Advise for Spanish-English bilingual family adopting a 9-year-old Russian girl

[Emily Rusnak]

Hi Maria,

As someone who adopted an older child from the foster care system in the
US, I might suggest that the family also look seriously into mental health
services for the child. Older children often have complex issues that do
not present themselves before or at placement (the honeymoon period).  I
have known many families adopting older children from orphanages that later
regret not having addressed the mental health piece early and often, as
they were much more (rightfully so) focused on language acquisition and
transitioning the child to a new culture.  Child mental health outcomes
appear to be connected with the number of traumas experienced by the child,
as well as the number of placements before adoption.

Just my two cents! Language was a huge concern for us as well on placement,
as our daughter was very delayed with language skills. However, she
ultimately picked up language skills quickly as her delays were secondary
to environmental risk, not a true language disorder. We did not have the
second/third language issue, but we did have a substantial dialect shift
with which to contend.

I hope their placement goes smoothly and successfully--


Emily Rusnak
Assistant Professor
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403


On Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 8:31 PM, Blume, Maria <mblume at utep.edu> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues:
>
> A friend of mine is adopting a 9 year-old Russian girl. The family lives
> in El Paso, TX. The family language is Spanish and the language the child
> would be schooled in would be primarily English.
>
> They are planning to home school her for the some months until she adapts
> to the family and the language change, and have her tested in Russian first
> to see how she is doing cognitively and linguistically since this is a
> child who has spent many years in an orphanage. The family is learning
> Russian but obviously their Russian is very basic. They have found a
> Russian speaker here at our university who can help tutor her in English
> and there is a chance they may find a Russian-Spanish bilingual in nearby
> Ciudad Juárez to help with Spanish.
>
> In principle they do not want to change the home language from Spanish to
> English. The mother asked me for advice but I do not have much experience
> in late childhood trilingualism. I advised that since the child is going to
> stay at home at first, Spanish should be introduced first so that she feels
> comfortable in the home environment and later could English  be introduced.
>
> Could you please give me your advise so that I can tell the mother on
>
> Should they introduce one language first or both at the same time?
> What would be indicators that the child is ready for the second language
> if they introduce one first?
> Any bibliography suited for university-educated parents who are not
> experts in language (mother is a translator, the father is a doctor) or any
> practical tips?
>
> Thanks in advance for your responses
>
> María
>
> María Blume
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Languages and Linguistics
> Liberal Arts Building, Room 119
> University of Texas at El Paso
> El Paso, TX 79968
> mblume at utep.edu
> 915-747-6320
>
> Director of the UTEP Language Acquisition and Linguistics Research Lab
> Liberal Arts Building, Room 111
> University of Texas at El Paso
> El Paso, TX 79968
> 915-747-7024
>
>
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