Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert is an author, researcher and teacher of English. She has written two books, Language Strategies for Bilingual Families - the one-parent-one-language approach and Bilingual Siblings - Language Use in Families, which are both published by Multilingual Matters. Suzanne’s work focuses in particular on the day-to-day language interactions between family members, school friends and siblings in bilingual families. She has looked at different strategies for each age, or stage of development, and regularly gives talks at international conferences to parents, teachers and educators. She currently lives in France and teaches English to bilingual children and teenagers at the British Council.
I recently had the pleasure of giving a talk at the 43rd TESOL France International Colloquium in Paris on the theme of ‘Embracing Change’. I discussed the transitions from pre-school to leaving school, and how the language balance in a bilingual or multilingual family can change at home and at school. What does this mean for parents bringing up children bilingually?
From first words to pre-school
For very young children growing up in a home with two or more languages, there is a need for direct and practical functional language, such as the terms needed for playing with a toy. There also needs to be a lot of encouraging body language – facial expressions, sounds or gestures to help make sense of the child’s world. Alongside this, there will be a high percentage of direct contact with parents and carers, who typically speak their own language to the child. They often follow the OPOL strategy (one-parent-one-language strategy) where each parent speaks their own language to the child.
My research found that parents with children aged 0 – 3 often have stricter language strategies. They usually only speak their own language or support a less-used language at home. Parents are very keen to support their child’s acquisition of this language at this age.
From pre-school to starting school
As children start attending regular sessions at a pre-school, they will come into contact with an increasing number of practical words linked to the classroom, to friends, to crafts, to songs and to stories. There is less contact with parents and more contact with childcare professionals. We see the need for language for games and activities and even language for negotiating the classroom. Being able to ask for help in the school language is often underestimated but is essential, and the child’s vocabulary related to school increases.
At home, the parents I studied continued with a ‘strict’ language strategy, like the OPOL strategy, taking care to not mix languages and to give the child enough exposure to their own language. However, the community language plays a bigger part as friends come to the home to play or children participate in activities like music or sport.
From primary to secondary school
As formal education starts, parents in bilingual families often have to make important decisions about which languages to choose, if they have the choice. For some families it will be one parent’s language and for some it will be the other parent’s, or it could be another language from the country where they live or a language they choose. For example, sending their child to French-language school outside of France.
Children in this age group will be extending their language repertoire to express their feelings and states, and they will need to react to topics and themes in the class. It is not enough to just listen and speak; they will now need to learn the rules of reading and writing. It is also the start of testing, assessment, spelling, formal writing and homework.
There is higher daily contact with teachers and classmates, often five days a week, and parents at this stage often report that they gradually move to a more mixed-language pattern, which means accepting that the child uses certain words or phrases in the school or community language at home. Parents are generally keen to support the language of the school/community and might also maintain bilingualism through extra-curricular activities.
From secondary up to leaving school and applying for higher education
As children move into secondary school at age 11, they need sufficient language to be able to discuss, argue or prove ideas. There is regular testing, assessment, and scores. Formal reports and decisions are made on their future career options from around the age of 14. There are specific academic texts, curricula and objectives that need a huge amount of vocabulary and a high level of comprehension to follow in class
Children find themselves with a significant amount of homework too, which they may need help with at home. Some parents in bilingual families reported needing to get extra help, perhaps from a tutor or through extra classes to support their child. The parents may move to a more mixed-language pattern or encourage the home to be a specific place where parental languages are spoken. This is often referred to as mL@H (minority-language at home) and is a way of maintaining parental languages at home.
Another issue parents reported was the difficulties around learning a ‘foreign’ language at school. This ‘foreign’ language may, in fact, be a parental language - in which case it might be too easy for a bilingual child - or a new additional language. However, bilingual children are ultimately able to transfer learning skills much quicker than a monolingual child and generally excel in language learning.
As children move towards higher education around age 16 to 18, there will be exams leading to a qualification usually linked to one country. Consequently, there is need for children to ‘prove’ their bilingualism for future studies, to perhaps apply for university or a course in another country. My research showed that parents that have not already done so often report moving naturally to a more mixed pattern or mL@H (minority-language at home) at this stage. Some parents stopped or took a break from maintaining one language at home, saying that their children could now decide which language they felt more comfortable with.
TIPS FOR PARENTS
In light of my research, here are a few tips for parents on supporting multilingualism with their homes:
- As the child grows up, allow reasonable use of mixing at home;
- Adapt family language strategies along the way;
- Accept that some skills, like speaking or writing, can fluctuate over time;
- Support homework as much as possible (ask for help if needed);
- Encourage reading in both languages (even if at different levels);
- Encourage creativity and playing with languages to help maintain them.
To sum up, being bilingual or multilingual is a great gift for any child. The advantages of being able to think from two, or more, perspectives bring cognitive benefits and a wider understanding of different cultures. As parents, caregivers, teachers or educators know, bilingualism can be inspiring and well worth the effort. When a child can communicate in two or more languages, even if they are not at exactly the same levels in terms of skills like writing, reading or speaking, we should applaud the child and encourage them as much as we can.
Further reading
Barron-Hauwaert, S. (2004) Language Strategies for Bilingual Families. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Barron-Hauwaert, S. (2010) Bilingual Siblings – Language Use in Families. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Bialystok, E Bilingualism
https://serious-science.org/bilingualism-6172
Boatman, C (2023) Highlighting the Benefits of Being Bilingual
Ibrahim, N (2015) A few myths about speakers of multiple languages
https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/few-myths-about-speakers-multiple-languages
Ø Highlighting the benefits of being bilingual, by Christine Boatman https://www.edutopia.org/article/benefits-being-bilingual
Ø A few more myths about speakers of multiple languages, by Dr Nayr Ibrahim
https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/few-more-myths-about-speakers-multiple-languages
Ø Bilingualism by Professor Ellen Bialystok https://serious-science.org/bilingualism-6172
Ø Language Strategies for Bilingual Families by Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert https://www.multilingual-matters.com
Ø Bilingual Siblings: Language Use in Families by Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert https://www.multilingual-matters.com