The Case of Multilingualism in Cyprus

This study attempts to describe multilingualism in Cyprus in three periods of Cyprus history: The British Coloniai period (1878 to 1960); The Republic of Cyprus period (1960 to 1974); and from 1974 to the present day through the perceptions of Turkish Cypriots. The data in the study are collected through interviews with the Turkish Cypriots who lived through the three periods. These interviews were later subjected to content analysis. Findings indicate that Turkish Cypriots are 'elite' bilinguals or 'school/cultured' bilinguals in English as they learn English through education, and 'contact' or 'folk' bilinguals in Greek due to contact with the Greeks in the mixed towns and villages before 1974. The functions of English are reduced to 'instrumental' and 'interpersonal' after 1974 excluding the 'regulative function' of the former periods during which English was one of the official languages. The function of Greek was only interpersonal as it was used in intercommunal relations before 1974, after which it is reduced to almost none due to the separation of the two communities. The study reveals that the Turkish Cypriots attribute great value to knowing English because of economic and professional gains