Definition of Terms
In order to proceed with this discussion, a few terms need to be identified.
Anomie refers to “personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals” (Webster’s, 1985, 1988), in which might be included feelings of social uncertainty, dissatisfaction, and homelessness. It literally translates as “without norms” (Reeves, 1994).
Bifurcation, with which this paper is largely concerned, is the dividing of a topic, situation, philosophy, thing, society, or person into two separate, often opposing elements. In this study, bifurcation will refer to a person’s cultural background/social identity/existence and its affect on the individual’s functioning within society.
Culture refers here to a given person or group’s societal norms, practices, and structures. These include, but are not limited to, language, rhetoric, philosophy/religion, and hierarchies.
Diglossia is related to bifurcation and refers to the coexistence of two language systems within an individual’s reference frame. Generally, these language systems function at or near equal status, though at varying times and in varying circumstances, one or the other system will have preference, since each generally relates to specific, separate parts of the person's life. It also needs to be understood, as pointed out by Kenji Hakuta, that bilingualism without diglossia, that is without two fully functioning language systems, ultimately leads to monolingualism, since the dominant or sole language system takes over. I show, through the course of this document, that diglossia is also directly tied to the coexistence of two cultural patterns within an individual’s frame of reference.
Official English/English Only refers to a movement favoring official language laws which would designate English as the official language of U. S. American society, education, and government. At its deeper level, this movement would mandate English as the sole public, and in many cases private, language option. Often, Official English/English Only advocates promote the outlawing of all languages other than English.
Pluralism is the cultural extension of bifurcation and diglossia. It refers to the coexistence of multiple cultures, languages, and lifestyles within a single community, society, or nation.
Polyglot refers to a country’s, society’s, or individual’s condition of being multilingual. Most often, multilingualism is accompanied by multiculturalism, and, thus, the condition of being polyglot is closely aligned with pluralism. For purposes of this paper, the term is used interchangeably for U.S. society and for individuals.
Transitional bilingualism refers to a type of bilingual education which serves strictly to move the learner from her/his native language to English, then to drop the use of the native language altogether.