refers to Home educated? The school means home language as in mother tongue, or language spoken at home. We are in London.

My friends was brought up with Welsh as her home language. She did Welsh A Level (2nd language) and walked it.

Snot fair.

You are assuming, Polkadots, that had you been brought up bilingual you would somehow, through access to books, have learned to read and write fluently in your other native language without any schooling in it. IME this is quite a risky assumption!

Higher Education (university or whatever)

(obviously she put "British" on her UCCA (as it was back then) form)

Oh I see what you mean for essay subjects, yes, MFL probably would be more useful.

Somebody mentioned upthread about Latin and Ancient Greek together - my school wouldn't let me do that, an MFL and triple science at GCSE as there wouldn't be enough breadth. They'd let me take two MFL and one classical though, which arguably has less

Britain probably, although we are toying with the idea of Norway (where Uni is free), in which case a Norwegian A level might come in handy.

Oooh, I would love to speak Welsh, hester. My mum is Welsh but my grandparents were the generation who were actively taught not to speak it.

polka - it was me, and mine too. Bizarrely, they were fine with me doing both for A Level, but not for GCSE. They weren't the most switched on.

Yes, some schooling in Norwegian up to 18 sounds as if it would keep doors open. And of course i doubt there are many options other than Norwegian A-level.