Bilingualism in a Monolingual Environment

Sami Grover, Editor - The Bilingual Family Newsletter

As the editor of the Bilingual Family Newsletter, a quarterly publication giving advice and support to bi/multilingual families, I often receive correspondence from parents concerned about potential negative effects of bringing children up with two or more languages. Will a child's development be impaired by the "burden" of two languages? What are the likely effects of a bilingual upbringing on a child's literacy skills? Won't two languages in one household cause domestic strife? What about the attitudes of school/ health care professionals/ the wider community – will the child not be singled out as being different or unusual? All of these are legitimate concerns, particularly in societies that still considers monolingualism to be the norm (in reality, the majority of the worlds population is bi/multilingual to some degree). It can often feel that we are expecting a lot by suggesting that a child can or should learn more than one language when they are already faced with the usual challenges that every child faces when growing up. This situation is not helped by the fact that many "experts" - teachers, healthcare professionals etc are not aware of the most up-to-date research on bi/multilingualism and its effects.

Despite the temptation to worry about the negative impacts, the good news is that, in the vast majority of cases, a bi/multilingual upbringing should pose few problems - in fact there are very real benefits, both social and developmental, fewwhich have been attributed to bilingualism. Not only will most bi/multilingual children grow up without any major disadvantage - with the right preparation and support, a multilingual upbringing can actually give them a slight learning advantage over their monolingual peers. Researchers have shown that the process of learning and understanding in more than one language can lead to a slightly enhanced ability to think creatively. As Prof. Colin Baker, a leading expert in the field and father of three bilingual children, explains in A Parents and Teachers Guide to Bilingualism:

"Bilingual children have two or more words for each object and idea (e.g. "kitchen" in English and "cuisine" in French). This means that the link between a word and its concept is usually looser. Sometimes corresponding words in different languages have different connotations. For example "kitchen" in English has traditionally been a place of hard work (as in the phrase "tied to the kirtchen sink"). The French concept of "cuisine" is a place of creativity, a place where the family congregate, not only to eat, but also to socialise. […] When slightly different associations are attached to each word, the bilingual may be able to think more fluently, flexibly and creatively." 1

Recently, there has even been some research suggesting that learning extra languages at a young age can physically alter the brain in the same way as exercise builds muscles. A study conducted at University College London revealed that the density of grey matter in particular parts of the brain was greater in speakers of two languages than in those who only spoke one. The effect was particularly noticeable in early bilinguals.2

Aside from the cognitive and neurological benefits outlined above, there are numerous positive social, cultural and emotional effects that have been attributed to bi/multilingualism. The first, and most obvious, is in situations where an ability to speak two or more languages can enhance communication between family members. This might be in an intercultural marriage, where the child’s ability to speak their mother or father’s language may allow for a closer emotional bond to develop. Many (although by no means all) parents feel that they express their inner most emotions effectively and honestly in their native tongue and addressing their children in a second language can feel unnatural or "cold". Bilingualism can also enhance the ability of a child to communicate across generational gaps, for example enabling children to communicate with grandparents or other relatives. This can allow access to the child’s "other" culture. In my own case, and ability to speak Finnish allowed my brother and I to spend extended periods of time in Finland with our grandparents, even attending the local primary school. This allowed us to form an important bond with the Finnish side of our family and to begin to develop a truly multicultural identity. Colin Baker also argues that bilingualism in individuals can have a positive benefit effect for wider society, as the more informed/ understanding individuals are about other cultures, the less racism and intolerance there is likely to be. Finally, he argues, knowledge of more than one language can also be an important asset in an increasingly competitive job market. 3

Given the benefits outlined above, it would be tempting to see bi/multilingualism as simply a given in intercultural families. Why, you may ask, if the benefits are so clear cut, would anyone not want to bring their children up bilingually? I would not want, however, to present an overly rosy picture of the multilingual life. Any family embarking on the journey towards multilingualism should be aware that it can be a mammoth project. Constant observation and effort is required to ensure that children receive enough input in all languages, whether from family members, school, the outside environment, books and other media or community groups/ play schemes /Saturday schools etc. At times children may refuse to speak a particular language, or their competence in a particular language will drop as another language begins to dominate for one reason or another. With a combination of determination, guidance and support, most, if not all families have the potential to be bi/multilingual and, if it would be of benefit in their particular circumstances, it would seem a sensible thing to encourage. It should be noted, however, that some families that one might expect to become bilingual do not reach a state of full bilingualism. This may be because they embark on the project but, due to a lack of support or guidance, they find the going "too tough". Others simply feel that it is not a big priority for them – many parents living in a non mother-tongue environment feel perfectly happy to converse with their child in the majority language. Some, for example, may have left their native country/culture for a good reason and may have negative associations to their mother tongue – they may consciously prefer using the language of their partner, or the surrounding environment. It should also be remembered, that there may be a few rare instances where bilingualism may not be advisable, or should be approached with caution. It has been suggested, for example, that whilst many international adoptees stand to benefit enormously from a bilingual upbringing that embraces their birth culture, some children may have some negative feelings towards the language of their birth parents. Hearing that particular language may trigger memories of neglect or abuse – possibly even setting off symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.4 Probably the best advice with this, or with any other concerns about bilingualism, would be to seek professional guidance – but it is vital to ensure that the professionals involved have a good understanding of bilingualism based on the facts, not hearsay. Bad advice can be worse than no advice at all!

