22/04/2013 · 12:25 pm

OPOL: Does it always work?

Over the last decade or so, the OPOL method of raising bilingual children has gotten a lot of positive press. It sounds pretty simple – One parent, one language. So I speak French to my kids and my husband speaks English to them, and they will grow up bilingual. Sounds easy, yes? But the reality, as with anything to do with families or children, is not as simple or clear cut.
Just employing the OPOL method can produce bilingual children, but over my years of working with bilingual families, I have seen that it doesn’t guarantee success. Here are what I find to be the most common complications or limitations of OPOL:

1) Lack of minority language development.
Realistically, if a couple in the Netherlands, for example, have one English-speaking and one Dutch-speaking parent, their children are going to grow up hearing *far* more Dutch than English. By the time the kids are in school (or earlier if they are in child care in Dutch) they will be spending the majority of their time in Dutch, even more so if the English speaking parent works full time. Realistically then, one parent speaking English with the kids for an hour or so every day is possibly not going to be enough to produce “bilingual” children.
What can you do? In this situation, the family needs to find more time for English, whether that means English-speaking child care, or both parents using English at home, some or all of the time.

2) The slide towards the majority language….
In many bilingual families, the minority language speaking partner also speaks the majority language. This happens a lot in the English-speaking world (or other immigrant paradigms) where, for example, a Spanish/English speaking American marries an English-speaking American. Often, the Spanish-speaking parent sets out with the bet of intentions, determined to pass on Spanish to the children. But then they use a lot of English too, to be inclusive with friends and family, and to talk to child minders/teachers… and the kids very quickly pick up on the fact that Spanish is not *necessary* to communicate with that parent, or with anyone. They can use English all the time, and be just fine. So the children start speaking to the parent in English, and while the parent makes a valiant effort to keep speaking Spanish, eventually the use of Spanish dwindles… and the children are not bilingual at all, or anymore.
What can you do? From the beginning, if you are the minority speaking parent, know that your job will not be easy, and you will have to work at it. I meet parents all the time who tell me that they thought raising bilingual children with OPOL would be easy. It’s not, for many of us. If you are serious about passing your language on to your children, set your goals (what kind of language do I want them to have, what do I want them to be able to do?) and then make a plan. Activate all the resources in your network or find a new network that provides you, and your children with the language input and support they need to achieve bilingualism.

3) Lack of cohesion and consistency
Sometimes a parent who speaks both languages (and possibly other languages) in an OPOL family can have problems choosing what language to speak. So, they use a little of this, and a little of that. A lot of the OPOL literature stresses consistency, and I believe it to be true that consistency is desirable, primarily in the early years when the language system is being formed. Also, the early years are the time that the parents have the most influence over their children, so if you are passing on a minority language, it’s important to use these years to transmit as much language you can – there will be lots of time for #1 and 2 above to happen… but if you did a great job of building a language foundation before your kids start to only use the majority language, they have a better chance of coming back to the language later. Does it really mess kids up if a parent uses two languages, intermixed? I don’t think we really know the answer to this yet, as there are too many variations in family language use. But I do think that it’s best to be consistent, as much as possible, in the early years, if only to make your children’s task easier. Once the children are older, and have well-developed language systems, you can be more fluid in your language use. I use English, French and Dutch with my kids all in the same day, and sometimes even in the same conversation, and it’s a way of developing their linguistic abilities, and using translanguaging to deepen knowledge.
What can you do? This comes down to what motivates each parent, personally. You can do some reading on how to best use OPOL, or just make a resolution to only use “your” language with your children. It’s helpful for both parents to be on the same page about this, and to see the benefits of consistent language input for young children.

This post was inspired by a question on a Facebook group I belong to – I’ll be back, hopefully next week, with a post about translanguaging, and also one about a seminar I attended with Jim Cummins last week.

