Welcome to my new and officially bilingual website! The fact that my blog on bilingualism finally became bilingual is a huge accomplishment for me. I really appreciate you being here! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A while ago, I wrote a text that I planned to re-launch my website with, however I decided to publish it at a later stage because a more pressing subject arose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other day, a video clip circulated on Instagram: it seemed like it was made from snippets of an interview in a Serbian podcast. In this clip, the interviewee of the podcast claimed that \u201cin bilingual children you expect a delay [with starting to talk]\u201d, that \u201cconfusion is common\u201d, and at the end of the clip the interviewee advises [parents] to stop using one of the languages the child is growing up with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did not know who the guest of the podcast was, but I was then told this is one of our \u201cleading speech language therapists and experts\u201c. This is why I decided that my already written article should wait and it was more urgent to write another article to disagree with what was said and state the actual truth on the subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bilingualism does not cause speech delay. A bilingual child is not more susceptible to developing a speech problem than a monolingual child1<\/a><\/sup>. If a speech problem exists, it will manifest itself regardless of whether the child is growing up with four, two or one language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Attitudes towards bilingualism have changed with time. Older attitudes tended to have an extreme negative view and some even claimed it caused schizophrenia. Later research then argued bilinguals are actually cognitively better off than monolinguals. Today’s research recognises that things are not so black and white. The differences between monolinguals and bilinguals are rather subtle and depend on a given situation2<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to advantages, for example, bilinguals have a skill called linguistic control<\/em>. This means that their brain knows how to block the language that is not being used in a certain situation. This is why it is said, among other things, that bilingual children learn the third language with more ease than their monolingual peers3<\/a><\/sup>. Bilinguals \u201conly\u201d need to learn the new language, whereas monolinguals need to learn the new language plus how to block the language that is not in use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, bilingual children do use both of their languages less, hence the vocabulary size of each of their individual languages is smaller than that of their monolingual counterparts. Therefore, bilinguals are more likely to find themselves in situations where the word is \u201con the tip of their tongue\u201c4<\/a><\/sup> and cannot be retrieved instantly more often than monolinguals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, \u201cbilingualism is considered as an advantage regardless of the presence of a speech, language, or communication disorder, or feeding and swallowing difficulties\u201d5<\/a><\/sup>. In addition, if life circumstances allow it, it is said that parents should invest in their children\u2019s bilingualism sooner rather than later6<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The speed with which children start to talk varies from child to child and depends on circumstances. Some of these circumstances are due to the quantity and the quality of the language(s) the child is exposed to7<\/a><\/sup>. When it comes to confusion, bilingual researcher Albert Costa breaks this myth and explains well what phonotactics is. Thanks to phonotactic rules, from a very young age babies are able to classify words into different languages that surround them8<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As an example, our two-year-old bilingual son started to talk later than his older bilingual sister. She started to talk when she was around 18 months old, while he started closer to 24 months. Both of them (almost from the very start) address me in Serbian and their dad in English. Bilingual children are not confused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, by the age of two, our daughter was not wearing nappies. Our son however, now at the age of two, is far from this, only occasionally happy to sit on potty while being entertained with a book. Nothing more than that. Children are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if you as a parent worry that your child has a delay, experts\u2019 advice is to contact them as soon as possible. The key thing in here is to make sure that the speech language therapist (SLT) you decide to work with is qualified, has the relevant training and experience in working with bilingual children. Not all SLTs have training in bilingualism. A bilingual child needs to be assessed in both of their languages, not only in one. If the SLT does not know the child\u2019s other language, it is necessary to hire a translator. Why? As with the adults, one of child\u2019s languages is