Considering the biological foundations of human language, and the input impoverishment necessary for the realization of monolingualism, I propose that monolingualism is a social practice of body modification. As cognitive linguistics makes progress in understanding the organ that produces this multilingual faculty of language, monolingualism emerges as the marked case. Humans possess a cognitive faculty to acquire and practice multiple linguistic systems. Lastly, monolingual experiences are different from bilingual experiences therefore, existing questionnaires that evaluate language experiences should be adapted to capture the particular linguistic experiences of monolinguals. Moreover, these results show the need to consider the specificity of the monolingual language experience when analysing the impact of foreign languages on cognitive functioning, as differences in the language experiences of bilinguals also have divergent impacts on cognition. These results suggest that the linguistic experiences of monolinguals from the UK often include exposure to and use of foreign languages. Lastly, around 58% of monolinguals who had visited one or more non-English-speaking countries declared the active use of foreign languages during their stay(s). Furthermore, activities that involved passive use of languages (i.e., activities that require reading or listening but do not require speaking or writing e.g., watching TV) were occasionally carried out in foreign languages: around 26% of these monolinguals confirmed the passive use of more than one language. Moreover, nearly 40% of all the studied monolinguals confirmed that they had been passively exposed to foreign languages or dialects in their environment approximately a fourth of these monolinguals who declared exposure to at least one foreign language (or dialect) confirmed that they also used these languages. More than half of this 80% of monolinguals also used languages they had learned at some point in their lives. Through an online survey, we found that more than 80% of these monolinguals had learned at least one foreign language, dialect, or type of jargon. In this study, we analyse the linguistic experiences of 962 English-speaking individuals from the United Kingdom (UK) who identified as monolinguals. The linguistic experiences of monolinguals are usually overlooked when analysing the impact of foreign language experiences on language processing and cognitive functioning. Monolingualism has typically been understood as a homogeneous phenomenon. I then review ways in which monolingualism has been represented thus far in the literature, outline some possible research questions and end by introducing the contributions to this volume. In this introduction I will outline why a simple definition of monolingualism is neither easy to establish nor useful, and also why it is important to come to an understanding of it as a particular kind of 'lingualism' (Cruz Ferreira p.c.). This special issue of Sociolinguistic Studies carries just such a title, and the papers it includes represent an attempt to explore the phenomenon of monolingualism from a number of different perspectives. There is little systematic investigation of monolingualism: Romaine pointed out in 1995 that she would find it strange to see a book with the title 'Monolingualism'. The implication of this is that monolingualism is the norm, and that bilingualism and multilingualism constitute abnormal states which merit investigation even though this idea sits oddly with the belief of most linguists that the majority of the world's population is bi- or multilingual, and that therefore monolingualism may be the exception rather than the norm. After all, is it not bilinguals and multilinguals who present the more interesting questions? It certainly seems so, for research has concentrated on their linguistic, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic make-up. Some may find it strange to see a special journal issue on monolingualism.
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