Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals

Abstract

Monolingualism has typically been understood as a homogeneous phenomenon. The linguistic experiences of monolinguals are usually overlooked when analysing the impact of foreign language experiences on language processing and cognitive functioning. In this study, we analyse the linguistic experiences of 962 English-speaking individuals from the United Kingdom (UK) who identified as monolinguals. Through an online survey, we found that more than 80% of these monolinguals had learned at least one foreign language, dialect, or type of jargon. More than half of this 80% of monolinguals also used languages they had learned at some point in their lives. Moreover, nearly 40% of all the studied monolinguals confirmed that they had been passively exposed to foreign languages or dialects in their environment; approximately a fourth of these monolinguals who declared exposure to at least one foreign language (or dialect) confirmed that they also used these languages. Furthermore, activities that involved passive use of languages (i.e., activities that require reading or listening but do not require speaking or writing; e.g., watching TV) were occasionally carried out in foreign languages: around 26% of these monolinguals confirmed the passive use of more than one language. Lastly, around 58% of monolinguals who had visited one or more non-English-speaking countries declared the active use of foreign languages during their stay(s). These results suggest that the linguistic experiences of monolinguals from the UK often include exposure to and use of foreign languages. Moreover, these results show the need to consider the specificity of the monolingual language experience when analysing the impact of foreign languages on cognitive functioning, as differences in the language experiences of bilinguals also have divergent impacts on cognition. Lastly, monolingual experiences are different from bilingual experiences; therefore, existing questionnaires that evaluate language experiences should be adapted to capture the particular linguistic experiences of monolinguals.

Fig 1. Relative frequency of foreign language learning.

The pie chart above represents the proportion of participants who reported having learned (n = 801) or not learned foreign languages (n = 161). Out of the total number of participants who had learned foreign languages, the lower-left pie chart shows the proportion who had learned one (n = 323), two (n = 300), or three (n = 178) foreign languages; the lower-right pie chart shows the proportion who reported use (n = 428) or no use (n = 373) of the foreign languages learned.

Fig 2. Relative frequency of foreign language exposure in the UK.

The pie chart above represents the proportion of participants who reported having been exposed (n = 376) or not exposed (n = 586) to foreign languages in the UK. Out of the total number of participants who had been exposed to foreign languages, the lower-left pie chart shows the proportion of participants who had been exposed to one (n = 287), two (n = 60), or three (n = 29) foreign languages; the lower-right pie chart shows the proportion of participants who reported the use (n = 92) or no use (n = 284) of the foreign languages to which they had been exposed.

Fig 3. Relative frequency of passively used languages (native and foreign).

A total of 709 participants reported the passive use of one language; 177 reported the passive use of two; 57 the passive use of three; and 19 reported the passive use of four languages.

Fig 4. Percentage of monolinguals who had stayed abroad in non-English-speaking countries.

The top pie chart represents the proportion of participants who reported that they had (n = 89) or had not stayed abroad (n = 873) in non-English-speaking countries. Out of the total number of participants who had been abroad, the lower-left pie chart shows the proportion of participants who had stayed in one (n = 67), two (n = 16), three (n = 3), or four (n = 3) foreign countries; the lower-right pie chart shows the proportion of participants who reported using (n = 52) or not using (n = 37) foreign languages during their stays abroad.