International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism
Editor: Colin Baker, University of Wales, Bangor
Review Editor: Aneta Pavlenko, Temple University, Philadelpia
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Volume: 1 Number: 1 Page: 18–46
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Bilingual Children's Reflections on Writing and Diglossia
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Norbert Francis
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This investigation of the development of metalinguistic consciousness examines bilingual children's perceptions of language contact in a situation of marked social imbalance between their first and second
languages. Forty-five Spanish/Nahuatl bilinguals (Central Mexico) were assessed on a series of language awareness tests and sociolinguistic interviews. The exploratory investigation focused on how school-age
bilinguals view written forms in Spanish and Nahuatl; the former associated with literacy learning, academic discourse generally, and interethnic communication outside of the community as well as within,
the latter with oral domains, traditional, familial and intimate interpersonal contexts. The study addresses key issues in the discussion on the relationship between bilingualism and metalinguistic consciousness,
reporting findings related to the factors of language proficiency, attitudes and perceptions, and awareness of language form. How these factors interact within the overall context of a kind of defacto additive
bilingual situation, in turn, suggests a different approach to the broader debate on the general cognitive/linguistic consequences of bilingualism.
© Multilingual Matters 1998
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