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Bilingualism
ONE LANGUAGE OR TWO?
A commonly raised question by many parents
"WHEN CAN I INTRODUCE A SECOND LANGUAGE TO MY CHILD?"
“IF MY CHILD HAS DIFFICULTIES IN HIS FIRST LANGUAGE, CAN I INTRODUCE A SECOND LANGUAGE TO HIM?”
A monolingual child is a child who speaks just one language. On the other hand, a bilingual child is one who speaks two languages. Bilingual children can be classified in more than one way but, generally speaking, they can be broadly divided into two types:
- Simultaneous bilinguals: children who acquire two languages before the age of three
- Sequential bilinguals: children who learn a second language after their first language is well-established (generally after the age of three).
- Early exposure to two languages isn't expected to have any negative influence on language development in children. On the contrary, it can help improve their executive functions and pragmatic skills (social use of language). One reason for that is simply because they become more aware of when it is proper to code switch (shift from one language to the other), for example, they become quite aware of when to use one language (e.g. Arabic) with the nanny at home versus the other (e.g. English) with the teacher at school.
- Some specialists recommend using the "One person: One language" approach; meaning that, for example, if the mother is going to speak English all the time, the father has to speak Arabic all the time. On the other hand, some speech and language therapists advise parents to use the "One place: One Language" approach i.e. if the child is at school, he uses the second language (the school language of instruction) all the time while, at home, he uses the first language all the time.
- The most applicable way to use is what is referred to as the "Language Competence Approach". In this approach, parents are advised to stick to one language until their child reaches the age of language competence (3-year level language wise); he can express himself in three or four word sentences such as, "I want to sleep," and can correctly follow three-sequential instructions, such as when you tell him "Wash your hands, put your shoes on and drink your juice." At this age, it’s safe to introduce a second language.
- If your child has been receiving therapy to help him develop his first language, you have to go on with his sessions and, in addition, provide him with therapy in the second language but here the objectives will be at a lower level, for example, if he has been receiving therapy in Arabic and now he is at a 3-year level language wise. His therapy objectives will now move to a higher level targeting, for example, storytelling, grammar (syntax) and following complicated instructions. On the other hand, his additional sessions in the second language, will be targeting lower objectives e.g. naming common surrounding objects, shapes, colors, animals, action verbs or following simple instructions. Thereafter, objectives -for both languages- can be gradually raised depending on progress achieved with therapy.
- Make bilingualism and an ADDITIVE rather than a SUBTRACTIVE one Never withdraw the first language while you are trying to introduce the second one because by doing this you will be helping the second language grow on the expense of the first language. So, make sure that your child is consistently exposed to the two languages at a more or less equal level.
- Even with therapy, if for example the therapist is introducing to your child the picture of a dog during his English session and he responds in Arabic "كلب" [kalb], the therapist has to respond- if he /she has enough Arabic-, " صح ده كلب, it's a DOG" while emphasizing the word "dog". This will help your child understand that both are correct and that it is ok to use both languages and now he knows that he is free to use more than one code (language) to refer to the same thing depending on his conversational partner and social setting. Now, his brain is becoming more flexible.
- Using this approach can help your child develop more than one language; may be one will develop at a faster pace than the other but both will develop simultaneously. Now, he is more comfortably using his first language during daily life activities and at the same time, he can use the second language, to some extent, at school and with his peers. This will, in turn, have a great positive impact on his social interactions, academic achievement, as well as self esteem and confidence.