**6. Conclusion**

instance on the basis of reaching out to the "less educated Singaporeans" [79]. Thus, the use of multilingualism enables all citizens to be effectively mobilized for development in their own

The avalanche of empirical findings discussed here suggests that linguistic diversity in any society should be celebrated, developed, and maintained and not combated, and this requires more than just sweet-sounding policies. Accompanying institutions, resources, facilities, and proper implementation strategies and monitoring schemes are needed to make multilingual practices effectively operational. Only proper management of multilingualism will yield

In considering multilingualism as a blessing and not a curse for any society, we take the standpoint of an objective evaluation of certain parameters in both multilingual and monolingual societies, adopting the *linguistic disenfranchisement rate* proposed by the European Commission (cf. [81]) in evaluating the effectiveness of multilingual regime policy for European Union states. *Linguistic disenfranchisement rate* as defined by Gazzola et al. [81] is an analytic approach to give an objective picture of the benefits any society with **a multilingual regime stands to gain and exposes its country to sustainable evolution and development for its citizens**. This designed indicator check and effectiveness evaluating tool for multilingualism advantages involves "the inputs, the outputs, and the outcomes of a language regime." The *inputs* are defined as the human, regulatory, and material means used to implement a policy (e.g., the costs of language services such as translation and interpreting), while the *outputs* are what are directly produced through the resources employed, typically, the number of pages of translated documents or the amount of hours of interpreting per year. The *outcome* is the effect of the policy on the target population. The evaluation of the effectiveness and the fairness of a language regime must be carried out on the basis of outcomes (cf. [82]: 6). From projects of this magnitude, the conclusion is that communication as "information transfer" [82] in different domains of societal networks inclusively engage the majority of the citizens of the societies and also widens the scope of progressive and global megaphone benefits at all levels of those societies. Gazzola's [82] research on the disenfranchisement rate associated with some monolingual and multilingual European countries came up with the findings that the "percentage of citizens who potentially cannot understand EU documents (e.g., legal texts, regulations, webpages, call for tenders) and oral public discussions (e.g., meetings of the European Parliament transmitted via the Internet) because they do not master any official language" is higher in monolingual societies than multilingual ones, working on the interpretation that "the lower the disenfranchisement rate, the higher the effectiveness." Thus, one could rightly hypothesize that the opportunities and privileges of multilingual societies outnum-

mother tongue or *language of the heart* [80].

expected benefits.

30 Multilingualism and Bilingualism

ber those of monolingual ones.

**5. Bilingualism or multilingualism as a blessing**

Bilingualism and multilingualism provide an enormous number of advantages and opportunities at both individual and societal levels. Global and globalizing sectors including financial services, pharmaceutical, chemical, automotive, IT, and other human contact (social) services rely heavily on language skills to operate for commerce and delivery. Some of the ramifications of multilingualism benefits stretch to diverse fields of life for both the individuals and the societies that practice them. In a nutshell, the research results discussed in this chapter hold up bilingual or multilingual experiences in most instances as assets to both the individual and the society that make use of it. These advantages contribute to reinforcing UNESCO's position (arrived at on independent grounds) in favor of linguistic diversity and the consequent action of revitalization and maintenance of endangered languages [13].
