Bilingual Parenting Tips

By June Ramli

Language acquisition is a fascinating process, especially in young children. Parents worldwide are eager to raise bilingual children, but many struggle with the best approaches to take.
To shed light on the subject, DailyStraits.com spoke exclusively with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, the Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Professor of Psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. She is the director of the Temple University Infant Language Laboratory and an author of 14 books and over 200 publications on early childhood and infant development, specializing in language, literacy, and playful learning.
In this insightful interview, Professor Hirsh-Pasek who is also the Senior Fellow of the MindChamps Global Research and Development team shares expert advice on how monolingual parents can introduce a second language at home, the role of early exposure, and the best strategies for ensuring fluency.

What are the best ways for monolingual parents to introduce a second language at home?

Early, early, early. There are two strategies that work really well. One is what we call the in-home, out of home strategy. So language one is in home, then there’s dominant language or non dominant language out of the home. And that’s what they get out of the home. So you can separate it by location. The other is you can have one parent speak one language, you can have another parent speak another language. As long as you stay consistent, it’s remarkable. The kids can keep it very separate and they will code switch at appropriate moments and just change the language they use. 

How important is early exposure to a new language, and when is the best time to start?

Early and then go earlier – like as soon as a child can. I mean, little babies start to discriminate between languages, you know, at two hours of age. I can actually, you know, there are ways we can measure this and we can look at how babies respond to the language that is in the parent because they’ve heard it right from the parent, from the mum. So the earlier you expose a child, the more they’re learning the patterns and then they can discriminate against those patterns. 

Can children become fluent in a second language without having native-speaking parents?

It is harder, but it is possible. If they are exposed to it by a fluent speaking language, you know, native speaker, then yes. What won’t work is if you’re trudging along trying to learn the language with your kid. It has to be constant. 

How effective are language learning apps and TV shows for young kids?

Well, you don’t want me to get on that. Language is fundamentally an interactive sport. Okay. It’s about me and you and then you answering me back and forth. Beautifully timed, intricate in its relation to emotion and meaning. Okay, so if those three things aren’t happening and they’re not happening in the right timing and rhythms, then you’re not having an interaction. So what’s language? What’s television? It talks to you. Something that is a prompt, not a substitute, can work for an app, but it can’t substitute for human to human interaction. They can be a good addition, especially for hearing pronunciation, but they should not be relied upon as the main source of language learning. 

What roles do music and storytelling play in language acquisition? 

Well, we don’t actually have a lot of data on the role of music in language acquisition, but music is a kind of linear patterned thing. Right. Which helps us to hear from here, beginning to end, and to notice those patterns. So in that way, it’s a pattern maker. So music’s very important in helping us feel patterns. See, patterns, distinguish patterns. It has language often in it when you have a song. And kids learn very readily when they hear something in songs. For example, we have a study we did in reading, and we put the vocabulary we wanted the kids to know into the song, and they learned it better than they learned it when they learned it in the list. Storytelling is what we call narrative structure in my world. And it has a really good beginning and a context and a character and an ending, you know, and kids learn a lot from that. And it is a precursor to learning how to read. Narratives are very important. Everything has a story. 

Should parents attempt to speak a new language themselves, even if they’re not fluent?

I mean, sure, parents should have fun with it, but don’t expect your kid is going to become, you know, fluent in a language because you decide you’re going to use a few words or try to master something again, it’s a fluent speaker that is the best input for a child’s language. And by the way, a child’s language is the very best predictor of a child’s literacy. It’s the single best predictor, not only of literacy, but also of math. 

Are there common mistakes that monolingual parents make when trying to teach a second language? 

Well, first of all, I don’t like to think of parents as making mistakes, so I’m going to ditch that idea. Babies are born to last a lifetime and there’s very little we can do that is a mistake. Now, if you want me to give the one mistake that I’ll put up there in language development, it’s that parents are on the phone too much. And when parents are on the phone, it interrupts the kind of one to one, back and forth conversations that you need to have fluent language. Okay, so that’s the number one mistake. Waiting is probably the second mistake. We think, oh, the school will take care of it. Let’s start the language in third grade. They can do it, but the longer you wait, the longer you’re pushing out of the range of natural language learning. 

How can parents create an immersive language-learning environment at home?

It’s a quality game. If you don’t hear it you won’t learn it. Language needs to be integrated throughout home and school. 

How does bilingualism impact cognitive and social development in children?

Well, it’s actually huge. What happens in the brain is we have this area called the inhibition area. And when you switch from one language to the other, you’re inhibiting one from using the other. That particular skill of being able to inhibit an automatic response turns out to be quite predictive. Language and what they call executive function, skills of which there’s this impulse control thing, are the two best predictors of your future cognitive development. Now, it turns out that if you know more than one language, it’s not just a great thing when you’re a kid because you gain these skills, you go all the way up to older ages and it turns out that it helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. 

What advice do you give to parents worried about confusing their child by introducing another language? 

The chances of confusing a child are very low. Separate language by place or separate by person. If 70 per cent of the world can do it, you can too!