1 language learning in early childhood preview

Childhood bilingualism
The language development of children who learn multiple languages during
childhood is of enormous importance throughout the world. Indeed, the
majority of the world’s children are exposed to more than one language.
Some children learn multiple languages from earliest childhood; others
acquire additional languages when they go to school. The acquisition and
maintenance of more than one language can open doors to many personal,
social, and economic opportunities. It is noteworthy that both the CHILDES
and MB-CDI databases include information about children learning more
than one language in early childhood (see 
Cross-cultural research
).
Unfortunately, as Jim Cummins (2000) and others have said, and as was
pointed out above, children who already know one or more languages and
who arrive at their first day of school without an age-appropriate knowledge
of the language of the school have often been misdiagnosed as having
language delays or disorders. This includes immigrant and minority-language
children who do not speak the school language at home and children who
speak a different variety of the school language. These children’s knowledge
of a different language or language variety is often incorrectly interpreted as
a lack of normal language development and a lack of background knowledge
for school subjects. They may be placed in remedial or special education
classes because schools are not equipped to provide an adequate assessment
of the children’s ability to use their home language, their general cognitive
abilities, or their knowledge of school subjects that they have learned through
another language. Researchers have made important progress in providing

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guidelines that can help educators distinguish between disability and
diversity (Paradis, Genesee, & Crago, 2011), but much practical work
remains to be done so that children can make the most of their cognitive and
linguistic abilities. Cristina Sánchez-López and Theresa Young (2018)
provide valuable guidance, especially for parents and teachers of children
with special educational needs who are learning more than one language in
pre-school and the early school years. With thoughtful planning and
cooperation among families and educators, it is possible to provide
appropriate inclusive educational opportunities for all children (Smith et al.,
2018).
Children who learn more than one language from earliest childhood are
referred to as ‘simultaneous bilinguals’, whereas those who learn another
language later may be called ‘sequential bilinguals’. We sometimes hear
people express the opinion that it is too difficult for children to cope with two
languages. They fear that the children will be confused or will not learn either
language well. However, there is little support for the myth that learning
more than one language in early childhood is a problem for children who
have adequate opportunities to use each one. On the contrary, there is a
considerable body of research on children’s ability to learn more than one
language in their earliest years. Although some studies show minor early
delays in one or both languages for simultaneous bilinguals, there is no
evidence that learning two languages has a substantial negative long-term
effect on their linguistic development or interferes with cognitive
development. It is of course important to acknowledge that creating the
conditions for family bilingualism is not always easy. Children sometimes
resist the use of a language that is not spoken by their friends and playmates
in the larger community. Parents may find it easier to use one language,
especially in the company of those who do not speak the other language. It
may be hard to find books and games to reinforce the learning of a minority
language in the home. But there is more and more guidance and support
available for parents for whom the acquisition of more than one language is
important. Anikka Bourgogne (2014) and Barbara Zurer Pearson (2008) are
examples of writers who know both the research on bilingualism and the day-
to-day experiences of parents who have embarked on this journey.
Many children attain high levels of proficiency in both languages. Ellen
Bialystok (2001) and other cognitive and developmental psychologists have
found convincing evidence that achieving bilingual proficiency can have

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positive effects on abilities that are related to academic success, such as
metalinguistic awareness. Limitations that may be observed in the language
of bilingual individuals are more likely to be related to the circumstances in
which each language is learned than to any limitation in the human capacity
to learn more than one language. For example, if one language is heard much
more often than the other or is more highly valued in the community, that
language may eventually be used better than, or in preference to, the other.
One aspect of bilingual language use is referred to as code switching—the
use of words or phrases from more than one language within a conversation.
For example, a child who speaks both French and English might say, ‘I’m
playing with le château’. Such switching between languages may sometimes
reflect the absence of a particular vocabulary word or expression, but it can
just as often be the intentional use of a word from the other language for a
variety of interactional purposes. Highly proficient adult bilinguals also code
switch when they speak to others who also know both languages. The use of
both languages within a bilingual context is not evidence of a lack of
proficiency. It may have many different motivations, from expressing
solidarity to making a joke. Psychologists have shown that speakers of more
than one language are constantly making choices about how to express
themselves and that code switching is patterned and often predictable.
Indeed, this experience in making choices has been identified as contributing
to cognitive flexibility throughout life (Bialystok, 2009). As we will see, code
switching is just one of the ways that bilingual and multilingual individuals
make use of their linguistic resources.
As children learn a second language at school, they need to learn both the
variety of language that children use among themselves (and in informal
settings with familiar adults) and the variety that is used in academic settings.
In his early research on childhood bilingualism, Jim Cummins (2000) called
these two varieties BICS (basic interpersonal communication skills) and
CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency). Characteristics of the two
varieties overlap to a certain extent, but there are important differences, not
just in the range of vocabulary that each requires but also in the way
information is expressed. Luciana de Oliveira and Mary Schleppegrell (2015)
have contributed to our understanding of what characterizes the language and
interaction patterns of academic discourse. Their research in classrooms helps
to explain why children need more time to acquire the vocabulary, grammar,

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and interaction patterns of academic language than they need to acquire the
informal language of day-to-day interaction.
When children start school with little or no knowledge of the language
spoken there, they may acquire BICS within a relatively short time—as little
as a year or two. They learn from watching and imitating interactions among
their peers and between teachers and students. They make connections
between frequently heard words and phrases and the routines and recurring
events of the classroom, cafeteria, and playground. For this reason, students
are sometimes perceived as ‘fluent’ in their L2. This can lead teachers to
assume that any difficulties in academic tasks are not due to limited language
skills but to other causes—from lack of motivation to learning disabilities.
More careful observation shows that the students, while fluent in social
settings, do not have the CALP skills needed for academic tasks such as
understanding a problem in mathematics, defining a word, or writing a
science report.
Virginia Collier (1989) found that, for most students, acquiring age-
appropriate CALP takes several years. As the L2 learner tries to catch up, the
children who came to school already speaking the school language are
continuing to learn hundreds of new words every year and to learn the
concepts that these words represent. If L2 learners have limited knowledge of
the school language and do not have opportunities to continue learning
academic content in a language they already know, it is not surprising that
they fall behind in learning the academic subject matter that their peers have
continued to develop.
Children need time to develop their L2 skills. Many people assume that this
means that the best approach is to start learning as early as possible and to
avoid the use of the child’s previously learned languages. Certainly, it is
important for children to begin learning and using the school language as
early as possible, but considerable research suggests that continued
development of the child’s home language actually contributes in the long
term to more successful acquisition of the school language. Researchers and
educators have expressed concern about situations where children are cut off
from their family language when they are very young, spending long hours
away from their families in settings where the home language is absent or
even forbidden. Lily Wong Fillmore (2000) observed that when children are
‘submerged’ in a different language for long periods in pre-school or day

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care, their development of the family language may be slowed down or
stalled before they have developed an age-appropriate proficiency in the new
language. Eventually they may stop speaking the family language altogether,
and this loss of a common language can lead to significant social and
psychological problems.
Wallace Lambert (1987) called the loss of one language on the way to
learning another