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Bilingualism means more than the ability to speak two languages. Robert Stechuk, UnidosUS’s director of early childhood education programs, maintains that it鈥檚 a valuable personal and cultural resource children need to develop thinking skills, cultural heritage and to form identity. 鈥淭o discourage bilingualism,鈥� he says, 鈥渋s to disrupt a normal and healthy part of growing up.鈥�

In July 2022, Stechuk was part of the UnidosUS team that conducted parent focus groups at its affiliate , which promotes school readiness for Latino children, in San Antonio, Texas. The parents whose children were receiving speech therapy described how therapists instructed them to use English only at home. One mother of a child with a hearing disability reported being told: 鈥淭ry speaking to him in English. Don鈥檛 bring in any Spanish right now鈥�. You don鈥檛 want to confuse him since he鈥檚 just starting to hear.鈥�

Late last year, Stechuk and colleagues presented these findings at a session of the National Head Start Association Parent and Family Engagement Conference. They asked participants if speech therapists or other professionals had told them that growing up with two languages is 鈥渃onfusing鈥� for children, and the response was immediate. 鈥淎t least a dozen hands went up,鈥� he recalls, and many personal stories came out.

鈥淪ome schools or early intervention personnel are still treating bilingualism as some kind of problem or disability,鈥� Stechuk says.

UnidosUS鈥檚 recently published captures many more of these miscues, identifying three counterproductive myths that persist in spite of research that鈥檚 been around for decades:

• Myth #1: Young children can be 鈥渃onfused鈥� by more than one language
• Myth #2: Multiple languages may compete with each other in the child鈥檚 brain
• Myth #3: Latino children with disabilities are 鈥渂etter off鈥� if parents stop speaking Spanish in favor of speaking English.

When therapists offer misguided advice, Stechuk explains, there鈥檚 a danger that Latino families will question their own experience, possibly curtailing their interactions with their young children. Three out of four of these parents who participated in the UnidosUS focus groups, he says, are reading to their children on a daily basis, making time for this activity even when juggling multiple jobs and responsibilities. The therapists鈥� advice to stop speaking Spanish could actually undermine the communication skills it is intended to help.

鈥淪hining a light on these issues is an important part of advancing a Prenatal to 3 movement of Latinx/a/o communities鈥� says Amilcar Guzm谩n of the , which supports the work of UnidosUS. 鈥淐apturing the voices of Latina parents is central to creating the supports necessary to enhance the lives of historically underinvested communities.鈥�

Both/And

鈥淟atino families recognize the long-term benefits of bilingualism,鈥� Stechuk says.聽 鈥淭he heritage language is an asset children can draw upon throughout their lives.鈥� Code switching, part of that, is widely understood as an effective communication strategy.

This is also the official position of (ASHA), which 鈥渁s a normal phenomenon engaged in by many fluent bilingual speakers.鈥� A definitive text the ASHA cites, , states unequivocally: 鈥淭his is not to be considered indicative of a language disorder.鈥�

Evidently, however, at least some of ASHA鈥檚 223,000 members and affiliates 鈥� audiologists and speech-language pathologists as well as the scientists and students who research how humans communicate 鈥� aren鈥檛 getting the message. The question is how to make sure that more professionals make better use of the brain science behind bilingualism.

鈥淎SHA recognizes multilingualism as an asset,鈥� says Megan-Brette Hamilton, chief staff officer for multicultural affairs at the organization. 鈥淚t also recognizes that all children, with and without communication disorders, can become multilingual communicators in supportive, language-rich environments.鈥� Hamilton adds that while many children are learning and speaking English in their educational settings, they still need to be able to communicate with their family and community and maintain a connection to their cultural-linguistic heritage.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an 鈥榚ither/or鈥�; it鈥檚 a 鈥榖oth/and.鈥欌��

Hamilton says the association advocates for an additive view of bi/multilingualism, and many clinicians partner with bilingual service providers or interpreters/culture brokers so both English and a child鈥檚 heritage language are supported in service delivery. 鈥淎SHA also makes it a point to provide its members with professional education that assures they consider and use current evidence-based practices that address and promote all languages of exposure.鈥�

Stechuk notes that engaging colleges and universities who train speech language therapists, to make sure all early intervention practitioners take the evidence into account, is also a critical next step.

Difference vs. Disorder

Viorica Marian, professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University and author of the forthcoming , says the research suggests that bilingualism confers all sorts of advantages. 鈥淯pper and upper-middle-class families view it as an asset,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut the nice thing is that everyone can reap the benefits of bilingualism.鈥�

She contends that the English-only advice that many specialists dispense 鈥渋s about bias, not data鈥� and a misunderstanding of 鈥渄ifference鈥� versus 鈥渄isorder.鈥� Just because people do things differently from us doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檙e doing them wrong. In fact, we monolinguals might have something to learn. Marian鈥檚 includes these facts in a section on聽“What Clinicians Should Know”:

• Bilingual children develop an earlier understanding of taxonomic relationships than their monolingual peers (e.g., car and bus are vehicles).
• Linguistic input co-activates both languages in bilinguals; when bilinguals hear or read words in one language, partially overlapping linguistic structures in the other language also are activated.
• Bilinguals have greater gray matter density than monolinguals in certain left hemisphere regions.

鈥淚f the brain is an engine,鈥� she wrote in a , 鈥渂ilingualism may help to improve its mileage, allowing it to go further on the same amount of fuel.鈥�

Confusion about Linguistic Confusion

Children manifest learning and speech disabilities regardless of bilingualism, says Fred Genesee, professor emeritus of psychology at McGill University. 鈥淏ilingualism doesn鈥檛 exacerbate disabilities, and it doesn鈥檛 make the impairments better, either.鈥�

Genesee聽has also been researching bilingualism for decades. He traces the origins of the bias toward monolingualism to longstanding nationalistic, xenophobic beliefs and to flawed academic methods, specifically citing the German linguist Werner Leopold, who wrote about his own daughters鈥� linguistic confusion in the 1940s. (.)

鈥淚t鈥檚 unlikely the brain is so limited,鈥� Genesee says, noting that subsequent research has found that even newborns can distinguish between two languages, based on the rhythmic pattern (also known as prosody). His (2015) maintains, 鈥淐hildren who acquire two languages from birth achieve the same fundamental milestones in language development with respect to babbling, first words and emergence of word combinations as monolingual children within the same time frame despite the fact that they have less exposure, on average, to each language than monolinguals.鈥�

Artificial restrictions on bilingualism, Genesee says, can jeopardize parent-child relationships as well as the neurocognitive benefits of rich language exposure or what he calls 鈥渧itamins and minerals for the brain.鈥� Language is a key component of culture, literacy, communication, among other nutrients a young mind needs.

鈥淭he heritage language,鈥� Genesee says, 鈥渋s a part of who they are.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 蜜桃影视. Learn more here.