Should Coronavirus and Social Distancing Affect the Way You Raise Multilingual Children at Home?
The benefits of knowing multiple languages have long been documented. From increased job prospects to a delay in the onset of Alzheimer’s, there is no shortage of reasons to raise multilingual children.
For some families, rearing multilingual children may not be a conscious choice. If one or both parents only speak a non-English language, their children will naturally grow up to be bilingual in the dominant community language (in this case, English) and the heritage language, or any minority language learned entirely at home.
Other parents choose to speak the heritage language to preserve their cultural legacy and to strengthen family bonds. Since language and identity are inextricably connected, many immigrant families rightfully wish to pass on their language.
The two main systems for raising multilingual children are One Person One Language (OPOL) and Minority Language at Home (mL@H). With OPOL, each parent decides which language to speak to their children and never, or rarely, steps out of that role. With mL@H, both parents agree to always speak the minority language at home.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, however, families now find themselves spending more time at home together than ever before. As a result, many parents have been left wondering how they should address this change, if at all, in the way they raise their multilingual children.
Raising young children
Maintaining a routine is paramount to the well-being of children—a routine can encourage self-confidence and reduce stress, for instance. As such, continuing with your usual language system—whether that’s OPOL, mL@H, or another approach—is the smartest choice, especially if you have young children. Altering your routine could cause unnecessary confusion and stress during what is already a difficult time.
Linguistic researchers have found that “a child needs to be exposed to a language 30% of their waking time to actively speak it.” With stay-at-home recommendations in place in many areas, it is safe to assume that your student is likely meeting this threshold.
There’s also no need to worry if you suspect your child is exceeding the 30% threshold. With English being the language of instruction in U.S. schools and the language of choice for most entertainment, your child’s English learning is unlikely to suffer as a result of these times.
Despite ample research on the topic, myths about bilingualism and multilingualism still abound. The belief that multilingual children tend to develop cognitive deficits or to lag behind their peers is false. On the contrary, multilingual children generally have higher graduation rates, hold better jobs, and earn larger incomes when compared to their monolingual counterparts.
Raising preteens and teenagers
With preteens and teenagers, the situation can be handled differently. For one, the 30% rule is more flexible with this age group. While young children require consistent exposure to a heritage language in order to learn it properly, teenagers who have grown up speaking the heritage language already have a foundation in it. It is for this reason that temporarily increased or decreased exposure to the heritage language will most likely not have negative consequences for this age group.
In addition, teenagers are often more receptive to change, as they are mature enough to understand that changes are sometimes called for. So, if you are worried that your child may be losing contact with his or her heritage language, consider switching from OPOL to mL@H—or bring more non-English resources (i.e. music, movies, games, and books) into the house. Just be aware that non-usage of the heritage language is not necessarily a sign that your child’s knowledge in that area is lacking.
In fact, it’s normal for multilingual children to go through a stage of language shyness during which they refuse to speak the heritage language. Language shyness can be attributed to insecurities about one’s proficiency in the language, wanting to fit in with a majority group, or concerns over language-based discrimination. The key is not to force your children to speak in the heritage language or scold them for speaking English, as that can make matters worse.
Simply hearing the heritage language regularly is beneficial to your children, since much language learning is done subconsciously. In any case, language shyness may dissipate as teenagers grow into confident adults and realize the value of multilingualism in the professional world.
Also take comfort in knowing that heritage language loss is a relatively uncommon phenomenon; it only happens when individuals completely stop using the heritage language and lose all contact with other speakers of it. One’s heritage language knowledge does not usually die, but rather, is deactivated, placing individuals in a category that François Grosjean, professor of sociolinguistics, calls “dormant bilinguals.” Linguistic knowledge can remain “asleep” for many years until a social situation warrants its awakening.
Tiffany Sorensen holds a Master of Science in Spanish-English Translation from New York University. She works remotely from sunny Mexico, where she gives English and Spanish classes, writes educational articles, and designs practice tests for the ACT.