Native speakers, mother tongues and other objects of wonder

This paper questions the presumptions standing behind such firmly established notions in conventional mainstream linguistics as “native speakers”, “mother tongue”, “linguistic fact”, “monoglot community”. While linguists routinely appeal to native speakers as ‘informants’ in defining ‘facts’ about a particular language spoken by a particular community, these ‘facts’ then being used in identifying individual languages as separate semiotic systems governed by specific sets of rules, there do not seem to be clearly delineated grounds on which native speakers’ linguistic performance is viewed as ‘exemplary’ for communication in a given tongue, thus serving as a kind of ‘standard’ to be achieved by those whose mother tongue is different and whose cultural identity, for that reason, is also different. It is argued that the empirical value of ‘linguistic competence’, allegedly characteristic of native speakers, is insubstantial, and the concept of ‘monoglossia’ ought to be radically revised.

Research highlights► Presumptions behind the discussed notions are not based on empirical evidence. ► They are the consequence of the written-language bias in linguistics. ► This bias precludes any insights into the nature of language. ► Language is a socio-culturally constructed dimension of the human cognitive domain. ► With this in view, the discussed notions should be revised, if not abandoned.