Prof. K. Wilson
Assignment: The Research Essay (Rough Draft)
Rezwana Islam
5/3/2007
Raising Children Bilingually
In 1992, Paul Matthews, his wife, and their four young children, moved from the
United States to France, in response to a career opportunity. Today, over fifteen years later,
they are still living there. Having completely immersed themselves within French life and
culture, each member of the family speaks fluent French. Their two elder children have
married French citizens, and the two younger children attend French universities. However,
the younger children are not bilingual, and neither child is able to communicate with their
English-speaking family back in the United States (María Estela Brisk, 116). This scenario
portrays a reality that affects thousands of parents who face the problems of raising their
child bilingually – just how does one assure that a child is able to speak their mother-tongue
when living in a foreign country? There are many challenges that families from all ethnic
groups and races face and there are different ways of addressing these challenges and
assuring bilingual efficiency.
Why do parents wish to raise their children bilingually? Language is a cultural
identity. Most of the parents who are from different racial backgrounds show the desire to
teach their children their mother-tongue. It is based on the recognition that in achieving this,
they are not only bringing the child’s two cultures together but also providing a sense of both
duality and international awareness that is “unattainable” in a monolingual world.
Bilingualism introduces the child to different cultural expectations, worldviews, and
concepts. Therefore, for parents who are committed to this initiative, raising children
bilingually is not only both challenging and rewarding, but is also a task that is practical and
possible. As stated by Iown Bowen Rees, “we bring up children to be bilinguals, not for the
sake for the language, but for the sake of the children” (Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and
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Prof. K. Wilson
Assignment: The Research Essay (Rough Draft)
Rezwana Islam
5/3/2007
Bilingual Education). Being bilingual would help a child to understand the language process
in general. This skill will make them flexible when communicating with others. However,
there are many people who feel that raising children bilingually can cause social, cultural, and
personal development problems within the child.
Does raising children bilingually cause “intelligence deficits” and other difficulties
within children? There are some people who claim that children who are raised as bilinguals
risk developing social and cultural complexes by not being able to fully express themselves
through one of their languages. Believing that one of the languages will always be “stronger”
than the other, this argument initiates that the child will be affected by bicultural and identity
confusion, but this hypothesis is unproven. The ability of being able to acquire two languages
simultaneously is also often questioned, despite the fact that millions of children do learn to
speak two languages without any apparent difficulties. Nevertheless, there are children that
resist learning a second language. As mentioned in the Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and
Bilingual Education,
Bilinguals performed significantly better than monolinguals on both verbal and nonverbal intelligence tests. Several explanations are suggested as to why bilinguals have
this general intellectual advantage. It is argued that they have a language asset, are
more facile at concept formation, and have a greater mental flexibility (65).
This assumption indicates that “enriched bilingual and bicultural experience” actually
benefits the development of intelligence. Bilinguals have the capability to think more
“abstractly” and “independently” of words and “superiority in concept formation” and thus
gain intellectual superiority (65). By gaining intellectual superiority they will have access to
styles and varieties of both languages.
What can a parent do when a child does not want to speak their mother tongue? Some
parents admit that they should have been more insistent in assuring that their children use two
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Prof. K. Wilson
Assignment: The Research Essay (Rough Draft)
Rezwana Islam
5/3/2007
languages simultaneously. Sometimes children feel that there is no need to speak two
languages and consider speaking the majority language of the country. Even if their parents
insist, they constantly refuse to learn and speak two languages. One of the possible reasons of
doing so is that there is not much scope to use it in the near future. Parents should be patient
in this case. Once in a while they can express their desire to hold on to their native language
and pass this language from generation to generation. As expressed by Edith Harding and
Philip Riley in The Bilingual Family: A Handbook for Parents, “not only will a child whose
attitude to a language is negative fail to learn it, but making the child’s life a misery is not a
reasonable price for bilingualism” (161).Insisting children to speak their mother tongue will
push them further. If the child ever needs to speak the language the transition can be made
with a little effort.
What is the best approach in relation to learning a second language? Most experts and
researchers advocate the ‘one parent-one language’ method, which is widely considered to be
relatively affective among younger children. However, there is also a general awareness that
the maintenance of a second, or minority, language becomes more problematic from middle
childhood. As a child grows older, their contact with the outside world increases, which
automatically implies that input concerning the majority language also increases. This can
lead to “stagnation” in the minority language, or even a refusal to continue learning. As
quoted in The Bilingual Family: A handbook for Parents,
The best way to encourage the acquisition of a new language for the child is to have
happy experience with friendly persons in sympathetic surroundings, where learning
is spontaneous and done quite unconsciously (173).
This is an important lesson for bilingual parents for passing their native language on to their
children. Teaching a native language in a friendly and step by step process will have a
positive impact on their children’s grasp of the second language easily.
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Prof. K. Wilson
Assignment: The Research Essay (Rough Draft)
Rezwana Islam
5/3/2007
How much is a child’s ability to learn a second language influenced by social and
cultural factors? The process of language learning, even for young children, can be extremely
stressful, and the impact of both negative and positive attitudes from family and the
surrounding society can be significant. If the child is living within a community that has a
negative view of the given language and its native speakers, learning that language will be
much more difficult. This result has been confirmed by studies in various contexts. Parental
attitudes are also considered to be vitally important, as is the age of the child. As pointed out
by Terri Hammond’s Book Review of Of Borders and Dreams, “the inconsistency in
language and inability of the parents to help with school work combined to cause the children
to have significant problems at school” (Hammond). Even though parents look out for their
children’s best interests, without their help children can’t progress in their very early years.
Early exposure to the language has also been proved beneficial. It can strengthen motivation
and facilitate learning. As quoted in An Introduction to Bilingualism, “whether a person in his
future life really masters two languages completely is directed in early childhood. When he
does not learn the languages, then he will never be completely perfect in both” (Hoffmann,
35). Exposure to second language in the early childhood can help children adapt a second
language more efficiently. There are some dual language schools which were initiated by the
local community among the parents and the politicians. As shown in the Encyclopedia of
Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, dual language bilingual programs in the United States
increases from the year of 1963 to 1997 gradually. The number of dual language programs in
the United States are 82, and the total number of dual language schools are 182 (522). These
school programs are magnificent because it has two teachers in each class room: Both of the
teachers speak two different languages and take approximately equal amount of time. This
program helps children to become a balanced bilingual and to keep his /her two different
languages separate. Growing up in the bilingual family, schooling, and close contact with
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Prof. K. Wilson
Assignment: The Research Essay (Rough Draft)
Rezwana Islam
5/3/2007
other linguistic groups have a greater impact on enhancing a child’s ability to learn a second
language enthusiastically.
“Bilingualism is a singular noun for a plural experience” stated in the Encyclopedia of
Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Raising children bilingually is not only a challenging
but also a rewarding experience for parents. Bilingualism opens the door of enormous
opportunities for people. Despite of having few negative impact, Bilingualism enhances a
child’s intelligence and can give a child advantage of greater adeptness at creative thinking,
greater linguistic and cognitive creativity, and greater facility towards social relationships and
so on.
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