Hello Parents, Friends, Therapists, Teachers,
Welcome to my Blog! I am starting this blog to open questions about speech, language and feeding therapy to the community, and talk about concerns, issues and controversial themes. I would love to hear your input on these topics, and your questions so I can introduce more.
The first topic I wanted to introduce was: Should I be teaching my child more than one language if they have a delay or disorder, or will it confuse them?
If your child is living in a household where a non-dominant language is spoken (In the USA, anything other than English), it is important for them to learn to understand both English and their "home language". Language imparts culture, it links one to their family, and their identity. Even if the child has a known language disorder, such as Down Syndrome, it is important to teach some basic words and phrases in their home language.
From as young as 2 years old, children know how to code switch. That is, they understand that one uses English with English speakers, and home language with other like speakers. No one teaches them this, which is pretty amazing. The use of the two languages spoken is separated by context or by speaker. Here are some examples:
Pedro's family speaks Spanish at home, but his school program is in English. He knows that he speaks English at school, and Spanish at home. Sometimes, he mixes the languages if he doesn't know a specific word in English that he knows in Spanish. This is considered part of typical bilingual language acquisition.
Yesenia's mother speaks Spanish, and father speaks English. She stays at home with her mother during the day, who teaches her colors, numbers, and animals, in Spanish. Yesenia's father takes her to the playground, and reads books to her in English. When Yesenia turned 3 and started pre-school in English, she started to learn that there was another way to say the names of the colors, numbers, and animals. She understood the new English words, but continued to label these things in Spanish. Yesenia needed time for her to remember the two different words that represent one symbol (ie: "cat" means the same as "gato").
Paolo lives with parents who primarily speak Spanish, and his older siblings who are bilingual. He has Down Syndrome. He has learned words about food and eating from his mother, in Spanish, and social expressions from his siblings, in English. His speech therapy and school program is conducted in English. At school, he has learned to use a picture communication system for foods, as he only knows how to say these words in Spanish. English models are provided to teach him the food names.
The research tells us the benefits of learning a second language reach into adolescence. This helps not only one's language and metalinguistic skills, but also problem solving skills. I can only imagine the benefits to one's self-image. Learning one's home language also links one to their home culture, people, art, food and customs. A child with a known disability needs more links to community, not less, and what better way to foster this than through teaching their home language.
What do you think? Would you like to share a story? Do you disagree?
I appreciate your input.
Donna Uzoigwe, MS, CCC-SLP
