TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
Simultaneous Language Acquisition- happens when a child is raised
bilingually from birth
Sequential Language Acquisition-
occurs when upon the establishment of the first language, a second language is
introduced.
Bilingual: Someone who speaks two
languages
Monolingual: Someone who speaks one
language
Multilingual: Someone who can speak
more than two languages
Language: It is a mode of
communication among human beings that may be either spoken or written. It
consists the use of words in a designed and conventional approach.
Speech: It is a communication or
even the ability to pass on views and feelings in a way that is understandable.
CLASP- Cambridge Language and Speech
Project
SLPs- speech-language pathologist
SLI- Specific Language Impairment
INTRODUCTION
I was born in a family that spoke both
English and Farsi language. However, as is the case with my younger sister, we
suffered from delayed language development, and this affected me further to the
extent that I could not learn the Farsi language. To date I speak English only.
Despite the delay, I was able to recover fully and become fluent in the
language over time. I was able to talk comprehensively at four years of age
which was a little late as compared to my peers. The delay to some extent
affected my social, emotional and to some level cognitive ability in my
development as a child. I was born and raised with English being the primary
language at home. Research indicates (Paradis, 2010) that children learn the
primary language much easier since it is like the one that the parents or the
caregiver are more proficient in and also if it is the language spoken by the majority.
Children brought up in a bilingual setup experience the mixing up of languages
especially if introduced at the same time. For my case, the two languages presented
together made it harder for my parents to be able to notice any delays in my
tongue until I was three years old. The late intervention is what caused my
inability to acquire a second language with much ease and speed as compared to
the other children with delay do. I was not able to speak until I got to four
years of age and at the time my caregivers used English primarily as the
therapist suggested the introduction of one language at time (Kelly, 2014). It
is this that inspired my research topic since I want to find out more on
language delays especially for children brought up in a bilingual setup.
Language delay is the inability of a child to acquire language
skills at the age universally accepted
and is suitable for their growth calendar
(Catts et al., 1999). Language and speech are different
and so they
can delay independently. A child may be able
to comprehend and decode messages to initiate certain action but
may be unable to express
themselves verbally. Both the receptive language
and the expressive
languages are essential for one to be in a position to effectively communicate (Berk &
Laura 2012). There are the conventional
stages that a child should go through as they develop both
expressive and receptive languages (See table. 1).
Bilingualism is the
ability of a child to speak in two languages (Genesee,
2009). Majority of children
can learn many languages though it
may prove difficult for various children
to acquire a second language. It may be so especially in cases
of language disorders or even delays
in language acquisition of a child. There are various degrees of bilingualism, and one does not have to speak
the two languages with equal fluency to qualify
as being bilingual. It is rare for a child
to acquire native proficiency in the two languages but usually
they have a dominant language. There are also children that are passive bilingual in that they can understand one language though cannot express
themselves in it as they speak the other.
Whatever the level of bilingualism that
a child may attain, it can be a fulfilling achievement
to them and also to the family especially
if the set-up is bilingual
(Paradis et al., 2011).
In an interview with Kelly (2014) a
language pathologist, she argues that every bilingual child
reaches milestones of language development at his or her pace. However,
failure to achieve the benchmarks, it becomes language delay. For
this reason, it is key for
a bilingual household to raise
a child as a sequential
bilingual rather than a simultaneous
bilingual (Kelly, 2014). It becomes
easier for parents
to detect language delay and intervene
early, and also
to prevent any obstruction in social, behavioral, and cognitive development of the child.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The world is increasingly becoming multilingual.
In Canada, 11.9% of the population
can speak another language apart from the conventional English and French (Statistics Canada, 2007). In Toronto alone, 31% of the people can speak another
alien language apart from English and French while
at home. In the United
States, 21% of the school-age
children speak another language apart
from English, and the number is projected to rise (Statistics Canada, 2007).
Globally, there are as many bilingual children as are
monolingual children. Bilingual language
learning is, therefore, a crucial tool for
most children (Kohnert et
al., 2005). The inability of the parents to speak
the dominant language may reinforce it, and so
they teach their child their mother tongue. The children
learn the dominant
language through socialization with the
community or even at school.
A study at York University in
Toronto (Genesee, 2009), suggests that
exposing children to two dialects gives the
toddlers a cognitive advantage over the
monolingual children. In a study conducted on children
(Paradis et al., 2011), bilingual children were noted to be more
creative and also better at planning
and problem-solving. The
bilinguals were also better able to concentrate
on relevant information and had superior
capability to ignore distractions as compared to the monolingual.
According to the
Cambridge Language and Speech Project (CLASP) (Burden et al., 1996), children
that are growing up in a bilingual family
set-up have a certain degree of mixing up the languages. It
however decreases with growth of the child
in language acquisition.
Typically, the children become fluent in both
languages at the age of five years. For a child to learn
bilingual language, it is not
a requirement that they seek guidance
from a speech-language therapist unless in cases where the child
experiences delays or difficulty in learning
the primary language. The bilinguals should face assessments on language development using the same
criteria as the monolingual children.
