Rethinking Multilingual Experience through a Systems Framework of Bilingualism: Response to Commentaries

Abstract

In Rethinking Multilingual Experience through a Systems Framework of Bilingualism (Titone & Tiv, 2022), we encouraged psycholinguists and cognitive neuroscientists to consider integrating social and ecological aspects of multilingualism into a collective understanding of its cognitive and neurocognitive bases (i.e., to rethink experience). We then offered a framework – the Systems Framework of Bilingualism– and described empirical challenges and potential solutions with applying this framework to new research. Since the paper's publication, several eminent colleagues read and commented on our Keynote, noting both its strengths and areas for improvement. We read each commentary with enthusiasm and gratitude. Here, we briefly respond to several salient points raised, which led us to clarify and improve our theoretical approach. We first address what the commentaries agreed were strengths of the framework. We follow this with a discussion of what the commentaries stated could be improved or extended. We conclude with ways that we modified our model to collectively address concerns raised in the commentaries.

A systems approach to multilingual language attitudes: A case study of Montréal, Québec, Canada

“…Similar to previous work (e.g., de Bot et al, 2007;Steffensen & Fill, 2014), the Systems Framework of Bilingualism (Titone & Tiv, 2023a;2023b;Tiv, Kutlu, Gullifer, et al, 2022) suggests that people do not acquire language in a linear fashion-rather, language is much more intricate, complex, and interwoven into interdependent facets of the person and the environment. However, because traditional ecological-experimental methods have had difficulty quantifying the dynamics of language (Steffensen & Fill, 2014), social network analysis (reviewed in Scott, 2017;Tiv et al, 2020;Vitevitch, 2019) and geospatial demographic analysis (Tiv, Kutlu, Gullifer, et al, 2022) were jointly applied as a methodological approach that offered novel ways to measure the multilevel systems involved in language experience.…”

“…This perspective, broadly referred to as a social-ecological or systems framework, has been widely explored in the context of human development (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1977 ). Inspired by this and other related approaches within the language sciences ( de Bot, 2008 ; de Bot et al, 2007 ; Douglas Fir Group, 2016 ; Haugen, 1972 ; Sachdev & Bourhis, 2001 ; Steffensen & Fill, 2014 ; Yim et al, 2019 ), we developed a Systems Framework of Bilingualism ( Titone & Tiv, 2023a ; 2023b ; Tiv, Kutlu, Gullifer, et al, 2022 ) to operationalize the many layers of socio-ecological contextual information, including interpersonal and ecological language dynamics , using cross-disciplinary quantitative tools such as social network analysis and geospatial demographic analysis. Although these approaches have been discussed in the context of language acquisition (e.g., de Bot, 2008 ; de Bot et al, 2007 ), writing development (e.g., Baba & Nitta, 2014 ), foreign language anxiety (e.g., Mahmoodzadeh & Gkonou, 2015 ), irony comprehension ( Tiv et al, 2023 ), and speech perception ( Kutlu, 2020 ; Kutlu et al, 2022a , 2022b ), other facets of the bilingual experience have not yet been considered.…”

Multilingual and social experience: The Systems Framework of Bilingualism

“…Indeed, Kroll et al (2023) make the point that not only do the findings from psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics need to be placed in a social context, but they need to be understood as holding important consequences for sociolinguistic approaches. This point is discussed by Titone and Tiv (2023b) in their response to the commentaries, along the discussion of the other points raised by our commentaries. Importantly, in their response Titone and Tiv (2023b) present us with an updated model based on the comments received, demonstrating how science is dynamic as an collaborative effort when placed in a right social interactive context, as in this issue of our journal!…”

“…This point is discussed by Titone and Tiv (2023b) in their response to the commentaries, along the discussion of the other points raised by our commentaries. Importantly, in their response Titone and Tiv (2023b) present us with an updated model based on the comments received, demonstrating how science is dynamic as an collaborative effort when placed in a right social interactive context, as in this issue of our journal!…”

Order and Crash: Multilingual Ecology and Language Planning in Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Institutions

“…Recent studies of multilingual ecology in higher education, however, have progressively shifted their emphasis to new research criteria [17,18]. Research on multilingual ecology in higher education contexts prioritized a maximum diversity of languages by describing language application scenarios through a systems framework of multilingualism in detail.…”