Presentation 2: Dimensions of Bilingualism

Bilingualism Integrated Table

Presentation #2: Dimensions of

Presenter: Raúl A. Mora, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education Graduate Program
Co-chair, Student Research Group on Second Language, SRG-L2
Chair, ML2 Project

ABSTRACT

Besides being a contested topic, the idea of is one of those words where every involved stakeholder seems to have their own defintion (Dressman, et al. 1998). While there is an agreement about the “two languages” idea behind the definition, there are plenty of hazy areas about what entails being “bilingual”, what “bilingual education” programs are, and what it really means to think in terms of a bilingual society.

Partly building up and partly taking distance from the first presentation of this table (Golovátina-Mora, 2012), this session will first explore a series of factors that teachers and researchers should consider before engaging in a discussion of . Then the presenter will problematize some of the existing goals of bilingualism by questioning the “two languages” assumption. Finally, we will discuss some of the implications of a revised view of bilingualism where issues of human rights (Mora, 2004), diversity (Blommaert, 2012), cosmopolitanism (Mora & Golovátina-Mora, 2011), world languages (Rajagopalan, 2010), and specific views of languages in context (Mora, 2011) should come into play as we question and rethink what it means to be in our local, global, and glocal contexts.

Dr. Mora’s presentation is sponsored by the Language Center, MELEX Study Group, and the Student Research Group on Second Language, SRG-L2. You can follow the presentation in real time on Twitter (@srg_l2_upb)