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16/04/2013 · 10:20 am

The Multilingual World of Irish Dance

Over the weekend, I spent many hours running the canteen at an Irish dance “Feis”. My daughter is a dancer, and every year they host a competition, attracting dancers from various parts of Europe. Over the weekend, I spoke to people from Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Finland, England, Ireland, the US and Canada. The most satisfying part of the experience was being able to help people in their own language. People say that English is the global language, and that if you speak English you don’t need anything else. I disagree, and this weekend was a good example of why. When people approached my canteen counter, I could often tell they were hesitant to order – worried about which language to use, and not wanting to get it wrong. I quickly figured out that the best way to put them at ease was to offer “English, francais or nederlands?”. I only speak a little German, but there was a German woman helping out and she took over the German side of things. It was such an amazing experience to see how people relax and feel more at ease when someone offers them linguistic options – and communication becomes an act of inclusion rather than exclusion when both people are making an effort.
But watching my daughter do the same was equally moving as well – she speaks English and French fluently and her Dutch is reasonably good, but she is shy about using it. Having the opportunity to use all three languages, sometimes in the same conversation was something that really brought home to her how lucky she is to have the opportunity to be multilingual, and how powerful it can be to speak to people in their own languages, rather than always through the medium of English.
The whole event was surrounded by an impressive linguistic atmosphere, with people speaking in many languages, and moving back and forth between them to achieve the best communication. Germans speaking French with Belgians, and Belgians speaking English with Italians and so many other combinations. It led me to reflect, once again, on the idea of “translanguaging” in bilingualism. Once we move past our ideas that a language is static and must be used as such, we realize that language is infinitely changeable and malleable and that we can do whatever we want with it to promote communication and inclusion. Seeing translanguaging in action was a brief insight into what communication could be like if we all make an effort to use the languages of people around us.

Next week: An introduction to translanguaging for bilingual education and bilingual families.

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08/04/2013 · 12:36 pm

Renovations, TinyEYE, and other brief musings…

We are presently having our house renovated, so the corner of the sofa that serves as my office and thinking space is no longer available to me… thus the short and shallow post from today.

Firstly, an update on TinyEYE online speech therapy. A few months ago I posted about this fantastic effort to provide online, multilingual speech services to children who live outside their community of practice. At the time, they had Dutch and English speech therapists and platforms available, and were working on French. They’ve now let me know that they have introduced therapy in French and in Italian as well. They can do speech therapy online with children at home, anywhere in the world. They also work with schools, to offer speech therapy in these languages where it might not otherwise be available. You can find out more information on their website TinyEYE. At the moment, the website is only in Dutch, but they are working on multilingual information brochures for parents. You can also email them for more information, their English is fantastic.

A great article to share: I follow a very interesting site called InCultureParent, which is broadly focused on parenting Third-Culture Kids (TCKs). Today they have a great article about personality type and bilingualism, based on her experience with her two daughters. I know I have mentioned here before that no two bilingual children are alike, even in the same family, and personality and learning style impact bilingual success as well. Here is the article, read and enjoy:

8 Tips for Encouraging Bilingualism in Different Personality Types

On language and politics: The very nice team of builders working on our apartment are Polish. The boss speaks very good English, but spent the first part of his school career learning Russian… after the fall of the Iron Curtain, he estimates it took about three weeks for the school to switch from teaching Russian to teaching English. How closely language and politics are related, and how quickly one language can go from favoured status to pariah.

And on that note, I’m signing off for today to go think about plinths…

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25/03/2013 · 1:40 pm

Heritage languages: Fighting a losing battle?