For families who have decided to set bi/multilingualism as their goal, the beginning can often be the most daunting task. How does one begin to establish a multilingual environment in the home? What books, toys and other support materials are available? Should the family’s language situation influence the choice of play-groups, child-care or schools? These are all common questions for newcomers to bilingualism. The first thing to say is that there appear to be very few, if any, hard and fast rules. What works excellently for one family in one particular environment may be useless for another family. Probably the most important thing to do is to remain flexible and to be alert to the needs of all family members. It is also important to seek advice when faced with a problem – there are plenty of sources of information out there.

In terms of the home environment, probably the most widely known approach to bilingualism is the One-Parent-One-Language (or One-Person-One-Language as it is also known) approach, often abbreviated to OPOL. As the name suggests, this system involves each parent using a different language with the child, thus insuring that there is input from both languages within the home. Families using this approach often find that they have to be somewhat flexible, for example during family activities where both parents are involved, they may agree that one language becomes the common means of communication. They may also find that the presence of people from outside the family (e.g. school friends) may effect the choice of language. However, I remember our mother using Finnish in front of our school friends. She often got them to join in and learn with us – something many of them still remember today! Finally, some find that their approach to OPOL changes with time – they may be very strict in the beginning when they are establishing the ground rules, but may then relax the rules later and take a more pragmatic approach as to which language is appropriate in which situation..

Whilst OPOL is certainly a widely used system, it is by no means for everybody. It has, for example, been described by some as a rather elitist approach, chosen ‘mainly by parents in a higher socio-economic group.’ Many families vary the language input for their children along different lines. Sometimes OPOL just isn't possible, for example in single parent families, or it may be inappropriate, for example when both parents have a common minority language that they wish to retain as the home language, with the majority language input coming from the outside environment. Also, families bringing their children up trilingually (or even quadralingually!) will obviously face limitations as to how far OPOL can help them in their cause. They may, for example, adopt an OPOL approach within the home with two languages, and allow the child to learn the other language(s) from grandparents, school/playgroups and/or other sources. As with so much else to do with bi/multilingualism, the choice of which languages to use in the home will vary from family to family. The most important thing is that all family members are comfortable with it and that communication can flow freely between them.

Regardless of what methods a family chooses to maintain the language balance within the home, unless the children are home educated, the important question of what school to send the children to will eventually arise. Even before that, parents will often face the decision of whether or not to send them to nursery school and if so, what kind. Given how influential such institutions can be on a child’s upbringing, the choice of nursery school and/or school is a difficult one for any family. Bi/multilingualism adds yet another dimension to the criteria by which such places should be assessed. Will the school/ nursery support my child’s language(s)? Are there other children with the same/similar language background? Does the school have an official language policy? These are all questions to be considered, yet they should not be considered in isolation. It is equally important to assess all the other criteria that make up a good school. Going back to Colin Baker's advice:

"Schools which support children’s bilingualism range from the excellent, to the good, to the tolerable, and include the bad. A bilingual school is no guarantee of an effective school. The ethos of the school, the commitment of the teachers, the success of the school in achieving literacy and numeracy, creativity in the expressive arts, a sound scientific foundation, moral and religious development, a well integrated and harmonious relationship between pupils, effective cooperation with parents are just some of the factors that parents need to consider in deciding upon a suitable school."6

Due to space limitations, it is not possible to discuss all of the different factors that will effect a family’s choice of school/nursery for their children here. I would strongly advise any family facing such decisions to consult the various different guides out there (Colin Baker’s being one) nad to ask as many questions of schools, health care professionals and other parents as you can. However, I will try to provide a brief introduction to some of the issues you may face.

