Multilingualism

Dual language learners are children learning two or more languages at the same time, as well as those learning a second language while continuing to develop their first (or home) language (Dual language learning, 2008). The number of children being raised in bilingual homes is large and growing, however the mechanism of language development in children from bilingual homes is not well described or understood (Hoff et al., 2011). A large body of research has refuted the opinion that dual language input may confuse children, and other research indicates that children exposed to two languages can distinguish those languages from infancy, learn two phonological systems, two vocabularies and two grammars (Kova´cs & Mehler, 2009a; Petitto,

Simultaneous Bilingualism is the development of both the first and second language at the same time, typically before the age of 3. Many factors must be taken into account when describing the effectiveness of simultaneous bilingualism, such as the age in which the child beings to learn both languages, the degree to which the two languages differ, and the environment in which both languages are encouraged and nurtured, which Owens says is the most crucial aspect to the development of simultaneous bilingualism (Owens, 2016). There are typically 3 steps to the development of simultaneous bilingualism.

With successive bilingualism a child has the advantage of their first language as a base. They use this to both analyze and develop the second.  For example, the child knows that language is organized in a particular order.  The more mature a child is they also have a better vocabulary base, acoustic perception, and comprehension. Therefore they would make fewer errors in a second language.

Bilingualism is the ability to communicate in two different languages. Bilingual education is the use of two different languages in classroom instruction. According to the Encyclopedia of Children’s Health, and many other researchers, “languages are learned the easiest during a child’s youngest years. Therefore, when a child is growing up in a bilingual home or is receiving bilingual education, can easily speak both languages. Children who grow up in a household where two languages are spoken, usually acquire both languages simultaneously. Although their ability quality and skill of each language may be somewhat slower than a child that is

Bilingualism is the ability to speak and understand two different languages. You don’t have to speak both languages fluently to be considered bilingual; most people will still have a dominant language. People used to think that learning a second language is something you can do only when you get older.

(2006)). In his article Kluger (2013) suggests that a person who learns two languages as a child might have a cognitive advantage. According to him, a bilingual brain may not be more intelligent, but it is more adaptable. He says people start learning languages earlier than delivery. The baby can hear her/his mother’s voice before birth, and when they are born they are already familiar with the language. He mentions that one study found that if a baby’s mother is monolingual, the baby only sucked his pacifier more vigorously when he heard English, while the baby with a bilingual mother sucked harder when they heard either language spoken by the parent. Vigorous sucking indicates the child is stimulated. These findings show that babies can figure out they are hearing different languages. Also, when they hear these languages their responses are different.

There are many factors that influence a bilingual’s position. One of the most important factors in determining fluency is the age. Scholars state that the best time to learn a language is after the age of one and before puberty. During this time, children will become fluent without requiring any extra instruction. However, “the child gets to adolescence, the harder it becomes for this ease of fluency to be accomplished” (Hagen 45). The most famous study to demonstrate the importance of age in learning multiple languages was done by Eric Lenneberg. He discovered that children who developed aphasia under the age of eight almost always made a full recovery and were able to speak fluently and continue

Learning a foreign language has always held a higher prestige than speaking one language in one’s community, where it is important to maintain one’s native language, Einar Haugen stated that, “Bilingualism has been treated as a necessary evil, a rash on the body politic, which might be expected to cure without the need of calling in the doctors…,” (Haugen, 1952, pg. 2). In the English-only outlook, English acts as a social glue that holds the nation together, in which state sponsored bilingual services removes incentives to learn English and keep immigrants out of the mainstream. It is not enough for immigrants to learn English, they must also renounce their native tongue, where in their eyes bilingualism is regarded to as divided loyalties. In reality however, bilingual education holds much academic value, where acquiring another language is regarded to as a necessity for future work, travel and personal relations. Students who are fluent in different languages work together and aid one another

Babies and young children pick up languages easily. They can learn how to speak just by listening to adults. When babies learn two languages they do it just as quickly as it would take them to learn one language. Bilingual babies could tell the difference between two words at the same time. Their brains were trained to do this because they had been exposed to two languages at home. Being bilingual makes the brain more flexible and strengths your ability. It is easy to learn a language before age 7.

Generally speaking, language development is never a static process; it is rather a process that is forever evolving. One can compare this to the physical development of a child, in the first three years the developments are incredibly rapid. There are a number of factors that possibly affect the speed of development of a bilingual child, they

According to Crago, Genesee, and Paradis (2011), amount of second language exposure at home, school, and the community is critical for language development (p.84). This means that it is important for bilingual children to be exposed to an environment where it supports their language development and makes an impact to their development trajectories. As children become familiar to more than one language, they also start having communicated proficiency errors in the way they talk with others (Crago et al., 2011, p.115). For example, grammatical morphemes and language mixing are some errors children make. Children also become familiar with another language depending on the help they get from their psychological and social factors. Another thing

It's scientifically comproved that kids whose parents expose them to speak two different languages during childhood, tend to show better response to brain activities diverging from monolingual kids. One article written by one of the most recognized colleges in the United states said that it happens due to the fact that kids' right brain side is more receptive to new information in a period that goes from the age of 6 months to 5 years. Kids that are stimulated to speak two different languages since a very early age have more precise mental skills due to the fact that their brains is constantly working to deal with all the information received all the time. One interesting fact about bilingual kids is called " code switch" which is a natural

I will not be able to answer all of you personally, but there are many misconceptions about bilingualism that I would like to address today. Many people are afraid that learning two different languages will confuse children, and that their child will not be able to distinguish between two languages. However, after 6 months, infants are already able to distinguish between two fairly similar languages, such as Dutch and French, and directly after birth, they can already distinguish between two very different languages such as English and Chinese. So, there is no reason to be afraid that learning 2 languages will confuse your children at the same time. Also, many parents come up to me and ask if bilingualism delays speaking for the child. This seems to be something that people believe, but it is not true at all. Of course, children develop at different rates and some may speak earlier or better than others, but this has nothing to do with

To begin with, bilingualism is a term which is not used in a regular way between researchers and theoreticians. For example Macnamara (1967; cited in Cummins and Swain, 1986:07) defines bilinguals as those have at least one of the skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) even to a lower degree in their second language. At the other end of the scale Oestreicher (1974; cited in Cummins and Swain, 1986:07) defines bilinguals as those who show “complete mastery of two different languages without interference”. According to Bloomfield (1933; cited in Romaine, 1989:10) bilingualism is a “native like control of two languages”, it is the ability to speak two languages perfectly. Furthermore, bilingualism was analyzed into four levels in another paper: individual, family, societal, and school levels (McCarty, 2010).

A natural language is an extremely complex and varied phenomenon and very different from both other human cognitive functions and animal communication according to Zuidema (2015). Wei (2000, p.18) perceives bilingualism and multilingualism as “having a determined effect on the human being’s intellectual and spiritual growth”. That is to say, language has always opened the door to investigate and explore complicated biological and cultural phenomena. Part of such phenomena is bilingualism and multilingualism. Grosjean (1982, p. 1) maintains that bilingualism is practically present in every country of the world and throughout all classes of society and age groups, adding that it is difficult to find a society that is genuinely monolingual.