Summary: Language strategies for bilingual families

[Marilyn Vihman]

I can't resist adding my bit as well! I have to say that, having 
raised two children speaking Estonian in highly monolingual USA 
(California - it was pretty monolingual in our neighborhood at 
least!), the one person/one language strategy seemed unlikely to 
work, if one of the languages was to be English: English just gets SO 
much support from the environment that if the minority or 'other' 
language isn't the ONLY one used in the home, the child will wind up 
with English only. In fact, my experience was that the majority of 
the Estonian children we knew soon quit using Estonian, even though 
both parents WERE Estonians (while I was/am an L2 user of Est.). I 
think we were successful in raising two children who still use the 
language as young adults primarily because we were both so focussed 
on the language (both of us linguists), and because the older child 
was as well, while the second child just followed the example of the 
first. So there was no answering back in English etc at any point, 
and Estonian has remained the primary language used among ourselves 
as a family. I don't think that my using my native English would have 
been helpful, although they might have learned and retained Estonian 
anyway, who can say? But there's no particular magic in OPOL as far 
as I can see, and in the case of highly monolingual larger contexts, 
I doubt that it is the best plan.

marilyn vihman

>To add a belated comment:
>
>In my experience studying simultaneous bilingual children, the OPOL 
>strategy is
>more helpful for parents that for children -- parents who raise their children
>biingually need a strategy that is workable and that also, more importantly in
>my opinion, ensures that the child gets sufficient input on a consistent basis
>that they can acquire the two langauges fully.  The OPOL strategy is useful in
>these regards. This is particularly true when one of the langauges is a
>minority language in the community at large. It is not sufficient to use two
>languages is some systematic way; children need relatively consistent, rich,
>and extensive exposure to each language to ensure full competence. Clearly,
>monolingula children get more input than they really need. But, not all
>children who are raised bilingually get enough input over time to become fully
>bilingual.
>
>Fred Genesee
>
>At 07:04 AM 16/06/2004 -0400, Gordon, Peter wrote:
>>
>>  Nitya,
>> 
>>  Thanks for that summary on OPOL strategies.  It seems to me that learning to
>>  be bilingual in the early stages is relatively easy regardless of the
>>  conditions of input.  What is harder is to maintain a language that is not
>>  the dominant one of the culture as the child gets older and goes to school
>>  etc.  I'm wondering if the OPOL strategy helps in the language maintenance
>>  function if the child learns that one of the parents will only 
>>communicate in
>>  the non-dominant language.  I think this often works when a child 
>>has parents
>>  or grandparents who really don't speak the local language.  I wonder if it
>>  would be too hard to maintain all communication in the non-dominant language
>>  though if the parent really did speak the local language.
>> 
>>  Peter Gordon
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>>  From: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org on behalf of Nitya Sethuraman
>>>  Sent: Tue 6/15/2004 5:17 PM
>>>  To: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org
>>>  Cc: 'Nitya Sethuraman'
>>>  Subject: Summary: Language strategies for bilingual families
>>>
>>>  Hello,
>>>
>>>  I posted a question last week regarding language strategies used by
>>>  bilingual families, and in particular, the one-person, 
>>>one-language strategy
>>>  (OPOL).
>>>
>>>  I would like to thank Barbara Conboy, Jeff Fisher, Gary Morgan, Ana
>>>  Schwartz, Johanne Paradis, Barbara Pearson, Elena Nicoladis, Hazel See,
>>>  Kathryn King, Mayr Erbaugh, Marie-Rose Bomgren, and Fred Genesee for their
>  >> informative responses.
>>>
>>>  Below is a summary, divided into general comments (anonymous, since it
>>>  wasn't always clear to me who wanted to be cited) and a list of suggested
>>>  references:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  General Comments:
>>>
>>>  "There is no empirical evidence showing that this [OPOL] is the best way to
>>>  raise a child bilingually. There might be evidence (i.e. case studies)
>>>  showing that it works well, but not to the exclusion of other 
>>>approaches, at
