Oi Yin Ng, Monica
Professor Terry
ANT 254
Final Essay

Over time, multilingualism becomes a widespread phenomenon throughout different countries in the world.  The causes of multilingualism are varied, some are inherent in its intra-socioculture and history (e.g. colonial background), some are affected by its neighbors interculturally (e.g. influx of foreign immigrants), and some, which can apply in most cases, are affected by both.  
Multilingualism is very common in countries with high cultural diversity.  The ancestors of the people live in these countries today have their origins in different cultures.  Switzerland, for example, even if it is only a small country  - there are as much as four different official languages: German (74%), French (20%), Italian (4%) and Romansh (1%) - the remaining 1% speaks other languages.  At the borders where two languages meet, the language does not change abruptly, it rather changes gradually.  People living on the border usually grow up bilingual.  At school, the children have to learn a second language spoken in the country.  
Israel is its counterpart in west Asia, which is also a multilingual society.  Since its establishment in 1948, Hebrew became the national language some fifty years after its revival as the language of Zionist identity.  On the other hand, Arabic, which is the language of Israel's largest minority and of the region, is taught in junior high school to Jewish students.  English is de facto the second language of speakers of both Hebrew and Arabic.  It is the main language for external commerce and tourism, and a required language for all Jewish and Arab schools, and for the universities (which teach in Hebrew).  In addition, French is taught in schools and known by many immigrants.  Furthermore, various Arabic and Judeo-Arabic dialects are spoken by Israeli Palestinians and by immigrants from North Africa, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other Arabic speaking countries.  Yiddish is spoken by older immigrants from Eastern Europe and by many ultra-orthodox Jews.  Some 3000 students learn it at school, Judeo-Spanish (Judezmo or Ladino) is still used by some Jews from Greece and the Levant; and Judeo-Aramaic (Kurdit) by Jews from Iraq and Iran; European languages like French and Russian and Hungarian and German and Polish are spoken by immigrants from Europe, and Spanish by those from Latin America.  In short, a continual influx of foreign immigrants is the main cause of multilingualism in Israel.  
Let’s move downwards to Africa.  In South Africa, with either an ethnically mixed population or with a colonial past, language is an extremely emotive issue with economic, social, and political implications.  In essence, South Africa is a country made up of language minorities with English as the dominant language in terms of its position as the official means of communication and in its dominance in the media and the economy.  They have eleven official languages: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.  There are also other languages being spoken, they are commonly used by different communities in South Africa, such as Khoi, Nama, San, Sign Language, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Portuguese, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu, and languages used for religious purposes, such as Arabic, Hebrew and Sanskrit.  
Multilingualism can also be seen in South America.  The Tukano live on the border between Brazil and Colombia.  In their society, men must marry someone who speaks another language.  Then the wife moves to the husband's village, and their children grow up hearing the husband's and the wife's languages, as well as the languages of other women in the village who also came from different language groups.  To a Tukano, surely monolingualism would seem exotic and unusual.  
India is one of the most diverse linguistic and cultural areas in the world.  In addition to the designation of Hindi as an official language and fourteen others as national languages, each state can choose its own regional language for use in local government affairs and in education among the languages spoken in its territory.  India's constitution guarantees the right of all citizens to communicate in their own language with any governmental agency.  In 1971, it was estimated that the rate of bilingualism in India was 13%.  99% of English speakers are second-language speakers, whereas in many other languages there are no non-native speakers at all.  
Japan, not like India, oppositely, it is seen as one of the most “monolingual” countries in the world.  However, surprisingly there are many types of multilingual people in Japan.  Many speak a form of Korean or Chinese along with their Japanese dialect.  Also many people in Japan speak English along with their Japanese dialect.  An organization called TEIJ (Teaching English in Japan) coordinated by the Institute for Education on Japan at Earlham College, offers participants an opportunity to serve in a Japanese community as an Assistant English Teacher, promoting international understanding and supporting English language instruction in Japanese schools.  This is a way in which multilingualism is being developed in Japan.  The Japanese government was against minority languages in Japan around 1980, but now support multilingualism.  The Japanese policy government stated in 1980 that in Japan, there are no minorities.  In 1991 the Japanese policy government stated that the Ainu people are a minority of Japan.  This information shows the shift of the Japanese to start supporting minority languages of Japan.  However there are groups that feel they are discriminated against.  Minorities in Japan have experienced discrimination and hostility.  Some of these groups are the indigenous Ainu people, the Korean residents of Japan, and the outcast Burakumin.  
To conclude, the trend of multilingualism is undoubtedly an inevitable movement in the world.  As globalization is in progress at a rapid rate, along with the well-developed communication technology, communicate internationally becomes simple and common, as well as multinational business.  Thus, bilinguals and/or multilinguals certainly have more opportunities to get into different kind of business.  In other words, they have more competitive power.