Bilingual children
Introduction
One of the most essential things to note concerning bilingual children is the fact that they are, to a given extent, exposed to challenging situations in terms of their growth and development, in comparison to other children. This is because of the developed and exposed conflict of lingual inter4est, whereby, the children are exposed to two or more lingual backgrounds, and as a result, unable to select the specific language which they will use in the communication, as well as development and perfection of the same. In this paper, we will look at the bilingual children, and the challenges that they face in the educational development. At the same time, this paper will look at how to effectively develop their learning, amidst the differences and perception in their communication. At the same time, this paper will look at these bilingual children, and how effectively they can differentiate between the two lingual backgrounds that they are exposed to, in terms of the language and effective communication (Perkins, 2013).
Bilingual children’s language development (BFLA)
In the past one century, the United States has seen a lot of growth, and also increase in the number of bilingual and even multilingual children, and as a result, there has been a lot of focus on these children, and strategies have been developed in order to make sure that the children develop in their education, as well as their lingual ability. There are several areas that the education system has been focusing on, in order to ensure that this has been effectively achieved. At the same time, it is necessary to note the fact that there are differences in the way the children adopt specific languages as they grow up, and their older siblings are some of the influences that lead to the same. For example, in a Spanish American family, the elder siblings to a given extent might influence the younger siblings in the selection of the languages that they might choose to use in their communication. This is one of the ways through which bilingual children face crises in the selection and development of their lingual ability, since in most cases, the language that they select to use might not be their actual preference, but the same might happen, as a result of being exposed to a given environment of communication (Steiner, 2008).
In order to understand bilingual children language development, there are several aspects that should be necessarily put into consideration, since they highly determine the rate of development in these children’s communication. For example, age is one of the most essential tenets to look at, since the children’s age highly determine the encoding capability, speed and even preference for the children. The younger a child is, the more receptive they are to learning, and the language that they learn first is more likely to stick and develop in them, as compared to a second language to which they might be introduced in the later years. The same happens even in the adoption of communication accents. At the same time, it is necessary to note the fact that the brain of a young child is more receptive to learning in comparison to that of elder persons or teenagers. This is due to the fact that at a young age, very little is encoded in the child’s brain. As a result, the empty brain is more ready to encode new knowledge from various sources such as stimuli, learning and observation, as compared to that of the elder children. This is the reason why introducing a given language to a child at the age of one year is more effective for the child’s learning, as opposed to the introduction of the same, at the age of six or twelve years. This is because the child has learned more information and means of communication within the period between which he is born and the time the new means of communication is introduced to him (Perkins, 2013).
Differentiation of languages by the bilingual children
Confusion in literature utterances
Confusion in literature utterances is one of the greatest challenges that affect children, especially, in cases whereby there is conflict in the mode of communication and development of the same. This has been noted in various areas of communication and development of the same. Firstly, it is necessary to note the fact that when a child is exposed to different form as of communication, one of the challenges that the children face include slowed development of their communication. At the same time, they are in conflict of which form of communication to develop, especially, since they are exposed to many different forms of communication, and have a wide variety of the same to select from. However, in such cases, the children tend to adopt the most dominant language and way of communication, and at the same time; they tend to develop the most dominant accents, and ways of pronunciation (Pearson, 2008).
Essentially to note, children develop different communication speeds and understanding of the same, based on the ease and complexity of the languages they are learning and using for communication. At the same time, the age at which the language is introduced to them heavily affects their speed of learning, and this contributes to communication complexity, and confusion, especially in communication. For instance, a child might be exposed to Spanish at a tender age of 1 year, and develop the Spanish communication, which in this case, includes pronunciation (and little accent). If the same child is introduced to the Indian language (which might be the language of one of their parents0 at the age of ten years, the child might have difficulties in in the pronunciation of the same, as well as the development of the Indian way of communication. If more Indian language is introduced to the child and he is exposed to less Spanish, the child will eventually lose the Spanish language, to which he was initially exposed to. Reintroduction of Spanish to the child at the age of fourteen will lead to poor understanding, as well as slowed learning, in comparison to the initial introduction that the child was exposed to, between the ages of one and ten years. This will, consequently, lead to confusion in literature utterances, since the child has been exposed to alternating languages at different, critical times of his learning (Pearson, 2004).
According to Annick De Houwer, there are various ways through which confusion in literature development and the development of communication can be addressed among the children, especially, in their communication development. Firstly, it is necessary for the children to develop and reach specific communication milestones, which will ensure that they do not get confused, especially, when a new form of communication, such as a new language, in introduced to them. For example, a child should be heavily engaged in communication using the two languages that he is exposed to, in order to ensure that they do not develop one language and abandon the other. However, the initial introduction of the second language, especially if it is done above the age of six years, will be characterized by confusions, since the first language remains dominant in the child’s way of communication (Kohnert, 2004).
References
Kohnert, P. (2004). Language Disorders in Bilingual Children and Adults. London: Rutledge, p. 102.
Pearson, B. (2008). Raising a Bilingual Child. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, p. 116.
Perkins, N. (2013). Teach Kids Spanish: ¿De Qué Color es el Sol? - Spanish Made Easy with Fun Pictures and Sight Words - Pre-School. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 233.
Saint-Onge, K. (2013). Bilingual Being: My Life as a Hyphen. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 76.
Steiner, N. (2008). 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child. New Jersey: Wiley, pp. 89.