I’ve been thinking about this issue for a while, and was finally motivated to write about it by a post on a parenting board. A Spanish-speaking American mother was considering her language use with her children, and how much Spanish she does or should use with her children. This sparked a discussion with some other children of immigrants, and even from that small sample, the trends of language use in the US came through. Statistically, by the third generation, Americans have lost the language that came to the country with their grandparents. Despite the recent increase in xenophobic panic and “English only” movements, this trend is still firmly in place (Source). First generation immigrants tend to arrive with limited English, so they continue to speak to their children in their own language (Mother Tongue, heritage language, first language, community language…). The second generation grows up bilingual, in their parents’ language and in English, but they raise their own children, the third generation, to be English monolinguals.
Why is this? Is it something we should be worried about? Is there anything that can be done? The answers to the first and last questions are quite clear-cut. The answer to the second one, however, is much more personal.
The reasons for the shift away from bilingualism can’t be described in one short post, but in a nutshell, I think the most important elements are language status and lack of information. You can read more about language status here but basically, home languages in the US are viewed as unnecessary and not worthy of serious effort to sustain. On the flip side, in Canada, where “Heritage Languages” receive government support, in policy and in funding, the results are quite different. Over the last 50 years, the number of immigrants succeeding in transferring their language through three generations has increased greatly (Source. The difference in perceived value and institutional support helps immigrants maintain their language, and pass it on to their children. So, that’s the “why”, in brief (and only for a certain situation).
Now let’s look at what can be done. Firstly, every immigrant, migrant, refugee needs to understand the value of the language and the culture they bring with them. You can be American, or Canadian, and be bilingual, or not speak English perfectly. After all, the first languages of these countries were hugely diverse, and none of them were English. Secondly, there needs to be a better transmission of knowledge about the benefits of bilingualism. There are so many potential cognitive, linguistic and social benefits to bilingualism that people don’t always know about, or understand. There needs to be a better societal and educational understanding of why bilingualism is beneficial, to refute the on-going discussions about bilingualism being a threat. This starts with everyone who works with parents and small children – doctors, nurses, health clinics, social workers, teachers – these people all need a better understanding of why bilingualism should be encouraged, and how to do so.
And now the stickier question – should we be worried? In my opinion, absolutely, but of course I am going to say that. In reality, every family facing the choice of moving to a new monolingual standard after immigration, or keeping bilingualism alive in their family has to make their own choice. For families who arrive in a new language location with young children, the best choice is to maintain bilingualism. The potential risks of “dropping” a language for a child are great – these populations are at risk of not “mastering” any language and therefore suffering academically. But for families who are raising the third generation, parents who can speak English (or the main language of their new home) fluently, is there an imperative to pass on the “old” language and aim for bilingualism? And if this choice is made, is it possible to pass on another language when faced with the juggernaut of English in the US (or Canada, or the UK…)? Yes, it is possible, but it takes dedication and planning. Do some research, and understand first all of the really great things your kids will take away from being bilingual. Consider how hard it will be for them to try and learn another language later, through an imperfect education system. Consider also the benefits that you, yourself, have had from being bilingual- linguistic benefits, but also the contact with your culture and your heritage. If all of these combine to make you sure that you want to pass your language on, then make a plan that will get you there. You need to consistently expose your children to the other language, you need to have resources for reading, and encourage other family members and friends to use the language with your children. You need to bring the language alive for your children, so that they can understand and communicate and feel a part of the people represented by the language.
For more information on Family Language Planning you can read here.
For more information on minority language support you can read this post about creating monolingual situations to support minority language growth, and this post for families where only one parent speaks the minority language.
In my opinion, not only as a specialist, but also as a bilingual who worked very hard as an adult to become bilingual, it’s absolutely worth the effort and planning to pass another language, and a cultural heritage, on to a new generation.

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18/03/2013 · 9:34 am

Guest post: Bilingualism and Survival of the Toughest Language

A few weeks ago I was approached by a writer, asking to submit a guest post to my blog. This isn’t something I do very often, but she is a former ESL teacher and is interested in bilingualism. She works for a UK college that supports international students preparing for university studies in the UK. So, I thought, why not give a guest post a chance? (NB. I was not paid to publish this…) Here is the article from Corina David.

Bilingualism and Survival of the Toughest Language
There are more and more scientists and researchers that dedicate their time to the study of languages, and the discovery of their common ancestor. According to Mark Pagel, in one of his TED lectures: “Each of you possesses the most powerful, dangerous and subversive trait that natural selection has ever devised. It’s a piece of neural audio technology for rewiring other people’s minds. I’m talking about your language”.
Language and the way language is acquired is indeed a fascinating subject.
Consider children: they start with strange sounds, then half words, then funny words, then proper words and proper sentences. They need no explanation as far as how to link words, how to start a sentence or how to ask a question. They know it instinctively. Now, in families where two languages are spoken this is all the more interesting. Of course, only if the parents decide that both languages will be spoken.

