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2. The First Three Years and Establishing the One-Parent-One-Language Approach

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Language Strategies for Bilingual Families
This chapter is in the book Language Strategies for Bilingual Families
Chapter 2The First Three Years and Establishing theOne-Parent-One-Language ApproachIn this chapter we look at the first three years, which are extremely important forthe bilingual child. This is the time when they acquirelanguages and link eachlanguage to a person. This time-frame is fascinating because we can see rapid devel-opment in the child from babbling to making short sentences. Language input isstill relatively structured and controlled by parents so the effects of language useon a child are evident on a daily basis. Often parents find this a challenging andexciting phase as they see their new baby begin to talk. Parents have a high levelof interest at this stage in bilingualism and are watching their offspring carefullyin anticipation of verbal skills.We first question in Part One whether very young children are in fact betterlanguage learners? Are they particularly sensitive to languages at a certain age?We then look at getting started and the use of motherese and fatherese in relationto bonding with a new baby. Making a decision about which language and adjustinginput along the way is discussed too. In Part Two we see how young children referto each language and begin to separate them. Some thorny issues are covered, suchas what do you do when you child refuses to answer you in your language? Shouldwe translate words and how can we make sure new words are learnt in bothlanguages? Finally as children near age three we look at the effect that startingpre-school and nursery can have on language use. At the end of the chapter thereare five case-studies of families with young children, showing how they got startedand any problems they encountered along the way.Part One: Very Young Children and Language LearningThere is a universal belief that young children are better than older children andadults at learning languages. Children exposed to two languages from an early agegenerally acquire a good native-speaker like level with apparently little effort. Theircorrect grammar, good accent and pronunciation are the envy of older learners.We now know that children are sensitive to languages from birth and there is probably an optimal age for learning languages from birth to around puberty(Hamers & Blanc, 2001). Some researchers link this optimal age to work done by1111234561789101112311145678920111123456789301111234567894041424323
©Channel View Publications Ltd, Bristol/Blue Ridge Summit

Chapter 2The First Three Years and Establishing theOne-Parent-One-Language ApproachIn this chapter we look at the first three years, which are extremely important forthe bilingual child. This is the time when they acquirelanguages and link eachlanguage to a person. This time-frame is fascinating because we can see rapid devel-opment in the child from babbling to making short sentences. Language input isstill relatively structured and controlled by parents so the effects of language useon a child are evident on a daily basis. Often parents find this a challenging andexciting phase as they see their new baby begin to talk. Parents have a high levelof interest at this stage in bilingualism and are watching their offspring carefullyin anticipation of verbal skills.We first question in Part One whether very young children are in fact betterlanguage learners? Are they particularly sensitive to languages at a certain age?We then look at getting started and the use of motherese and fatherese in relationto bonding with a new baby. Making a decision about which language and adjustinginput along the way is discussed too. In Part Two we see how young children referto each language and begin to separate them. Some thorny issues are covered, suchas what do you do when you child refuses to answer you in your language? Shouldwe translate words and how can we make sure new words are learnt in bothlanguages? Finally as children near age three we look at the effect that startingpre-school and nursery can have on language use. At the end of the chapter thereare five case-studies of families with young children, showing how they got startedand any problems they encountered along the way.Part One: Very Young Children and Language LearningThere is a universal belief that young children are better than older children andadults at learning languages. Children exposed to two languages from an early agegenerally acquire a good native-speaker like level with apparently little effort. Theircorrect grammar, good accent and pronunciation are the envy of older learners.We now know that children are sensitive to languages from birth and there is probably an optimal age for learning languages from birth to around puberty(Hamers & Blanc, 2001). Some researchers link this optimal age to work done by1111234561789101112311145678920111123456789301111234567894041424323
©Channel View Publications Ltd, Bristol/Blue Ridge Summit

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Introduction ix
  4. 1. The One-Parent-One-Language Approach. What is it? 1
  5. 2. The First Three Years and Establishing the One-Parent-One-Language Approach 23
  6. 3. Starting School and Becoming Bicultural – One-Culture-One-Person? 47
  7. 4. Interaction Between Family Members and the One-Person-One-Language Approach 77
  8. 5. One-Parent-One-Language Families – Expectations and the Reality 109
  9. 6. Living With Three or More Languages . . . One-Parent-Two-Languages (or More) 138
  10. 7. Seven Strategies for Language Use Within the Family 163
  11. 8. The One-Parent-One-Language Approach in the Twenty-First Century 192
  12. Appendixes 198
  13. Sources of Information for Bilingual Families 209
  14. Glossary 211
  15. References 215
  16. Index 219
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853597169-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Introduction ix
  4. 1. The One-Parent-One-Language Approach. What is it? 1
  5. 2. The First Three Years and Establishing the One-Parent-One-Language Approach 23
  6. 3. Starting School and Becoming Bicultural – One-Culture-One-Person? 47
  7. 4. Interaction Between Family Members and the One-Person-One-Language Approach 77
  8. 5. One-Parent-One-Language Families – Expectations and the Reality 109
  9. 6. Living With Three or More Languages . . . One-Parent-Two-Languages (or More) 138
  10. 7. Seven Strategies for Language Use Within the Family 163
  11. 8. The One-Parent-One-Language Approach in the Twenty-First Century 192
  12. Appendixes 198
  13. Sources of Information for Bilingual Families 209
  14. Glossary 211
  15. References 215
  16. Index 219
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