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Monoglottism (Greek μόνοσ ''monos'', "alone, solitary", + γλώττα ''glotta'', "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as compared to multilingualism. In a different context, "unilingualism" may refer to a language policy which enforces an official or national language over others. Being monolingual or unilingual is also said of a text, dictionary, or conversation written or conducted in only one language, and of an entity in which a single language is either used or officially recognized (in particular when being compared with bilingual or multilingual entities or in the presence of individuals speaking different languages). Note that mono''glottism'' can only refer to lacking the ''ability'' to speak several languages. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population.〔G. Richard Tucker (1999)(A Global Perspective on Bilingualism and Bilingual Education ) Carnegie Mellon University CALL Digest EDO-FL-99-04〕 Romaine (1995) pointed out in her book ''Bilingualism'' that it would be weird to find a book titled ''Monolingualism''. This statement reflects the traditional assumption that linguistic theories often take on: that monolingualism is the norm. Monolingualism is thus rarely the subject of scholarly publications, as it is viewed to be an unmarked or prototypical concept where it has the sense of being normal and multilingualism is the exception. The assumption of normative monolingualism is also often the view of monolinguals who speak a global language, like the English language. Crystal (1987) said that this assumption is adopted by many in Western society. One explanation is provided by Edwards, who in 2004 claimed that evidence of the "monolingual mindset" can be traced back to 19th century Europe, when the nation was rising and a dominant group had control, and European mindsets on language were carried forth to its colonies, further perpetuating the monolingual mindset. Another explanation is that the nations who speak the English language are both “the producers and beneficiaries of English as a global language” and the populations within these countries tend to be monolingual.〔 ==Comparing Monolingualism with Multilingualism== There have been some studies done comparing monolinguals with bilinguals. Though none of the studies have found conclusive evidence that being monolingual or bilingual is better than the other, many have suggested that multilinguals have an ability to understand better overall(DFDN 11/2013). People often assume that children who are bilingual or multilingual will be linguistically delayed compared to children who speak just one language. People believe speakers of more than one language will be delayed in reaching their linguistic milestones and confused and unable to differentiate between their various languages. It is assumed that bilingual babies will frequently switch between languages, and that this language switching is a bad thing. Additionally, people think the brain cannot successfully support simultaneous and early exposure to more than one language. However, several research studies have shown that bilingualism and multilingualism does not delay a child’s language abilities, and that children who speak more than one language are not confused. Bilingual babies do partake in language switching just like bilingual adults, but this is not a bad thing and this does not represent confusion. Bilingual children reach milestones of language development at approximately the same rate as monolingual children. It is beneficial to learn a second or third language, and the advantages of bilingualism drastically outweigh the disadvantages. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Monolingualism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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