Confused?!
Now, one of the major concerns in bilingual families is that being exposed to two languages, the child might be a bit confused and therefore start using language only later. While this is a popular concern, it is also a myth, as researchers do not have any data to support that bilingual children start developing language with a certain delay.
On the contrary; according to an article in Science Daily babies as young as seven months can distinguish between, and begin to learn two languages with vastly different grammatical structures. The research was done by University of British Columbia and Université Paris Descartes. The study revealed that infants in bilingual milieus use pitch and duration cues to distinguish between English and Japanese – languages that have opposite word orders.
Werker, a linguist at the Université Paris Descartes and co-author of the new study said: “If you speak two languages at home, don’t be afraid, it’s not a zero-sum game.” “Your baby is very equipped to keep these languages separate and they do so in remarkable ways.”
Even if other researchers state that talking to children in two languages, mixing words or borrowing them from the other language might confuse the child at first, they still admit that bilingualism has much more advantages in the long term. It is also recognised that bilingual children have a better “working memory” than monolingual children.
Bilingualism as part of international mobility
Children are exposed to a second language not only because of a bilingual family, but because of international mobility. This makes it all the more interesting as the parents themselves may not speak the new language, and therefore cannot explain it to their children, yet these manage to master it. Age plays an important role here. If children are exposed to the new language as babies, they will acquire and speak it as if it were their native language, without parents contributing to this. The older they get, the more difficult it will be for children to acquire the new language without any help.
Now, with international mobility, the use of the internet and globalisation, English has come to be the dominant language. It may not be so in 20 years’ time, but for the time being it is. And what if there were really gifted children who cannot get their ideas across because English might constitute a barrier?
This is a very interesting question and it was voiced by Patricia Ryan, English teacher (30 years of experience) in the Arabic countries. One of her brilliant questions is: “What if Einstein had to pass a TOEFL test?” Her TED talk can be seen here.
The question is absolutely mind boggling, and although there is great truth in her statements and efforts are made to preserve the endangered languages, the rule of success is that children, students, adults and entrepreneurs will have to accept that the same rule of the survival of the toughest applies in the fascinating universe of languages. Some languages slowly fade away, some struggle and others just bloom. It’s a matter of getting adapted to the new rules.

This is a guest post on behalf of an International College in the UK. Their main goal is to help international students achieve their ambitions, and therefore offer various courses to help them do that. English language courses and IELTS preparation courses are also available.

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11/03/2013 · 12:49 pm

When Bilingualism Goes Political

As a Canadian, I am very aware of the political nature of bilingualism in many places. Historically, language has been used to dominate and assimilate, and to include or exclude certain groups from mainstream society. Language is not only about communication, but also about culture and thought and how we interact with others. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#atop) forbids discrimination on the basis of language. Yet still, in the 21st century, language is used as a political weapon.
A few weeks ago a good friend in Canada (hi Ian!) directed my attention to an article about the Quebec language laws, and plans to restrict English further. (http://m.publishing.rogers.com/macleans/share/2012-35/08a_nat_patriquin.html). I’ve been gone from Canada for a long time, but I lived in Quebec for almost ten years, and became bilingual in Quebec, and felt a strong sense of belonging in my “francophone” life there. It saddens me greatly to see that politicians in Quebec are still restricting access to English, for reasons that are entirely political and not at all pragmatic. For people who aren’t aware of the language laws in Quebec, Bill 101 lays out what activities can happen in English in the province, and under what conditions, including in the field of education. Generally speaking, the only people who have the right to English-language schooling for their children must also have been schooled in English themselves, at the primary or secondary levels. This was done to prevent immigrants and refugees from choosing English-language schools for their children, to increase the numbers of French speakers. A worthy end-goal, but certainly a vinegar approach rather than honey. In the new legislation, they would extend these limitations to post-secondary education as well, meaning that francophone students would no longer be allowed to attend English-language colleges (CEGEPS).
I absolutely understand the desire to maintain the French language as the language of Quebec, both emotionally and functionally. However, I abhor the use of language to segregate and marginalize. When I was teaching in France, my students often mentioned that it must be hard to teach such low-level learners, after teaching in Quebec, where everyone surely spoke English very well. Unfortunately, not true. Years of politicking about language and restricting language learning and use has led to a great divide in Quebec, as one of the only places in the world that I can think of where people actively refuse the use of a second language.
Far from learning from our past, when linguistic minority groups were routinely discriminated against and eliminated, language discrimination seems to be once again on the rise. From the Quebec situation to activist groups in the US pushing for “English-only” legislation, we seem to be celebrating bilingualism on an individual level, but still can’t deal with it on a societal level in many places. Europe has a “language rich Europe” program, but speakers of minority or immigrant languages are still routinely discriminated against. School children are still being forbidden the use of their home language at school, and being forced to use only a language that they do not master. And politicians are still using the emotional power that language stirs up to promote their own nationalist, discriminatory agendas.
There is not really one thing we can do to change this, except to keep advocating, not only for our own families, but for everyone’s families, the benefits of bilingualism and the understanding that comes with using the language of another.
In the next weeks I am going to spend some time looking for online resources to help share the message of positive bilingualism, please share your resources as well.

