[lg policy] Myths of Multilingual Families

Sat Nov 13 18:25:03 UTC 2010

In some families, children become bilingual. When a child interacts  
with one or more caretakers in a language on a regular basis, he or  
she learns to use that language. The key to learning languages in the  
home?whether one, two, or even more?is interaction. Interaction  
involves speaking and listening. In many intercultural families,  
however, children do not become bilingual. Simply gaining exposure to  
a language is not sufficient for a child to learn the language. For  
example, a child may grow up hearing parents speak a language to each  
other. However, if they never speak to the child in that language, the  
child can hear the language for years and never learn a single word.  
Becoming bilingual requires that children use more than one language,  
and then continue to use them as they grow older.

Here are a few myths that people believe about children and  
bilingualism. Families who intend to raise their children to be  
bilingual will benefit by learning what research shows. Sometimes even  
very well-meaning friends, relatives, and teachers impart language  
myths in attempts to help, but in doing so give faulty advice or have  
concerns that worry caregivers unnecessarily about a child?s language  
development. Here are some common beliefs that research disproves:

1. Myth: As long as my child hears us speaking our language, he will learn it.
Truth: Hearing a language will do nothing for the child?s speaking  
skills, and little to help him understand a language if he isn?t  
required to respond by speaking in the language. For a child to be  
bilingual, he or she needs very frequent practice hearing and speaking  
a language. If hearing a language were sufficient to learn it, then  
second generation immigrants in the United States would always remain  
fluent in the family language. As many immigrant parents know, this  
simply is not the case.

2. Myth: Once my child has learned a language, he or she will never forget it.
Truth: Children often lose languages they do not continue to practice.  
This happens all the time. To be bilingual for life, be sure your  
children continue to practice their languages either with you,  
playmates, other family members, or in close and frequent social  
circles like church or community groups.

3. Myth: My child will always feel proud to know and speak a second language.
Truth: Many adolescents go through a stage when they reject all  
languages except the mainstream language, or the one spoken by most of  
their peers. This is painful for families, but it is a normal stage of  
growth. Families should continue to use the native language with  
children. There are gentle methods parents have used successfully to  
keep children speaking the native language should this occur. As an  
example, a child in the US may tend to temporarily reject his or her  
native language of Spanish. He might say, ?May I go watch a movie with  
a friend tonight?? The parents can gently refuse to answer until the  
child repeats the question in Spanish.

4. Myth: My child can speak two languages with me. We?ll just switch  
when we want.
Truth: In most cases, children eventually speak one language with each  
parent and feel uncomfortable deviating from that language but there  
are exceptions. A child may naturally grow up speaking one language  
with the mother and a different language with the father. When a  
parent speaks more than one native language (such as Hindi and a  
regional dialect in India), a child can learn both provided he or she  
gets sufficient interaction in each. Genuine interaction is a more  
effective way to help children practice a language than randomly  
switching between languages.

5. Myth: Some children are confused by speaking more than one language  
in the home.
Truth: Children who are exposed to more than one language at home may  
speak later than monolingual children. They also may mix the languages  
by inserting a word or grammar construction from one language into a  
sentence in another language. These are natural stages of bilingualism  
in children. Around age three or four, most children have sorted the  
languages and use them on cue with people or in social situations.

6. Myth: My child can always learn my native language later. For now,  
I will help him or her learn the language of the community where we  
live.
Truth: Children learn the language of the community in school and from  
friends. They often lose or reject the minority language of their  
parent. Some parents feel concerned that children will begin  
kindergarten without sufficient practice in the community language. In  
this case, families can enroll children in playgroups, attend social  
functions like church, read stories at home, or play vocabulary games  
to provide practice. The mode of communication with children should be  
the community language only if that is the parent?s first language. At  
home, parents should always communicate with children in the language  
the parents know best; this is critical for a child?s cognitive  
development.

7. Myth: My child will learn my language when he?s older because he?ll  
visit my country.
Truth: First, if a visit is the bulk of the child?s experience in the  
language, he or she is unlikely to develop fluency in the language,  
even if the visit is a long one. If language practice continues after  
a visit of two to three months during which the child is hearing and  
using the target language each day, then this may help the child to  
develop fluency.

8. Myth: Since my children are learning two languages early on, they  
will have native accents in each language.
Truth: Children who grow up speaking one language in the home and  
another in the community tend to have a native sounding accent only in  
the community language. In the home language, usually children develop  
an accent.

9. Myth: My children will speak our home language together.
Truth: Siblings eventually speak the language together that they use  
in school. Some families are able to encourage children to speak the  
home language in some situations, such as at the dinner table together  
with parents. However, even in this situation, child siblings tend to  
feel most natural using English (or the language they use in school)  
with each other.

10. Myth: My children will have no problems talking to my family?after  
all, these are their closest relatives.
Truth: Many children are unable to communicate with their grandparents  
due to language barriers. Families who strongly feel children should  
be able to maintain these lines of communication should start early to  
make sure children are interacting in the family language, not just  
hearing parents or grandparents speak it.

Like anyone else, children need practice in a language to develop  
speaking and listening skills, and certainly to develop fluency, in  
any language. It is possible for children to easily and naturally grow  
up bilingually when sufficient support and interaction is given in  
each language the child uses. Even well-meaning family, friends, and  
teachers will give families advice, such as practice the community  
language at home or speak one language on Monday and another on  
Tuesday. Parents should speak the language they know best with  
children, and provide social support and other methods of practice for  
other languages they want children to learn.

http://incultureparent.com/2010/10/multilingual-families-monolingual-children/

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