>>>  least none that I'm aware of. In fact, Naomi Goodz did a study quite some
>>>  time ago (in the early 90's maybe) in which she found that 
>>>parents who swore
>>>  that they used the one-person, one-language strategy actually didn't."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  "There are lots of studies about this saying that adults give more
>>>  complexity and richness in the input if they use an L1 with their child but
>>>  I wanted to just say that I raised by daughter bilingually by both parents
>  >> speaking their own L1 as it was just a lot easier for us. And 
>one parent one
>>>  language isn't 100% of the time just most of the time I think"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  "I do not know of any evidence suggesting that the one parent one
>>>  language is better. Rather, it is a common practice. Indeed work by Ana
>>>  Celia Zentella (check out her book "Growing up bilingual") provides case
>>>  study evidence of how good children are at code switching and responding to
>>>  appropriate register, in families in which multiple languages are spoken by
>>>  both parents."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  "I know that in Miami, where I did a lot of research, one-parent
>>>  one-language is NOT the norm (but the Latin community there is also not
>>>  particularly successful at helping the next generation be truly 
>>>bilingual)."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  "Ronjat followed that rule (citing a guy named Grammont-- I think 
>>>that's the
>>>  spelling) on the grounds that one person-one language would be less
>>>  confusing for children. He then goes through his book soundly 
>>>congratulating
>>>  himself on his success in not confusing his child.  The research since then
>>>  I think has been fairly convincing in showing that it is actually 
>>>quite hard
>>>  to confuse children with two languages in the input so I doubt there is
>>>  anything to the rule of Grammont. But I don't know of anyone who has
>>>  addressed that empirically.
>>>  The use of one parent-one language in research comes up when research
>>>  questions are about bilingual children's language choice. It's easier to go
>>>  to one place (i.e., the home) and find the two languages used than it is to
>>>  visit the school once and the home another time. I've had to do the latter
>>>  on one occasion when the child heard one language at home and one language
>>>  at daycare. It was a pain."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  References:
>>>
>>>  Baker, Colin (1995/2000).  "A Parents' & Teachers guide to bilingualism".
>>>  Clevedon:  Multilingual Matters.
>>>
>>>  Includes a discussion of other strategies besides OPOL.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Barron-Hauwaert, Suzanne (2004).  Language Strategies for Bilingual
>>>  Families:  The one-parent - one-language Approach.  Multilingual Matters.
>>>
>>>  2 chapters on other strategies for language use within the family and
>>>  concludes with suggestions of how the OPOL can be adapted for use in the
>>>  21st century.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  De Houwer, A. 1999. Environmental factors in early bilingual development:
>>>  the role of parental beliefs and attitudes.  Bilingualism and 
>>>migration, ed.
>>>  by G. Extra and L.Verhoeven, 75-95.  New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Deuchar, Margaret and Suzanne Quay (2000).  Bilingual Acquisition:
>>>  Theoretical Implications of a Case Study. Oxford; New York:  Oxford
>>>  University Press.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Döpke, Susanne (1998).  Can the principle of 'one person-one language' be
>>>  disregarded as unrealistically elitist?. Australian Review of Applied
>>>  Linguistics, 21, 1, 41-56.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Döpke, Susanne (1992).  One Parent, One Language: An Interactional
>>>  Approach.
>>>  Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins Pub. Co.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Fisher, Jeff (JFisher777 at aol.com) is currently doing a qualitative research
>>>  project on a 2 year old that is in a foreign environment and exposed to
>  >> multiple languages.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Genesee, Fred, Johanne Paradis, and Martha B. Crago (2004).  Dual Language
>>>  Development & Disorders:  A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language
>>>  Learners.  Brooks Publishing Company.
>>>
>>>  In chapters 1 and 8 in particular we discuss different choices 
