Compositions in English: Comparing the Works of Monolinguals, Passive Bilinguals, and Active Bilinguals

Abstract

This study tries to see whether the subjects’ “monolingualism†and “bilingualism†(monolinguals learning an L2 and bilinguals learning an L3) influence their study on English, especially writing. The term “bilinguals†also means “multilinguals†in this study. Bilinguals in this paper are classified into two; first, passive bilinguals who are only exposed to another local language, besides speaking Bahasa Indonesia at home, and second, active bilinguals who are exposed to and also speak other language(s) and Bahasa Indonesia at home. The findings show that the monolingual and the active bilingual are better than the passive one; the active bilingual is better than the monolingual. However, if the passive and the active bilingual are combined, the monolingual is better than the bilinguals.