usually more dominant than the other. The child needs to get an opportunity to say everything they know, in either of their languages, in order for the SLT to get the complete picture9<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It may happen that the expert advises temporary use of only one language with the child. This should be viewed only as a temporary step in improving a child\u2019s language and emotional wellbeing10<\/a><\/sup>. Reintroduction of the language that has been put on hold can come as the next step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The advice that says \u201cstop using one of the languages\u201c is not widely applicable to all bilingual families. I believe it can be extremely harmful giving casual advice of this kind through media that easily reach wider population. These claims scare parents. The consequence: language(s) potential of the children and of the whole families remains unknown, unexplored and unused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is even more harmful when advice of this kind is given by someone who is an expert. What was said in this podcast indicates that bilingualism is not the area where his expertise lies. Sadly, he is not unique and there are more examples of \u201cexperts\u201d advising against bilingualism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Exclusion of one of the languages the child is growing up with can potentially lead to the exclusion of the language of love, as well as the language heritage and tradition of the family. It can also prevent future communication between the child and the family who are based in the country that language is spoken in: grandmas, grandpas and other family members. Exclusion of one language can also make biculturalism harder to obtain as well as the wider perspective of the world that is common for children who are growing up in two cultures and with two languages. I have one of these biculturals by my side and trust me, they are a real gem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My unsolicited advice is \u201clove your children and spend quality time with them in your language\u201d. This means don\u2019t expose them to screens and expect they will simply learn the language through the screen. Children need active exposure to the language and the interaction with an adult person for the language to thrive11<\/a><\/sup>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, get further opinions on the topic from checked and reliable sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, I will list five different sources I consider to be a solid starting point for those who are raising or planning to raise bilingual children. I used them to back up what I wrote in this post. They are full of references, so they can point to further literature if you want to read and hear more. If not, they are enough for you to get a decent picture of what bilingualism is and is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written in the Q&A form, this book does not require you to read it from cover to cover. It is divided in chapters: family; language development; problems; reading and writing; education; and language in the classroom. Personally, I found it really useful before Klara started her English school, as I was wondering how she would cope with two different alphabets (she was already familiar with Serbian Cyrillic alphabet). I won\u2019t say anything else on this topic, but leave it for one of my future posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Through this easy-to-read book, I got acquainted with the terms bicultural <\/em>and biliteral<\/em>. It is full of references, therefore it can serve as inspiration for future reading. As soon as I put it down, I rushed to read Eva Hoffman\u2019s \u201cLost in Translation\u201c. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This book, in which the author explains how a bilingual brain works, is so far the best book I read on bilingualism. I put it in the third place because it\u2019s not the easiest to read. It is written a little more as a scientific paper than the book you read just before you fall asleep. Fascinated by it, I wrote the book summary and recommendation<\/a> where I mention the facts that left the biggest impression on me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists. Sharon is a linguist and a mum of two bilingual children. She talks to a wide range of very competent guests about various aspects of bilingualism and bilingual upbringing. In each episode, she also talks to little bilinguals. It is beautiful to hear how they view their bilingualism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If, like me, you like bilingualism but you are also interested in the emotional aspect of raising children with two languages than this newsletter is perfect for you. Malwina is a linguist and a mum to two bilingual children in London. When I read her words, I have a feeling she understands me, she knows what I am going through and I feel I am not alone. This is far from negligible when you live in a crowded city like London, where paradoxically you meet the feeling of loneliness more often than your friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who wanted to find out more about bilingualism, I hope I\u2019ve given you enough homework to keep you busy for some time. Helping your children achieve and then maintain bilingualism is a wonderful but at the same time hard mission \u2013 I\u2019m sure you saw me mention this in at least one of my previous texts. Successful raising of bilingual children is a generous achievement that rewards with wonderful results. Get informed from checked and reliable sources and try to enjoy this long-term process!