/end political diatribe…

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21/02/2013 · 1:19 pm

Choosing the “right” language for your child

While many parents struggle to find opportunities for bilingualism for their children (particularly in the English-speaking world) in some cases, parents have a plethora of languages from which to choose. Following on my last post, what is a parent to do when they have more than one choice of language to pass on to their children? The answer, for most people, is easy – choose the “most useful” language. In reality though, that is not always the right choice.
In many places in the world where societal bilingualism is practiced, people grow up mastering languages that have differing usefulness in different circumstances. For example, in the Philippines, large numbers grow up with a local language or dialect, such as Illocano, the major language of the region, such as Tagalog, and often a third, colonial-based language, such as English. In such a case, which language is a parent to prioritize? Another example, from the European perspective, is the large numbers of people who grow up speaking a “dialect” and a main language, such as Lombard and Italian in Italy, or Cypriot Greek and Greek in Cyprus. In all of these cases, parents are generally pushed to choose the major language to pass on to their child. Reasons vary, but is generally considered that the language that gets you the most bang for your buck is the one to choose.
I would argue that while this may sometimes be the case, it is certainly not always the case. Language is not only a method of communication, but also a means of cultural transfer, and a way of thinking and being. A parent who feels very strongly identified with the culture represented by their minority language or dialect would be better off choosing this language to pass on to their children. One aspect to consider is “What language makes you truly YOU?”? Choosing a language that you do not identify fully with and embrace may hinder your communication with your children, and in the long-run, you may regret that they don’t share the language that is closest to your heart.
This is often one of the reasons cited for telling parents not to speak a language to their children that is not their “Mother Tongue”. The concept of Mother Tongue is, for many reasons, flawed (that’s another post for another day), and the idea that the only language you can/should pass to your children is your “first” language is also flawed. I am an English speaker (only) by birth, but learned French, to a native-speaker level (oral/aural) as an adult. Yet I chose to speak to my children in French. I lived in French for almost a dozen years, in Quebec and in France, and for most of those years the main relationships/friendships in my life were in French. I felt thoroughly comfortable and completely “myself” in French, and I wanted my children to be bilingual and to master both of Canada’s official languages. I did, of course, take into account the aspects of our family language plan that I could not achieve for my children regarding French, which is why they attend a French school now. I’ve had no difficulties bonding with my children or communicating with them fully, despite the fact that French is not my “Mother Tongue” and other parents can and have done the same.
The bottom line is that there is no right answer to the question of what is the “right” language to choose to pass on to your children if you are a bilingual/multilingual parent. You need to consider not only usefulness, in terms of number of speakers, but also your own relationship with the languages/dialects you speak and the cultures attached to them. If you choose for a minor language or dialect, defending your choice will probably be a common occurrence, or now you can just send them to read this post…

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