Does bilingualism affect speech delay in children: the opinion of a speech therapist?
'16.06.2017'
Source: Vikaraskina.com
Renowned speech therapist, defectologist, psychologist, teacher, and also author of the early development program Vika Raskina shared her opinion about the influence of bilingualism (bilingualism) on speech delay in children.
On her site Vikaraskina.com You can read what she thinks about this problem, whether parents really need to worry about what the child hears from the birth of 2 and more language.
Vika has been living in America for the last 16 years in America and has been working on preserving the Russian language in bilinguals and multilingual children. Her experience allows us to look at the problem of speech delay in children from a professional point of view.
Below is the full text of the article by Vika Raskina.
The world around us is changing. More recently, smartphones, social networks, a lot of new technologies. People began to travel more, to learn the world. More and more couples where a woman and a man were born in different countries and speak different languages. More and more children are born who hear two or more languages from birth. And more and more often children start talking later.
Is this related to bilingualism?
Speech therapists around the world are clearly divided into 2 camps. Some claim that the delay in speech is from several languages around the baby. They suggest leaving the language of the country where the children live. But many parents, knowing the indisputable advantage of knowing multiple languages, disagree. Today there are many studies showing that bilingualism develops the brain of children. Children who know 2 or more languages make decisions faster, think outside the box, most of them have better developed logical thinking and ability for mathematics. Knowledge of languages is the ability to communicate with a large number of people and work in another country, as well as a deeper understanding of the culture of different peoples. Of course, one must understand that all children are different and their results differ. But who of the parents would not want to give their baby more opportunities? Therefore, parents often disagree with such specialists.
They go to other speech therapists who assure that bilingualism does not delay speech.
Let's see who is right. I have been watching language development in multilingual children for almost 20 years.
I want to summarize my experience and draw conclusions for all. Yes, indeed, today's children begin to speak later than their peers 20 years ago. This is becoming a mass phenomenon characteristic of all developed countries. What is the reason, no one knows, there are only assumptions. These assumptions are mass, I do not want to list them. I personally think that this is due to the increased information background and the pace of life around our children. There is a lag in both monolingual children and bilingual children.
Visiting kindergartens in Russia, where children hear only Russian speech, I saw that half of the younger group did not speak. The same picture I observed in other countries. That is, children who hear the same language are also lagging behind in speech development as their multilingual peers.
Is it possible to draw a conclusion on this basis - bilingualism does not delay speech? In general, yes.
Two languages that a baby hears at the same time do not delay speech. But the development of speech in monolingual children and bilinguals follows different paths.
What is the difference?
By the age of two, according to the old norms, children should speak with phrases of two words: "Give me a drink". Vocabulary must be at least 50 words.
A bilingual child may not have phrases. With a well-developed speech, such a child has a large vocabulary of words in 2-x languages. Children grab the lighter words from the languages, and when counting words more 50.
The child perfectly understands double commands like: "Take a glass and put it on the kitchen table."
Although the baby does not have phrases, we cannot diagnose speech delay. This is a normal development for a multilingual child.
The kid will confuse grammar for another half a year, insert words from two languages into phrases. Such a child will be great in 3 years in two languages. Yes, there will be errors in the grammar of both languages, but they are age appropriate.
What happens if your two-year-old baby is silent?
At firstit is not necessary to listen to the stories that someone was silent until the 3 years, and then spoke. You have not seen this child, you do not know its history and you have not heard him speak in 3.
Secondly, you need to know the reason for silence. Today, many healthy children have a speech delay. But at the same time it is necessary to exclude that your child does not have any diagnosis.
How to make sure everything is in order?
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- Check the ears.
- Go to a neurologist.
- Visit a speech therapist.
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Pay attention to your pediatrician that you are concerned about speech issues, and clarify whether there are any services, programs or centers that can help you.
Watch the baby yourself and notice:
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- How does a baby swallow, chew?
- Does the child smile back?
- Does the other end of the room look if you point a toy there?
- Does the pointing gesture use (it should appear by one and a half years)?
- Does your name respond?
- Is fine motor skills developed by age (can he pick up a small object with two fingers, thread the rope into a large hole)?
- What with large motor skills? Is everything all right?
- Does the child walk on a full foot or on tiptoes (if walking on tiptoes, does this indicate an increased tone)?
- How is speech perception? Does the child understand the sentences ("Show ..., Bring ..., Give ...")?
- Does double and triple teams understand (“Open the box and take the little ball”)?
- Like a kid with logic? Does the development standards?
- Is he interested in communicating with other children?
- Is the child afraid to get dirty?
- Does he communicate with you? For example, does a toy that interests him bring home or leaves, sticks on the street, and show you?
- Does he look in his eyes when you tell him something?
- Does the kid play role-playing games (feeds and heals animals, builds houses)?
- Does it respond to loud sounds?
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If there are no more 4 signs, then this is a reason to be wary.
If you have any doubts, then sound the alarm, even if the doctors say that everything is in order.
Thirdly. Don't worry, but take action. Speech is a brain activity, the sooner you turn it on, the more successful your child will be. Don't listen to anyone, just practice. Even if your little one starts talking six months earlier thanks to the lessons, it will be worth it.
How to practice?
- Sign up for all the programs that doctors offer you.
- Find development groups around you.
They can be quite simple - songs, applications and dances - go anyway. If there are more elite groups in your area, where the brain is developed in the game, try to get there. - Send your child to kindergarten, at least for several hours a day.
- Turn off all screens.
- Perhaps there is nothing around you, gather a small group yourself and play with them at home.
- Find a speech therapist who will deal with you.
Do not wait for the child to speak. The prolonged silence often spoils the character, the child begins to get nervous, frightened. Modest and shy kids are even more afraid of communication with their peers. More active children begin to get angry, as a result, fight and bite. These children's little injuries last a lifetime.
What happens when a baby hears from the birth of 3 or more languages?
Here I more often observed speech delays associated with multilingualism. Of course, not all children, but many of them have a vocabulary for 2 years and constitute 20 – 30 words. Phrase speech is also delayed. Somewhere by 3,5, such a baby begins to build phrases in 3-x languages.
