Language Log: The Linguistic Abilities of the Presidential Candidates For what it's worth, if we count only confirmed languages spoken fluently or reasonably well, the average number of languages other than English spoken by the Democrats is 0.83, by the Republicans 0.33, or 0.53 overall. I can't say that I'm impressed.

This is a useful example of the sorts of evidence one can find for conceptual frames and folk theories that go into their make up. The author, a professional linguist, propounds a common belief among language professionals: knowing other languages is good; it exposes us to other points of view and makes it easier to communicate across the world.

What is interesting about this hypothesis is that there is actually no evidence for it whatsoever. It is predicated entirely on schematized scenarios of what a multilingual person can do. The problem is that these scenarios are generalized from anecdotes and are handed down without much questioning. For instance, this frame relies on a largely unproblematic view of “knowing a language”. One can know a language at multiple levels from beginner to fluent. But not everybody is a beginner or a fluent speaker in the same way. This is particularly important in Subsaharan Africa (and elsewhere) where multilingualism seems to be the norm. But often (although not always) these people are speakers of related languages and their ability to speak them is different from what we think about when we say somebody knows English or French. (The literature on this is extensive but not focused to question the basic assumptions.) But this could probably be overcome. What is more problematic is the assumption of personal benefit resulting in some greater understanding of the other and a more open outlook of the world. But bilingual people can be just as ethnocentric and resistant to other point of views and monolinguals. I’m aware of no study that would demonstrate that this is otherwise. It is a common assumption that knowing one foreign language makes learning another easier. But this is only true of some kinds of knowing this foreign language. There are many bilinguals who find learning another language difficult. This can be for a variety of reasons: their motivation changes, the language is too different, there are other external issues that are in the way. Or learning that first second language was a fluke, a result of some special confluence of factors. It seemed easy but no ‘lessons’ were learned for learning another language. Second language acquisition is a bit of a mystery as is the use of the second language. It is certainly not a monolithic uniform experience that could be reduced to a number as in the quote above. This leads us to questioning the final hidden assumption underneath this bit of text. Universal multilingualism will have societal benefits. It will make the whole group more knowledgeable of the world and open to communication. By these standards the above mentioned Africa should be a paradise on Earth. Not so. Neither is Belgium nor was the semi-bilingual Czechoslovakia. All Americans learning foreign languages is probably not as useful to world peace as everybody else learning English (although I’m making no claims either way). One of the underlying errors here is the scenario of ‘accidental learning’ by ‘rubbing off’ or  ‘necessary learning’ as a consequence of some  other mental conditions and the cumulative effect of these individual changes on the group as a whole.  But is we  want to teach somebody to be open and understanding, that’s what we have to teach them. Not teach them something else and hope for the best. (The problem is that we don’t know how to teach that en masse - although it can be done in small groups.) Now, I’m not against people learning many languages (I am bi-lingual, fluent in one more language and have a passing knowledge of another hald a dozen) but the way I know languages is different from the way most non-linguists know languages. I believe that it has made me more open and understanding and would not want to deny that experience to others. But I’m skeptical about imposing my way of knowing a language on others or assuming the same consequences for them. Being bilingual is a lot of fun but it is a long, drawn out process and someone like Rudi Gulliani could probably make himself more knowledgeable of the world in other ways than taking a few lessons in basic Spanish.