Introduction
The idea that exposing young children to two or more languages at once is beneficial for their language development is quite debatable. The topic is opposed by both questions and evidence that prove how exposing children to more than one language delays language development. However, it is important to understand that the topic covers a specific type of baby, normal. Abnormal children may or may not experience difficulties in language development when exposed to one language. However, studies have proven that such children do not do well in a multilingual setting. This paper covers a discussion of supporting and concerning arguments about the topic. The conclusion of the discussion is however meant to prove that exposing normal babies to a multilingual environment is beneficial. Although it is a good policy to simultaneously expose normal babies to many languages, it is specifically based on factors such as the timing, quality, and quantity of the language, and other factors.
The Timing of Languages Introduction
It is only easy and beneficial if babies are introduced to more than one language immediately after birth. Scientists show that unborn children can understand their mothers’ language (Piller & Gerber, 2018). When they are born, infants can differentiate their mother’s languages from others. They react when a language used by their mother is spoken but fail to recognize and react when a different language is spoken. This means that children can fast learn languages immediately after they are introduced. Consequently, a multilingual family must expose their children to all the languages immediately after they are born for faster and easy learning.
The elasticity and rapid neural formation of babies’ brains make it easy and faster to learn new languages. Scientists call the age before five a critical period for children to learn different languages (Piller & Gerber, 2018). They mention that during this period, a child’s brain is vacuum ready to be filled with the available language. Thus, if a language or more is introduced to children at this age, it is easily absorbed and retained (Piller & Gerber, 2018). Although there are concerns that exposing children to many languages immediately after birth may delay their language development, there is no evidence-based on the timing.
Babies also learn languages faster because of the nature of how language is used towards them. Parents speak differently to children than they speak to adults or teenagers. According to Armon-Lotem and Meir (2019), the models used by parents to speak to children enable them to learn languages faster. Adults tend to speak to children in a slower and higher pitch thus allowing them to understand. They also use emphasis, repetition, and simplified language toward babies (Armon-Lotem & Meir, 2019). Parents also add questions to children’s conversations to gauge their level of comprehension. Implementation of the use of such models ensures that children can understand several languages at once. As children grow into teenagers, parents tend to loosen and fasten the structure of the language used.
The Quality and Quantity of Languages
The quality and quantity of languages exposed to babies are critical factors to adaptation success. Many parents and even experts are concerned that children get confused when two or more languages are taught at a go. In bilingual family settings, children get confused by two languages thus having delayed language development. According to Polinsky and Scontras (2019), children in bilingual immigrant families who grow up hearing a heritage language and local language from the country they are born in often experience language delays. As they grow up, the babies show low levels of skills in both languages. The experts also include that the delay or underdevelopment cannot be fully accounted for by the socio-economic status of the parents. True to these assertions, the confusion is based on the quality and quantity of the languages.
The quality and quantity of languages used by the family members determine how poor or well children will learn the languages. The quality of languages is based on word richness and ascent (Armon-Lotem & Meir, 2019). If some parents poorly pronounce certain words, their children will copy the wrong pronunciation. Thus, parents have to properly or correctly pronounce all words to effectively contribute to their children’s adaptation to the languages. The quantity of used languages is based on how often different languages are used (Armon-Lotem & Meir, 2019). For example, if in a bilingual home setting, say English and French but members often use French, the babies are more likely to adapt to the French. Henceforth, in simultaneous exposure to languages balance of use must be applied. In an English and French family setting, family members must use both languages equally for better babies’ adaptation results.
Immigrant parents are concerned that the introduction of bilinguals negatively affects the language proficiency of children in school. According to Piller and Gerber (2018), one of the immigrants’ parental anxieties is the question of bilingual parenting. In an online parents’ discussion forum, individuals raised their concerns about the later performance of their children who are raised in a bilingual family (Piller & Gerber, 2018). Although parents were excited about their children learning the two or more languages, they feared that their language proficiency would be affected. Although such concerns are valid, exposure to a bilingual learning setting barely affects the proficiency of the languages used. However, the quality and quantity of the languages in a bilingual family setting determine the proficiency. The immigrant parents cannot blame the introduction of different languages but their ability to effectively illustrate them to their children.
