Home Biography Blog Books Interviews All publications Bilingualism and biculturalism Speech perception and comprehension Speech production Sign language and bilingualism of the Deaf Aphasia Natural language processing Applied linguistics. What parents want to know about bilingualism Published also in The Bilingual Family Newsletter , , 26 4 , Parents and caretakers 1 with bilingual children often have concerns about their children's bilingualism.
In an effort to address some of their queries, I asked Corey Heller 2 to send me a list of questions most often asked. Below, I present eleven questions along with my answers. The latter are based on my own research on bilingualism over the years, knowledge of the field that I first entered in the early 's, being a bilingual parent, and my own life as a bilingual.
At the end of each answer, I indicate the chapters in my new book, Bilingual Harvard University Press, spring in which I offer additional information. Note that my book has two parts: Bilingual adults chapters and Bilingual children chapters How can one tell if children are getting enough exposure to each language?
In the case of children acquiring two languages simultaneously, it is important that they receive input exposure from each language on a daily or almost daily basis when the parents are using a strategy that involves both languages. If the parents' aim is simply to bring the child into contact with another language, then less input is necessary.
But if they want the child to use two languages on a daily basis, then there must be a lot of input from both languages. As to the nature of the input, two points are important. First, the input should come from interaction with people talking, playing, or reading and not just from DVDs and television. Children will develop a language if they feel they need it and human interactants create that need.