For many families, a fully bilingual school will not be an option. Unless living in an area where your families language mix is widespread, the chances are that your children will be attending a monolingual school. This does not mean, however, that the choice of school will not effect a child's bilingualism. It is vitally important to discuss with the school how it can support a child's bilingualism. Without such support, there is a very real danger that the child can feel that their family language, heritage or culture is not valued. This can have a damaging effect on self-esteem, motivation and, consequently, academic performance. Many schools will be more than willing, however, to help support a family’s bilingualism. Some will have an official policy to do so, although this is in no way a guarantee – talk to other parents about how the schools policy works out in practice! Others, whilst not having an official policy, may be more than happy to discuss the issue. Why not ask if the family’s heritage could not be incorporated into a lesson for the whole class? In my case for example, my mum would occasionally come into our primary school to talk about Finland, often bringing in tradition Finnish gingerbread or some other such treats. Such attention to the family’s cultural background can greatly raise a child’s self esteem, when done sensitively, although it is important to remember that a child of 14 may react differently if his mum comes into the class with a gingerbread house she has just baked for her "little boy"!

In areas where there is a high level of bilingualism for one reason or another, there may be the option of sending children to fully bilingual schools or nurseries. Depending on the specific language and social context, these may take the form of Dual-Language (aka Two-Way Schools, Two-Way Immersion, Developmental Bilingual Education) schools, International schools, Heritage Language schools or Immersion schools. All of the above are methods that are usually aimed at fully supporting a bilingual upbringing. However, it should be noted that this is not the goal of all bilingual education. Some bilingual education programmes are designed with the specific purpose of assimilating minority students into the mainstream, both in terms of language choice and culture. Such education programmes aim for transitional bilingualism where one language is gradually replaced by another. These programmes are nearly always aimed at language minority pupils where the language concerned has a low social status and where there is political and cultural pressure to create a homogenous learning environment (e.g. Asian or Turkish languages in Great Britain, or Spanish in the USA). It has been argued that such systems can undermine the heritage of the pupil, and therefore damage self-esteem and ability to perform academically. For full details of the different approaches to bilingual education, readers would do best to refer to Colin Baker’s Parents and Teachers Guide to Bilingualism and/or one of the other guides for bilingual parents (see resources list below).

The above information may seem overwhelming to parents who are only just embarking on the road to establishing a multilingual family. However, the most important thing to remember is that multilingualism is a perfectly natural state for the human mind. If we look at countries around the world, we can see that bi/multilingualism is in fact the norm, rather than the exception. With support and patience there is no reason why a family should not succeed in creating a truly multilingual environment. After all, a family’s cultural and linguistic heritage should be treasured as an asset, both for the family itself and for wider society. However, this is not to say that such a project is going to be easy. As with any leaning, constant observation, input and encouragement are required, particularly if surrounded by a (seemingly) monolingual environment. It is important to remember that you are not alone. Seek out others in similar situations, whether in your locality (playgroups, Saturday schools, mother and toddler groups etc), or in the virtual world through the internet or publications such as the Bilingual Family Newsletter. If you run into problems, do not be afraid to seek advice from professionals, making sure, of course, that they are well informed about the latest research on bi/multilingualism and language acquisition. Above all, make sure that you enjoy your multilingual life together – a families language strategy should not be aimed at multilingualism as an ultimate goal in itself, but rather as a means to a happy and fulfilled life together.

Useful Publications

A Parents and Teachers Guide to Bilingualism – 2nd edition
Colin Baker
ISBN: 1-85359-455-5 List price: £11.95
Available from www.multilingual-matters.com

Language Strategies for Bilingual Families: The One-Parent-One-Language Approach
Suzanne Barron-Hauwert
ISBN: 1-85359-714-7 List Price: £14.95
Available from www.multilingual-matters.com

Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds
David C. Pollock & Ruth E. Van Recken
ISBN: 1-85788-295-4 List Price: US$19.95
Available from Nicholas Brealey/ Intercultural Press
www.interculturalpress.com

The Bilingual Family Newsletter
Editors: Sami Grover & Marjukka Grover
4 x p.a. 1 year subscription: £12.50
Available from www.multilingual-matters.com
For a free sample, email: info@multilingual-matters.com

Websites and Listservs

Multilingual Matters Homepage
Publications relating to bi/multilingualism and language acquisition. Online ordering for titles including: a Parents and Teachers Guide to Bilingualism by Colin Baker, Language Strategies for Bilingual Families by Suzanne Barron Hauwert and The Bilingual Family Newsletter
www.multilingual-matters.com

The Bilingual Families Web Page
http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/biling-fam.phpl

Junior Linguist
www.juniorlinguist.fr

Advice for parents on bilingualism
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multilingualmunchkin