Do Bilinguals have two personalities?

By Nada Alnuzha

We often hear of how the first language that a person acquires while growing up plays a vital role in the formation of their identity and character. But what if an individual grows up simultaneously speaking two or more languages? Will this circumstance influence their identity formation or will it result in complications in defining the identity? A language is commonly associated with a distinct culture, and the two terms are described as having a homologous relationship. Culture is often expressed through a specific language and remains a significant factor that influenced an individual’s identity. The relation between language and personality is detrimental in the investigation of whether a bilingual’s identity is considered dual or if there is another significant factor that influences their personality.  

Bilingualism varies depending on the point of time in which the second language is acquired. On the one hand, compound bilingualism occurs when a child is exposed to two languages simultaneously in a single social context, making them equally proficient in both languages. On the other hand, coordinate bilingualism occurs when a child acquires two languages in different contexts, making the languages part of two completely separate systems that cannot be combined. While compound bilinguals can employ both languages in the same context, coordinate bilinguals are aware that both languages are used in separated contexts. This awareness stems from background knowledge of the functions, experiences, as well as the cultural and social factors idiosyncratic to each language. Bilinguals are also able to display different cognitive processes related to language use when switching from one language to the other. With coordinate bilingualism, the social and cultural contexts of both languages are separated. Therefore when a bilingual speaker switches between two languages, they are aware of the differing social and cultural contexts related to the specific language used.

To varying degrees, bilinguals become immersed in the cultural background of the second language they acquire. Bilinguals who learn a second language within a bicultural context have an increased understanding of cultural diversity. As they fully immerse themselves in the culture of the second language, they view themselves as competent speakers and performers within the second culture. Understandably, a speaker who passively learns a second language without tapping into the culture from which the language originates varies from a bilingual who is partially or fully exposed to the culture of the second language. Gradually, the speaker begins to adopt the collective ideas, values and behavioural patterns of the second language culture, and may even internalise them as part of their identity. The phenomenon of internalising two cultures as factors that contribute to identity building is referred to as biculturalism. The bilingual speaker undergoes the process of acculturation, a process of social, psychological and cultural change that originates from adopting traits from another culture, typically the dominant culture. As the speaker shifts from one language to the other, the two internalised cultures become overtly noticeable in the speaker’s outward disposition. In other words, this observation may be referred to as a ‘change in personality’.

Certain cultural cues can have a noticeable effect on a speaker’s personality as they adjust to the ideas, beliefs and collective social behaviours shared within a language culture. There remains a drastic difference between bilinguals who possess basic competence in a second language, and bilinguals who have full proficiency in the second language, and who have developed a bicultural identity, as they were able immerse themselves in the culture of the second language. Studies on bilingualism from 1964 point to evidence of a correlation between language and personality changes. As bilinguals adapt to the culture of the second language, they begin to internalise cultural aspects of the second language and modify their behaviours to be compatible with the language they are using.

In 2001, Dewaele and Pavlenko conducted a study where bilingual informants answered the question “Do you feel like a different person sometimes when you use your different languages?” Out of the 1039 informants, 65% gave affirmative answers, and experienced a difference in the way they presented themselves. This perception is largely based on culture performance. While shifting between languages, speakers displayed behavioural norms associated with the culture of a specific language. This ranged between posture, body language, pitch, facial expression, thought structures, assertiveness and humour. The study further pinned the results to the notion of Cultural Frame Shifting (CFS), the phenomena that explains how the internalisation of two cultures allows the speaker to alternate between the two languages, and hence, the two cultures according to the social context.

Being a bilingual speaker doesn't necessarily convey that a speaker has different personalities when speaking in either languages, but it is only a matter of a modification of their behaviours to fit and abide by the cultural norms and social cues of a specific spoken language. Thus, some bilinguals internalise a culture to the extent that there becomes a noticeable change in their personalities while they shift between two languages, and hence display different cultural performances based on the social context they are in.

Reference:

Diebold, A.R, JR. (1966). The Consequences of Early Bilingualism in Cognitive Development and Personality Formation. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED020491.pdf

Esparza, N.R. and Sierra, A.G. (2014). The Bilingual Brain: Language, Culture and Identity.  https://labclab.psychology.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1167/2015/04/Language3.pdf

Ponikwia, K.O. (2013). Emotions from a Bilingual Point of View. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.