Bilingual: n. expressing oneself fluently and clearly in two languages
Situations:
Both parents speak the same language at home, but their community uses a different language.
(Mostly migrant families.)
The parents speak different languages.
(ex. The mom is Spanish. The dad is French.)
Both parents are fluent in more than one language.
(ex. Both uses Filipino and English at home.
Approaches:
1. The One-parent-one-language/ OPOL Method
• Each parent speaks a different language at home, starting at the infancy period of their child.
(ex. The mother talks to the child only in Filipino, while the father speaks just in English.)
• This is the most effective method, but its success greatly depends on the balance of exposure to both languages. Dedication of both parents are needed.
2. The Minority-language-at-home/ ML@H Method
• This means the language that the family uses isn’t what the majority in their community is speaking (as the method’s name indicates).
• This is most commonly used by migrant families who move to a new country that uses other language.
(ex. Kids would only speak Russian at home, and they would only speak in English anywhere outside their house.)
3. The Time-and-Place Method
• Here, the language used greatly depends on the time and place.
(ex. At grandma’s house, they speak in Chinese, and at home, they speak in English.)
• It could be seasonal approach, when another language is used during weekends or summer vacation.
• This is also the approach that is used in bilingual schools.
(ex. The class speak Filipino in their Fil. class on Tuesdays and Fridays at a certain time.)
4. Mixed Language Policy/ MLP
• The language used depends on a situation.
(ex. The family uses English in talking about books they read or movies they watch together, but talks in Filipino to discuss other things.)
5. Two Parents, Two Languages/ 2P2L
• Both parents are bilinguals and using both languages at all times.
Benefits:
(Aside from the fact that they could communicate with more people and will have more job opportunities in the future...)
Research shows that when kids are exposed to several languages, they have more:
- cognitive flexibility - ability to switch languages back and forth
- cognitive abilities needed in academic success
- good problem-solving skills
- creativity skills
“Babies born into bilingual homes change the focus of their attention more quickly and more frequently than babies in homes where only one language is spoken, according to new research published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.”
Debunked Research:
• Some studies in the past said that early exposure to more than one language is not beneficial for children.
• Other research says learning two or more languages sometimes results in slightly slower language development compared with monolingual children.
Recent studies say otherwise.
Our Chosen Approach
We tried to use OPOL and 2P2L, but we found it hard to be consistent, so when it comes to our family dynamics, it’s most convenient for us to use the MLP approach. We speak in Filipino most of the time, but whenever we read books, play games/ educational apps, or watch a video together, we use English. We’re sure that our child will easily pick English up outside our home, so we focus more on exposing her to our native language as much as we can.
I also noticed that most of my students who speak in Filipino at home don’t have any difficulty learning English. Kids in English-speaking only families are showing otherwise.
Anyway, to make sure your child has balanced exposure to both languages, here are some useful tips:
- Learning through play.
• Play games that focus on language, like “I Spy’, “Simon Says”, etc.
• Use songs in that language.
• Read a lot of books with them.
• Use their hobbies and interests in choosing what games to play.
- Live interaction is still the best way to nurture a bilingual brain.
According to numerous studies, watching TV/ videos, playing video games, or using talking toys don’t have any impact on their language development, when they do these activities alone.
Doing these activities together and making these interactive could be an option.
- Say what you see and what you do.
ex. “Bunny is eating.” “The ball is sliding!” “I’m putting our dirty clothes in the washing machine.”
You could turn it into a conversation eventually.
- Make sure that both parents at least understand both languages, so that noone is ever excluded from any family conversation.
Children seem to have a little interest in a language that isn’t understood by one of the family members.
Make sure to meet your child at his or her level for sure success.
Linguists say that bilingual children have the tendency to reverse word order or mix languages in a sentence, but what’s more important is their comprehension. This is called “code switching”, which is a sign that their brains are mastering both languages.
Make corrections subtle and gentle, so that a child doesn't feel discouraged.
What about you? What method have you finally chosen for your child/children?
Resources:
•https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200225221348.htm
•https://www.theresearchmama.com/blog/2019/8/14/4-things-to-know-when-raising-a-bilingual-child
•https://www.mothermag.com/creating-a-bilingual-home/
•https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/bilingual-families.html
•https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/faq-raising-bilingual-children