>>>families make
>>>  in how to make their children bilingual, and how to deal with these choices
>>>  if their child presents with a language learning disorder.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Goodz, Naomi S. (1994). Interactions between parents and children in
>>>  bilingual families. Educating second language children: the whole 
>>>child, the
>>>  whole curriculum, the whole community, ed. by F. Genesee, 62-81. Cambridge:
>>>  CUP.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Grammont ???
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Harding-Esch, E. and P. Riley. 2003. The bilingual family: a handbook for
>>>  parents. Cambridge: CUP.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Lüdi, Georges & Bernard Py, ÊTRE BILINGUE, 2e.  édition revue, Peter
>  >> Lang,
>>>  Éditions scientifiques européennes, Bern 2002
>>>
>>>  Not really about parents strategies, but a VERY good book about 
>>>Bilingualism
>>>  (in French).
>>>
>>>  Myles, Carey (2003).  Raising Bilingual Children:  A Parent's Guide.   Los
>>>  Angeles:  Parent's Guide Press. (www.pgpress.com)
>>>
>>>  An additional parents' guide which is good, especially strong on 
>>>considering
>>>  the viewpoints of the children, as heritage learners.   It helps especially
>>>  in setting goals that are satisfying rather than frustrating.   Author's
>>>  Iranian emigree background is illuminating, and just a little different.
>>>  Good on issues of learning to read different scripts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Noguchi, M. (1996): â*œThe bilingual parent as model for the bilingual
>>>  childâ*.
>>>  Policy Science (this is a Japanese journal). Mar 1996. 245-61.
>>>
>>>  Studies Japanese-English families living in Japan (mostly the families of
>>>  linguists and language teachers).  Noguchi suggests that the rigid
>>>  consistency that caregivers are striving for in the one person-one language
>>>  strategy may lead to "emotional strain or communication problems in the
>>>  family".  From her survey of Japanese-English bilingual caregivers, 79% (or
>>>  42 out of 53) of caregivers using the one person-one language policy listed
>>>  problems with its use.  These include the perception that the policy is
>>>  "impolite or alienating" when used in the presence of non-speakers of the
>>>  language, difficulties with adherence when living with extended 
>>>families who
>>>  are Japanese monolinguals, and increasing difficulties with insistence on
>>>  the use of English to communicate with the English-speaking caregiver after
>>>  these children attend Japanese-medium schools. In order to overcome some of
>>>  these problems, she advocates that the bilingual caregiversâ*™ roles would
>>>  be
>>>  better served if they can see themselves as "models of bilingualism and
>>>  biculturalism" rather than "models of single languages".  This can be
>>>  achieved by a more flexible use of language where languages are alternated
>>>  according to needs and circumstances.  E.g., parents can teach children new
>>>  vocabulary in two languages at the same time to support the child's
>>>  bilingual development.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Romaine, Suzanne (1995). Bilingualism.  Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, 
>>>Mass., USA :
>>>  Blackwell.
>>>
>>>  This was the book most people referred me to in their responses. 
>>>One person
>>>  describes this as "Gives a general overview of language strategies used to
>>>  raise bilingual children.  She grouped the various strategies 
>>>used under six
>>>  broad types, of which the one person-one language policy is the first."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  Ronjat, Jules (1913). Le développement du langage observé chez un enfant
>>>  bilingue.  Paris : H. Champion.  (not sure if this is the reference
>>>  mentioned above???)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  See, Hazel (g0300901 at nus.edu.sg):  I recently presented a paper 
>>>at the Sixth
>>>  General Linguistics Conference held in Santiago de Compostela titled "The
>>>  mixed languages policy as a viable alternative to the one person-one
>>>  language policy: a case study". If you're interested, I can send you a copy
>>>  of my paper.
>>>
>  >>
>>>
>>>  Zentella, Ana Celia (1997).  Growing Up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children In
>>>  New York. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>


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