The stated incidence of language delay among children arrays between 2.3 to 19 percent among children
that are between two to seven years old
(Silva et al., 1983). Severe cases
of language and speech disorder among the children can be detrimental to later educational achievement of the child even
after intervention. Studies have showed that children
with speech and language difficulty between 2 to
five years of age have a lot of trouble
reading at elementary school age. For
those that the delay goes beyond five years old, have
an amplified prevalence of attention
and also social
difficulties. If the problem persists
past seven years to thirteen years
of age, the children face the
threat of having difficulty with writing skills. Others have deficits in punctuation and also spelling of words as compared to the children
with normal development. According to a piece of research (Catts et al., 1999) 73% of all
the second-grade students who have been
identified to have inadequate reading skills. They also
had difficulties with
phonemic awareness or even spoken language
at Kindergarten (Catts et al., 1999). As a result of this, SLPs are
progressively and actively engaged
in trying to find a remedy to reading and writing skills
among children suffering from
language delays or disorders.
A child’s reading
and also writing
skills may be affected by a delay in language in diverse ways. The
child may experience difficulties with learning relations between letter and sounds, as well
as differentiating sounds. Some
have problems learning visual words,
spelling, fluency in oral reading, organizing
thoughts on paper and also forming
of words and letters on paper (Burden et al.,
1996). It is, therefore, very crucial that
the parent pay
close attention to the language development
of a child. The parent should be keen from when they are toddlers to be able to identify any
form of language difficulties or delays
(See Table 1). If they suspect or notice
any language anomalies, it is key
for the parents
to seek the intervention of a language
pathologist. They are advised
to seek therapy as early as conceivable so that they can receive
treatment at an early stage of life (Catts et al., 1999).
RESEARCH METHOD
The research method used are; personal
interview as well as the academic journals
as a source of information and data for the
study. I talked, Kerry Ann
Kelly a speech therapist from Long Island New York on
January 29, 2014. Kelly is a speech therapist that has
worked in the line for decades. The interview has worked with many families
and offered their service to a series of
multilingual, bilingual and also
monolingual children. Therefore,
she is informed and vast with the
research topic (Kelly, 2014).
I also expand the scope
of my research after the interview with Kelly to a series of
journals available so as to get to study
other published works by other professionals
and researchers so as to draw a conclusion. I check the journals
for any agreement,
contradiction or arguments against or for the conclusions
drawn from an interview with the therapist and also gather more
information that I may not have drawn from the
interview. Basing a conclusion
on a vast scope of data, studies, and information
and therefore made the research
authentic.
CONCLUSION
Parents that raise their children as sequential bilinguals if they notice any
delays in speech should agree on one
language to introduce to the child (Kelly, 2014). It
is however crucial that the parents
stick to a language that they are comfortable
with which is the primary language and will thus help the
children learn better. Learning the
home language is one primary therapy for
bilingual children with delayed
language so that a child may maintain
the connection with the parents (Kohnert et al., 2005).
It is also crucial
that parents and also the
therapists appreciate the fact that every
bilingual child may experience
delay in language development due to their unique factors. There could be internal or external
factors that may lead to the delays, and
so are handled differently. There is, therefore, no universal and
definite way of approaching therapy to such children. The
internal factors that may affect the child
are: disorders such as specific language disorder and downs
syndrome among other health complications. The external factors
that may affect a child are: environmental factors such as the
socialization with the parents and also external stress or pressure, the interaction with other children
and also the parents who may be speaking so diverse languages to the
level that it makes it
unattainable for the child to learn
the primary language. It is, therefore,
fundamental that the parents and
pathologist isolate the possible causes of the delay (Kelly, 2014).
Delays in language development depending on whether
there are timely interventions
may result in detrimental effects on the child.
Such delays may lead to social, emotional
and also cognitive problems in the future.
It is, therefore, paramount that the
parents be on the lookout for any
anomalies in the language development of the child (Whitman & Schwartz,
1985).
DISCUSSION
Children raised in a
bilingual setup may begin to speak comfortably later than their monolingual counterparts.
It does not necessarily point to a delay in language development, but the
parent should be keen so that the
lag may not be so prominent or significant
(Law et al., 2003). The children
may also be heard mixing up the words
that are usual in the early stages of development.
It is however key that in a bilingual family the parents
agree on what method to use if
they want their child to be bilingual. They could employ the simultaneous
acquisition of the language where
they introduce the two languages at the same time
(Law et al., 2003). The family
should be well structured to know
where and when
to use a certain language. They could also employ the
sequential acquisition where they introduce
one language at time. They wait for
the child to develop one language before entering another one to learn. It also
needs a lot of patience from the parents since the child may experience doubts at times and
so should be very supportive and not panic (Burden et al., 1996).
In the case of noticing delays in language acquisition, the parents should seek therapy immediately. It is important that even the parents undergo training and also treatment on how to handle the child for a full recovery (Whitman & Schwartz, 1985). Parents should be keen to notice any red flags showing abnormal development (See table.2). There is not sufficient evidence to emphasis on random screening for language development. However, in the case of a diagnosis of a child with language delay it is important that they undergo several other tests. The delay may be a manifestation of other physical or cognitive problems that a child is experiencing. For the children with just language delays or disorders therapy has proven to be effective (Law et al., 2003).
Additional articles
One of the biggest questions that many people ask is whether by 2050 there will be sufficient food for all the human population. The human population by 2050 is expected to be around 9 billion people if the current population growth rate will cont...Food-Security- …
Read Article1. Identify and explain Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations. Collective bargaining is a term that was coined to define the process of negotiation between the employers, employees and also the trade unions that such empl...Collective-bargaining-and-alternative-dispute-resolution …
Read ArticleAccounting Accounting refers to the processing, measurement, and communication of financial information about economic entities including corporations and businesses. It can also refer to the study of how businesses track their assets and incom...Career-Options-Someone-With-An-Accounting-Education-Can-Pursue …
Read Article