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Language Development in Bilingual Preschool Children
by Nora Huynh Kitchen
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Overview
When children enter preschool, they come from a variety of different language backgrounds. Some are monolingual, having spoken one language all their lives. Others are from monolingual homes of a different language than what is spoken in preschool. Some may come from households or environments where two are more languages are used. Depending on when children are exposed to their second language, the language development of bilingual preschool children may differ from that of their monolingual peers.
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Background
Children who are born into a bilingual environment or who begin learning their second language (L2) before the age of three are considered simultaneous language learners. These children will develop both languages at around the same rate and through the same stages as monolingual speakers. Children exposed to their L2 after turning three are considered sequential learners and will develop their second language differently.
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Stages
There are four stages of sequential language learning in children. In the first stage, children discover that they cannot communicate in their first language (L1). Many still continue trying to make others understand their L1, but eventually they will give up and begin stage two, the nonverbal stage. During stage two, children develop their listening skills by observing the L2 without talking. They may quietly test the sounds of the L2 on their own, but communication with others is done entirely by gesture. In stage three, children begin speaking again, saying one- to three-word-long phrases. These phrases are often sets of content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs), or are repetitions of phrases the child has heard others use. By the fourth stage, children start to better understand the grammar of their L2. They rely less on repeating memorized phrases and begin producing short sentences of their own.
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Progress
The stages that sequential learners go through are different than those experienced by monolingual speakers and simultaneous language learners. Sequential learners gain proficiency in their L2 at a slower speed. The time period that children spend in each sequential learner stage is unpredictable and varies widely by individual. Some may only make it to the second stage during preschool, while others may seem to skip stages altogether. The boundaries between the stages are not strict, and children may sometimes seem to relapse and use techniques from previous stages although they have already moved on to higher stages.
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Effects
Children who go to a preschool that speaks their L2 tend to learn the L2 faster than those who do not. Monolingual preschool does not usually affect L1 development much; however, children in dual-language preschools show greater improvement in both languages compared to children out of preschool. While bilingual children often enter preschool with lower literary abilities than their monolingual peers and still lag behind after half a year of schooling, by the end of a year in preschool, bilingual children have usually caught up with monolinguals in auditory comprehension and are beginning to catch up in vocabulary. This is true even of those children who initially had lower abilities because of lack of practice with the L2 at home.
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Concerns
If L1 knowledge begins to weaken at school, especially before the L2 has had time to develop, bilinguals may appear to be behind monolinguals in both their L1 and L2. It will often resolve once the child is able to learn more of the L2. Bilingual children may also mix words and phrases from languages together. This is a practice common through bilinguals of all ages and should not be considered a problem of confusing the L1 and L2.
