This study attempts to describe multilingualism in Cyprus in threeperiods of Cyprus history: The British Coloniai period (1878 to 1960);The Republic of Cyprus period (1960 to 1974); and from 1974 to thepresent day through the perceptions of Turkish Cypriots. The data inthe study are collected through interviews with the Turkish Cypriots who lived through the three periods. These interviews were latersubjected to content analysis. Findings indicate that Turkish Cypriotsare 'elite' bilinguals or 'school/cultured' bilinguals in English as theylearn English through education, and 'contact' or 'folk' bilinguals inGreek due to contact with the Greeks in the mixed towns and villagesbefore 1974. The functions of English are reduced to 'instrumental' and 'interpersonal' after 1974 excluding the 'regulative function' of theformer periods during which English was one of the official languages.The function of Greek was only interpersonal as it was used in intercommunalrelations before 1974, after which it is reduced to almostnone due to the separation of the two communities. The study revealsthat the Turkish Cypriots attribute great value to knowing Englishbecause of economic and professional gains.
This study attempts to describe multilingualism in Cyprus in threeperiods of Cyprus history: The British Coloniai period (1878 to 1960);The Republic of Cyprus period (1960 to 1974); and from 1974 to thepresent day through the perceptions of Turkish Cypriots. The data inthe study are collected through interviews with the Turkish Cypriots who lived through the three periods. These interviews were latersubjected to content analysis. Findings indicate that Turkish Cypriotsare 'elite' bilinguals or 'school/cultured' bilinguals in English as theylearn English through education, and 'contact' or 'folk' bilinguals inGreek due to contact with the Greeks in the mixed towns and villagesbefore 1974. The functions of English are reduced to 'instrumental' and 'interpersonal' after 1974 excluding the 'regulative function' of theformer periods during which English was one of the official languages.The function of Greek was only interpersonal as it was used in intercommunalrelations before 1974, after which it is reduced to almostnone due to the separation of the two communities. The study revealsthat the Turkish Cypriots attribute great value to knowing Englishbecause of economic and professional gains.