First language
Our first language is more than just a means of communication—it's a foundational pillar of our identity, shaping how we perceive the world and interact with it. From the sounds we first mimic to the complex thoughts we eventually express, this initial linguistic journey profoundly impacts our cognitive and social development. But what truly defines this 'mother tongue,' and can one have more than one? A first language is acquired during a critical early period, deeply influencing a child's personal, social, and cultural identity. Defining 'native language' can be surprisingly complex, varying by cultural context, individual experience, and even national policy, especially for bilingual individuals. Bilingualism, particularly 'balanced' bilingualism, often confers significant cognitive advantages, enhancing mental flexibility and linguistic awareness.
AI Summary
Our first language is more than just a means of communication—it's a foundational pillar of our identity, shaping how we perceive the world and interact with it. From the sounds we first mimic to the complex thoughts we eventually express, this initial linguistic journey profoundly impacts our cognitive and social development. But what truly defines this 'mother tongue,' and can one have more than one?
- A first language is acquired during a critical early period, deeply influencing a child's personal, social, and cultural identity.
- Defining 'native language' can be surprisingly complex, varying by cultural context, individual experience, and even national policy, especially for bilingual individuals.
- Bilingualism, particularly 'balanced' bilingualism, often confers significant cognitive advantages, enhancing mental flexibility and linguistic awareness.
The Cradle of Language
A first language, often called a native language or mother tongue, is the very first language we are exposed to from birth, or within what linguists call the 'critical period' of development. This isn't just about hearing words; it's about deep immersion, where a child begins to intuitively grasp the sounds, structures, and meanings that form their linguistic world.
The language learned in these formative years becomes intimately woven into a child's personal, social, and cultural identity. It shapes not only how they speak, but also how they think and interact with their community. It's the lens through which they first make sense of reality.
Research highlights just how profound this early acquisition is. While a non-native speaker might gain conversational fluency in a new language after a couple of years, truly reaching a native-like proficiency—especially for a child—can take a much longer journey, often five to seven years.
Recognizing its profound importance, UNESCO designated February 21st as International Mother Language Day in 1999. It's a global acknowledgment of linguistic diversity and the vital role our first languages play in our heritage and sense of self.
Who is a 'Native Speaker'?
Becoming a 'native speaker' is typically understood as being born into and immersed in a language from an early age, usually within a family where adults share a similar linguistic background. Native speakers possess a deep, intuitive understanding of their language, even if they can't recite every grammatical rule from a textbook.
Yet, the term 'native language' itself can be quite imprecise, leading to varied interpretations, particularly for children growing up bilingual or in ethnic minority communities. Scholars grapple with defining it based on common usage, emotional connection, or even a language's dominance in one's environment—but each criterion has its own ambiguities.
Consider a child whose home language differs from the official language of their country. Which one is truly their 'native language'? The answer isn't always straightforward, leading to complex debates and varied perspectives. It's a reminder that language identity is often fluid and multifaceted.
Common Criteria for Definition
Based on origin: The language learned first, establishing the earliest verbal contacts. Based on internal identification: The language one personally identifies with as a speaker. Based on external identification: The language others identify one with as a speaker. Based on competence: The language one knows best. Based on function: The language one uses most frequently. Based on nationhood: The dominant language of a region or country.
In many countries, like India, Kenya, or Singapore, 'mother tongue' or 'native language' often refers to the language of one's ethnic group, regardless of actual proficiency. It's a cultural or ancestral designation that can differ significantly from the language a person primarily speaks or learned first.
For instance, Statistics Canada defines 'mother tongue' as 'the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census.' This definition acknowledges that a first language might not always remain a speaker's most dominant language, especially in cases of language attrition.
Intriguingly, the term 'mother tongue' has historical roots stretching back to Catholic monks who used local languages from the pulpit, rather than Latin. Even literary giants like J.R.R. Tolkien distinguished between a 'cradle tongue'—the language of early childhood—and a 'true native tongue,' which he believed could be discovered later through an inherited linguistic affinity.
Bilingualism and Multilingualism
It's entirely possible for a child to grow up speaking more than one language from birth, making them a native bilingual or even multilingual. In these cases, they acquire multiple 'first languages' simultaneously, each deeply integrated into their linguistic framework.
The concept of 'balanced bilingualism' describes an individual equally proficient in two languages, feeling neither is more 'native' than the other. Early studies by Peal and Lambert, focusing on such individuals, revealed surprising cognitive benefits.
Advantages of Bilingualism
Enhanced mental flexibility, allowing constant shifting between languages as needed. Greater awareness of the arbitrary nature of language itself. A tendency to choose word associations based on logical rather than phonetic preferences.
When it comes to multilingualism, the order in which languages are learned doesn't always dictate proficiency. A child might learn French first at home, for example, but if they grow up in an English-speaking country, English could easily become their dominant and most proficient language.
Defining a Native Speaker (Revisited)
Pinpointing what truly constitutes a 'native speaker' remains a complex challenge, with no definitive test available. It's debated whether native speakers form a distinct group or if the concept serves more as an ideal prototype against which actual speakers are measured.
Nevertheless, language experts generally agree on several key principles. These guidelines, often cited in academic discourse, help to delineate the characteristics typically associated with being a native speaker, offering a clearer framework for understanding this elusive concept.