Family members who often mix codes will also have their children mix two or more languages. Another major concern for parents is that children exposed to more than one language get confused and mix their use (Armon-Lotem & Meir, 2019). For example, a toddler in a bilingual family may use the two languages in one sentence. If a child lacks the proper word representation in one language, he or she may borrow a word from the other language to lay the meaning. Armon-Lotem and Meir (2019) explain that code-mixing is not based on the introduction of many languages but the quality and quantity of language. Children will likely code mix if their parents are also code-mixing. The authors, therefore, provide that children not only copy their parents’ languages but also how they use the languages (Armon-Lotem & Meir, 2019). In cases where parents are not fluent in one language, they will likely use the other to fill words in a sentence. Children also grow up learning how to code mix languages to layout meaning. Thus, language delay reported from code-mixing is not associated with the introduction of many languages but the illustrative use.
Other Factors
Other factors such as the characteristics of children, family, and preschool aspects determined the success of the simultaneous introduction of multiple languages to children. Some children despite being normal may inhibit hindering characteristics such as low level of intelligence and absorption of knowledge (He et al., 2020). Just like in adults, all children do not have the same level of intelligence. While some are born genius, other children are born with average or low levels of IQ. Babies with higher levels of intelligence will do better in bilingual or multilingual environments (He et al., 2020). However, those with low levels of IQ may show slowed adaption of these languages. Such babies are more likely to have limited success even in monolingual adaptation. Similarly, children with a higher level of intelligence also absorb more information faster (He et al., 2020). They may therefore retain more language information compared to average and low IQ children. Thus, the delayed level of language development in such children may not be due to exposure to many languages but the intelligence and absorption levels.
Preschool factors are crucial determinants of a child’s success in learning many languages. Children’s pre-school exposure entails activities in which parents engage their children. Activities such as reading as opposed to watching television promote multilingual proficiency (He et al., 2020). Parents or guardians who read books or novels to their children from time to time and in their exposed languages make it easier for adaptation. Toddlers are naturally curious hence introducing them to new words helps them to learn faster. Reading books to children exposes them to alternative use of their common words and different meaning of words (He et al., 2020). Such activities boost the child brains thus enabling them to absorb more knowledge. Children with increased television watching hours generally have delayed language development. Although television programs might be in the targeted languages, watching does not promote speaking.
Family factors such as neighboring environments and available care affect the success of language learning. Parents may have introduced their children to two or three languages when they were born but left them in an unsupportive environment (He et al., 2020). If children learning multilingual have their playmates learning monolingual, they are likely to improve on the common language. Futhermore, absent parents also negatively contribute to delayed language development. The parents may have exposed children to bilingual but then leave them in monolingual care (He et al., 2020). If baby care providers are not conversant with the targeted languages, the babies may experience developmental delays. Other factors such as parents’ level of education and exposure to relevant language resources are socioeconomic determinants.
Conclusion
The success of early exposure of children to many languages is contributed by several factors. Normal children exposed to several languages as early as birth attain faster language development. Factors such as quality and quantity of language exposure as well as preschool and family aspects are crucial determinants. All in all, the proficiency of bilingual or multilingual children heavily rests on parents. Research shows there is no doubt about the ability of children to perform well in a multilingual setting. Children are born ready to learn the languages of their environments without delay. To promote effective learning, parents must ensure they speak high-quality languages and in plenty. Fluently speaking the intended languages enables the children to easily learn the languages. The parents must also control factors that might contribute to hindering the learning experience.
References
Armon-Lotem, S., & Meir, N. (2019). The nature of exposure and input in early bilingualism. In A. De Houwer & L. Ortega (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of bilingualism (pp. 193–212). Cambridge University Press.
He, S. U. N., Ng, S. C., O’Brien B. A., & Fritzsche, T. (2020). Child, family, and school factors in bilingual preschoolers’ vocabulary development in heritage languages. Journal of Child Language, 47(4), 817-843. Web.
Piller, I., & Gerber, L. (2018). Family language policy between the bilingual advantage and the monolingual mindset. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 24(5), 622-635. Web.
Polinsky, M., & Scontras, G. (2020). Understanding heritage languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(1), 4-20. Web.
Appendix
I used several databases including Google Scholar, the journal of child language, the international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, and bilingualism: language and cognition. In all the databases, I entered the entire topic, searched, and selected the most relevant article or book chapter. Other than the book chapter from Cambridge university press which is a primary source, all other articles are secondary.