I have loved all the discussion to date. I want to add a little bit as a researcher of bilngual speech sound development and disorder. <br><br>I think we have to be careful about separating out the child who is a circumstantial bilingual from an elective bilingual when we decide "how many" languages. If a child needs one/two/three/ten languages to function in their communication environment, then that child needs to learn those languages, regardless of their communication disorder. There is published research (Genesee, Paradis, & Crago) showing that a bilingual child with a language disorder continues to show language growth in both languages. The child still has a language disorder - a core difficulty in language - but still continues to grow in language skills in both environments. To paraphrase Kathryn Kohnert, language disorders are not caused by bilingualism, nor are they cured by monolingualism. In fact, by trying to control the language environment of a circumstantial bilingual - say turn them into monolingual English child when their parents speak one or two other languages at home - you are depriving them of communication opportunities, depleting the richness of their language environment. Not a good idea if what the child is already struggling from is a difficulty in acquiring language syntax/grammar/phonology - more exposure is important, not less. If a child speaks English with their parents but Spanish with the extended family every weekend, do you really want to take away Spanish? That child will be cut off from Spanish communication situations for the rest of their life. Relationships with family members, cultural subtleties that are lost if you can't understood what's said. Not a good idea for someone with a communication disorder. <br>
<br>For me the question still not answered is the elective bilingual. For example, a child from an English-only home in the United States. You can get by just fine as a monolingual English speaker in the US. If a child is identified with a communication disorder, is it wise to put them in a bilingual school - if that 2nd language is purely elective (parents don't speak it, for instance). We may want children to achieve the most possible and we may want to introduce them to that 2nd language during that (elusive) critical period0, but if language learning is a struggle, do we want to put them in an environment that they will likely struggle in, so that one day they will be bilingual? This is an individualized decision every parent must make in these elective situations. If it were MY child, I would give them as language-rich an environment in what is needed functionally for my child, then later - once English is stronger - introduce a 2nd or even 3rd language. But not initially. Elective bilingualism in children with communication disorders is an area waiting for further research...<br>
<br>Best, Christina<br><br><br>***********<br>Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann, Ph.D., CCC-SLP<br>Associate Professor & Graduate Adviser<br>Speech and Hearing Sciences Department<br>Portland State University<br>Neuberger Hall 85 <br>
PO Box 751<br>Portland, Oregon 97027-0751<br><br>Physical Address: Neuberger Hall 73<br><br>503.725.3230<br><a href="mailto:cegn@pdx.edu" target="_blank">cegn@pdx.edu</a><br><br><br>On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 10:21 AM, Bruno Estigarribia <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:brunilda@gmail.com">brunilda@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Of course, I misspelled Mark's last name *sigh*, it's "Liberman".<br>
Apologies.<br><font color="#888888">
Bruno</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I thought briefly about opening a new thread for this, but I think it<br>
would be overkill.<br>
See Mark Lieberman's post today on language log about multilingualism<br>
and Alzheimer's. <a href="http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3175" target="_blank">http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3175</a><br>
In the end, as many have said, for all the ways in which language is a<br>
formal construct, language is also functional. If you live in a<br>
multilingual environment, what are you going to do? The question is<br>
almost moot.<br>
Bruno Estigarribia<br>
UNC Chapel Hill<br>
<br>
On May 9, 11:20 am, Miquel Serra<<a href="mailto:miquel.se...@ub.edu" target="_blank">miquel.se...@ub.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Dear Parisa<br>
Bilingulism is both, a situation to which a family has to (functionally)<br>
adapt and a project for the children to fullfill. It is not (only) a<br>
desire of parents or politicians (and academics).<br>
Adaptation depends on many factors and circumstances. And a project depends on long distance goals and means for them. If one is fucntional<br>
and has clear goals, there is no problem. But it is more important for<br>
the children to admire a culture than to be pressed to learn a distant<br>
language.<br>
Miquel Serra<br>
U Barcelona, Catalonia<br>
</blockquote></blockquote>
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