Dr. Fred Genesee spoke at Osaka City University with support from Kwansei University on June 13, 2006 on “Bilingual First Language Acquisition: Exploring the Capacity of the Language Faculty.” From the Abstract: “Children who grow up learning two, or more, languages simultaneously provide a unique opportunity to explore the capacity of the language faculty. Under some early views, the language faculty was thought to be limited so that children with simultaneous dual language exposure were thought to be at risk for delayed or, worse, higher incidence of impaired language development in comparison to monolingual language learners. As well, it was thought that the early stages of bilingual acquisition were essentially monolingual with a fused or undifferentiated system of languages. Findings from recent research paint a radically different picture,” bilingual and even possibly “multilingual innate competence for language acquisition.”

The lecture part of an actual college class in content-based English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The class is Human Rights, Bilingualism and Women’s Choices. The relations among those three topics are explained along with some levels of human rights—universal (UN agreements), cultural (e.g., linguistic human rights), and individual (e.g., freedom of speech). But mainly the lecture shows how choices that people have, not just women, increase as they become bilingual and bicultural, then possibly multilingual and multicultural. Each individual is charted in terms of linguistic repertoire, cultural identity, human rights and choices available, which are most limited for monolingual and monocultural people. The threshold where individuals can be considered bilingual or bicultural is also discussed. Different degrees and combinations of languages are explained along with their consequences in terms of choices. Any language or culture in the world could be added to our repertoire. The more choices, the more freedom the individual can enjoy.