The individual acquired the language in early childhood and continues to use it consistently. The individual possesses an intuitive knowledge of the language's nuances and structures. The individual can produce fluent, spontaneous discourse without hesitation. The individual demonstrates communicative competence in diverse social contexts. The individual identifies with, and is identified by, a specific language community. The individual typically speaks without a noticeable foreign accent.
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First language
The monument to the mother tongue (ana dili) in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan
A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than the individual's actual first language. Generally, to state a language as a mother tongue, one must have full native fluency in that language.
The first language of a child is part of that child's personal, social and cultural identity. Another impact of the first language is that it brings about the reflection and learning of successful social patterns of acting and speaking. Research suggests that while a non-native speaker may develop fluency in a targeted language after about two years of immersion, it can take between five and seven years for that child to be on the same working level as their native speaking counterparts.
On 17 November 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day.
Definitions
First language
A person qualifies as a "native speaker" of a language by being born and immersed in the language during youth, in a family in which the adults shared a similar language experience to the child. Native speakers are considered to be an authority on their given language because of their natural acquisition process regarding the language, as opposed to having learned the language later in life. That is achieved by personal interaction with the language and speakers of the language. Native speakers will not necessarily be knowledgeable about every grammatical rule of the language, but they will have good "intuition" of the rules through their experience with the language.
The designation "native language", in its general usage, is thought to be imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are biased linguistically, especially with respect to bilingual children from ethnic minority groups. Many scholars have given definitions of "native language" based on common usage, the emotional relation of the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all three criteria lack precision. For many children whose home language differs from the language of the environment (the "official" language), it is debatable which language is their "native language".
Defining "native language"
• Based on origin: the language(s) or dialect one learned first (the language(s) or dialect in which one has established the first long-lasting verbal contacts). • Based on internal identification: the language(s) one identifies with/as a speaker of; • Based on external identification: the language(s) one is identified with/as a speaker of, by others. • Based on competence: the language(s) one knows best. • Based on function: the language(s) one uses most. • Based on nationhood: the dominant language of an area and the language(s) used by the vast majority of the inhabitants. (see also regional language)
In some countries, such as Kenya, India, Belarus, Ukraine and various East Asian and Central Asian countries, "mother language" or "native language" is used to indicate the language of one's ethnic group in both common and journalistic parlance ("I have no apologies for not learning my mother tongue"), rather than one's first language. In Singapore, "mother tongue" refers to the language of one's ethnic group regardless of actual proficiency.
In the context of population censuses conducted on the Canadian population, Statistics Canada defines the mother tongue as "the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census." It is quite possible that the first language learned is no longer a speaker's dominant language. That includes young immigrant children whose families have moved to a new linguistic environment as well as people who learned their mother tongue as a young child at home (rather than the language of the majority of the community), who may have lost, in part or in totality, the language they first acquired (see language attrition). According to Ivan Illich, the term "mother tongue" was first used by Catholic monks to designate a particular language they used, instead of Latin, when they were "speaking from the pulpit". That is, the "holy mother the Church" introduced this term and colonies inherited it from Christianity as a part of colonialism. J. R. R. Tolkien, in his 1955 lecture "English and Welsh", distinguishes the "native tongue" from the "cradle tongue". The latter is the language one learns during early childhood, and one's true "native tongue" may be different, possibly determined by an inherited linguistic taste and may later in life be discovered by a strong emotional affinity to a specific dialect (Tolkien personally confessed to such an affinity to the Middle English of the West Midlands in particular).
Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be bilingual or multilingual. By contrast, a second language is any language that one speaks other than one's first language.
Bilingualism
First language
International Mother Language Day Monument in Sydney, Australia, unveiling ceremony, 21 February 2006
A related concept is bilingualism. One definition is that a person is bilingual if they are equally proficient in two languages. Someone who grows up speaking Spanish and then learns English for four years is bilingual only if they speak the two languages with equal fluency. Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only "balanced" bilinguals—that is, a child who is completely fluent in two languages and feels that neither is their "native" language because they grasp both so perfectly. This study found that
• balanced bilinguals perform significantly better in tasks that require flexibility (they constantly shift between the two known languages depending on the situation), • they are more aware of the arbitrary nature of language, • they choose word associations based on logical rather than phonetic preferences.
Multilingualism
First language
One can have two or more native languages, thus being a native bilingual or indeed multilingual. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of proficiency. For instance, if a French-speaking couple have a child who learned French first but then grew up in an English-speaking country, the child would likely be most proficient in English.
Defining "native speaker"
Defining what constitutes a native speaker is difficult, and there is no test which can identify one. It is not known whether native speakers are a defined group of people, or if the concept should be thought of as a perfect prototype to which actual speakers may or may not conform.
An article titled "The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?" published by the Asian EFL Journal states that there are six general principles that relate to the definition of "native speaker". The principles, according to the study, are typically accepted by language experts across the scientific field. A native speaker is defined according to the following guidelines:
• The individual acquired the language in early childhood and maintains the use of the language. • The individual has intuitive knowledge of the language. • The individual is able to produce fluent, spontaneous discourse. • The individual is communicatively competent in different social contexts. • The individual identifies with or is identified by a language community. • The individual does not have a foreign accent.