Comments on: The Neurolinguistic Advantages of Being Bilingual

By: Language Latte Ep 4: What is Special about Early Language Learners?

Language Latte Ep 4: What is Special about Early Language Learners? — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:37:54 +0000

[…] Neurolinguistic Advantages for Bilingual Children […]

By: kidworldcitizen

kidworldcitizen — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 03:58:12 +0000

In reply to mary.

I completely agree with you- parents need to look at advice with a critical lens. There is no reason to stop language learning!

I love your points on learning the language through different domains, and the importance of the individual’s level in each domain. Excellent points for parents (and teachers for that matter) to think about when attempting to asses their children’s level. Thank you so much for adding to the discussion!

By: mary

mary — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 21:24:52 +0000

Parents who are teaching two languages to little ones in the home and are concerned about limited vocabulary in one language or the other need to take in to consideration the language that the child self selects. Often times children self select a language to speak in, they have internal reasons for the selection typically driven by social or emotional factors. Parents need to enforce their expectation of the language for speaking. It simplifies matters for the child if language can be clearly tagged to a person or activity, for example when we speak to daddy we only answer him in Chinese, but we always answer mom in English. If parents don’t enforce their expectations then children may code-switch or self select language. Code-switching or self selecting could increase the time it takes for a student to master the structure of any given language.

Developing language targets four domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Proficiency levels can/will be different in every domain. While it may seem as if students have limited vocabulary in one language or another it could be that they have an extensive listening vocabulary, but have a smaller speaking vocabulary, because they are at different linguistic proficiency levels in those domains. Everyone learns language through the four domains. When a student is monolingual they are processing the one language through the four domains, but have levels of proficiency in each linguistic domain. The successes in each domain are influenced by the child’s individual learning style, intellectual ability and personality. It may at times seem as if a student learning several languages has a speech delay, but more than likely the reasons behind the delay have nothing to do with the language input, but instead is a result of multiple other factors.

There is never a good reason for stopping multiple language instruction. As educators or parents we cannot truly know how much a child with disabilities internalizes the language(s). Shame on the educator that tells you not to embrace the learning of multiple languages. Language is history, culture, emotion a link to who we were and are as a people- don’t let anyone take that away from your child.

By: Helena

Helena — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 22:35:18 +0000

Hi ,
My name is Helena. I am Spanish and my partner is British . We have a wonderful 3 y old daughter. I have been speaking to her in Spanish since she was born . Although she understands Spanish, and is capable to say basic words , she speaks to me in English . Is this a normal behaviour? Is there anything else I should be doing? I really want her to be bilinge .

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 17:26:37 +0000

How we acquire a language and how we phonetically express it can be two different things. As Becky mentioned, testing can tell you one aspect of his speech acquisition; however, how you perceive it at home is a different story. I would still have him tested, if possible, by someone independent from the school. But at the end, I think a professional that works with you can better provide an insight to his speech acquisition.

By: kidworldcitizen

kidworldcitizen — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 18:52:04 +0000

In reply to Lucinda.

Lucinda: My son had a huge speech delay, and the school continued to claim it was because he was an ELL. We were told by “experts” to stop teaching him a 2nd language, and thankfully we ignored them. Here is an article I wrote about him being misidentified: http://spanglishbaby.com/2013/11/ell/

I think you need to trust your instincts, because often times specialists only see our kids for such a short time, it is impossible for them to understand the whole story. I also think it helps if you can find a speech and language pathologist who is bilingual! They are much more open to continuing second language learning. I can email you privately if you want to know more about our speech (and now reading) struggles!

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 16:26:34 +0000

Do you have any insights on second language learning for a child with a speech delay? We had hoped to learn a second language as a family while our youngest is still small, but since even his primary language is a challenge, we haven’t wanted to overload him. That said, we wonder if there is a chance that the focus on language and pronunciation in second language learning might even be beneficial. Thoughts?

By: spanish4kiddos

spanish4kiddos — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 21:44:38 +0000

It was so great to contribute to your wonderful site. Thanks for having me.