<\/p>\n\n\n Welcome to my new and officially bilingual website! The fact that my blog on bilingualism finally became bilingual is a huge accomplishment for me. I really appreciate you being here! A while ago, I wrote a text that I planned to re-launch my website with, however I decided to publish it at a later stage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Unsworth, Sh. (2021),\u00a0Kletsheads, All about bilingual children<\/em>\u00a0[Podcast] [Season 1, Episode 3]\u00a011 January 2021<\/em>, How do you know if a bilingual child has a language delay? (Guest: Dr Sean Perth), Available at:\u00a0https:\/\/kletsheadspodcast.org\/2021\/01\/11\/how-do-you-know-if-a-bilingual-child-has-a-language-delay-season-1-episode-3\/<\/a>\u00a0Accessed: 30 Jan 2024.\u00a0\",\"id\":\"760cff20-c1fd-4eba-943e-ac931bf40a9c\"},{\"content\":\"Grosjean, F. (2012),\u00a0Bilingual, Life and Reality,\u00a0<\/em>Harvard University Press, 1st Edition, p. 218 - 228.\u00a0\",\"id\":\"7e83ae3b-1686-4530-9d09-a59800dc5a56\"},{\"content\":\"Costa, A. (2021).\u00a0The Bilingual Brain<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Penguin Books, p. 50, 81.\",\"id\":\"7f4b4013-9d72-4b05-85e3-2abb29fb8bc0\"},{\"content\":\"Costa, A. (2021).\u00a0The Bilingual Brain<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Penguin Books, p. 67 - 72.\",\"id\":\"d25b6413-3706-41f7-a5b3-6c9f4ca896ed\"},{\"content\":\"Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (2024) Available at:\u00a0https:\/\/www.rcslt.org\/speech-and-language-therapy\/clinical-information\/bilingualism\/<\/a>\u00a0(Accessed: 2 February 2024.)\",\"id\":\"e00b939d-364a-496c-b773-b46241b2a4f4\"},{\"content\":\"Baker, C. (2014), A Parents\u2019 and Teachers\u2019 Guide to Bilingualism, 4th<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Multilingualism Matters, p. 47.\",\"id\":\"0faeeb42-1760-41ac-b22b-1ae67c193e83\"},{\"content\":\"Baker, C. (2014), A Parents\u2019 and Teachers\u2019 Guide to Bilingualism, 4th<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Multilingualism Matters, p. 48.\u00a0\",\"id\":\"ba4db926-7600-4f9d-88fc-8e2c2993c950\"},{\"content\":\"Costa, A. (2021).\u00a0The Bilingual Brain<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Penguin Books, p. 5 - 7.\",\"id\":\"b3186cb3-8335-4727-b936-eb26c70c5cf1\"},{\"content\":\"Unsworth, Sh. (2021),\u00a0Kletsheads, All about bilingual children<\/em>\u00a0[Podcast] [Season 1, Episode 3]\u00a011 January 2021<\/em>, How do you know if a bilingual child has a language delay? (Guest: Dr Sean Perth), Available at:\u00a0https:\/\/kletsheadspodcast.org\/2021\/01\/11\/how-do-you-know-if-a-bilingual-child-has-a-language-delay-season-1-episode-3\/<\/a>\u00a0Accessed: 30 Jan 2024.\",\"id\":\"9c8a3cf3-810b-4815-9940-1feff20c678a\"},{\"content\":\"Baker, C. (2014), A Parents\u2019 and Teachers\u2019 Guide to Bilingualism, 4th<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Multilingualism Matters, p. 111.\",\"id\":\"f1f7b3ac-55b1-4ca7-a267-3713e3ffa610\"},{\"content\":\"Costa, A. (2021).\u00a0The Bilingual Brain<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0edition, Penguin Books, p. 26.\",\"id\":\"2da9549b-0bbf-4fb9-acce-42afb2466841\"}]"},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,37,23,24,50,63,54],"class_list":{"0":"post-2113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bilingual-children","8":"tag-bilingual","9":"tag-bilingual-child","10":"tag-bilingual-children","11":"tag-bilingual-family","12":"tag-bilingual-parenting","13":"tag-bilingualism","14":"tag-book-recommendation"},"yoast_head":"\nReal-life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Seek advice from an expert with training and experience in working with bilingual children<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why giving casual advice can be harmful<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Five checked and reliable sources on bilingualism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3 books<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1. A Parents\u2019 and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism, Colin Baker<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2. Bilingual, Life and Reality, Fran\u00e7ois Grosjean<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3. The Bilingual Brain, Albert Costa<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Podcast<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Kletsheads, Sharon Unsworth<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Newsletter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Motherlingual, Malwina Gudowska<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
To wrap up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n