Tag Archives: language input

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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05/02/2013 · 12:30 pm

Making the right school choice for your Family Language Plan

One of the most important elements, outside of the parental languages, in a Family Language Plan is the choice of school. Of course, not every family has the ability to control this element of their language plan, but if you do have a choice, it’s important to choose wisely.
There are three elements to look at when choosing a school:
1. Language
2. Culture
3. Personality (of your child, and the school)

Firstly, language. If you are a bilingual family, with one majority language and one minority language, it’s best to try and balance input by using school to bolster a minority language, if at all possible. If you are a monolingual family, introducing an outside language (i.e. Dutch, in the Netherlands), then school is the logical place to do it. Basically, if you have the possibility to use school choice to balance the languages in your child’s environment, and to help them achieve literacy goals in two or more languages, then this is a good thing to do.

However, there is also the aspect of culture to be taken into account. If you are living in a place where you are not “local” but you need or want your children to fit in, linguistically and culturally, a local-language school would be a better choice. I work with a lot of families who are here in the Netherlands indefinitely, and they struggle with the choice of international schooling versus Dutch schooling. Realistically, if you are going to be living somewhere for a long time, you do want your kids to be able to participate in local culture, and this is the best way to help this happen. Similarly, if a child has one Dutch parent, and one “other”, you need to carefully consider the linguistic benefits of international schooling with the cultural benefits of a local school.

Finally, when all the above seems unclear and unhelpful, you need to consider your child’s personality, and the schools that are available. I believe that finding a school that “fits” your child is more important than any linguistic or cultural agenda the parents may have (shocking, I know!). How your child feels at school, and how they fit in, and how they perform academically, all these factors will help influence the rest of their academic careers. Finding a school where they feel at home, and can truly learn to love learning will benefit them immensely, and putting your child in the “wrong” school can do a lot of damage. Dr. Leonard Sax makes a great point in his book “Boys Adrift”, that parents need to find a school that fits the child, rather than trying to make the child fit the school, and I think this should be the most important factor in school choice. It’s also important to remember that the “right” school may not be the same for all children in one family (unfortunately). Yes, language goals are important, but you can adjust your plan around school language, and find support and success from other avenues. Yes, cultural integration is important, but not at the expense of a child’s spirit.

So, if you are a family who is privileged enough to have a choice in how you educate your children, consider all these factors, and the close your eyes and jump!

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29/11/2012 · 12:47 pm

Whole-family support for (very minor) minority languages

Last night I had the pleasure of spending the evening with a very diverse group of parents. All of them had children who will grow up with two languages, and many had children growing up with three or more languages. A few of the families are lucky enough to have multilingual partners, who speak each other’s languages and can use a variety of bilingual strategies. However, most bilingual families, mine included, have parents who share one common language, but do not master the language of their partner. In a lot of these situations, each parent speaks his/her language to the child, and together they speak English. This dynamic makes it trickier to support a minority language, because it can be used only by one parent.
Last night there were several parents who are transmitting to their children minority languages with small numbers of speakers. The hard task in front of these parents is not only how to provide enough language input for the children to acquire the language, but they also have to try and support the status of the language, so the children will want to speak it. The question then is what tools and techniques can parents use to promote the acquisition and use of a language which seems insignificant in a child’s world. Without visible institutional and community support (TV, school classes, community groups) it can be a daunting task.
One of the most valuable sources of support comes from within families. Having the dominant-language partner involve themselves in the process of supporting the minority language sends a powerful message to the children about language status and language usefulness. For example, if the mother is the only Polish speaker (Hi Olga!), the father may not be able to learn to speak Polish fluently (no time, aptitude, desire or other), but he can certainly enter into the discussion about why Polish is useful and a good thing to learn. He can also learn a few words of Polish – either from his wife or from the children – to engage in some some small way with the minority language. Even if it’s just learning how to say “I love you” and “good night”, it’s a visible and tangible reminder of the place of Polish in family life, and that Polish is valued by both parents.
So, if you are a family with a very minor minority language, consider how your actions may be helping or hindering the place of that language in your children’s eyes and think about what steps you can take to create a home in which all languages are valued and supported.

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26/09/2012 · 10:48 am

How much (insert language here) is enough?

Whether you are an expat family considering a new local language for your children, or a family dealing with multiple languages, the concern about amount of language is the same.
How much of a language, over what time frame, is enough for bilingualism to be successful? Or at the least, how much is enough to make it worthwhile for the parents and the children? There are three factors you need to consider when making the decision about what is “enough”.

The first is the age of the child. Generally speaking, the younger the child, the less you need to worry about “enough”. If you are considering putting your English-speaking 1-year old in a Dutch creche three times a week, for one year, that’s fine. They probably won’t gain enough Dutch to go on to be a Dutch speaker, but it won’t harm them, or their development in English, in any way (linguistically). They may be lucky and have some knock-on effects later in life in terms of other language learning, but they may not.
If you have a 7-year old and are considering school in a new language, “enough” is a much more serious issue. A school-aged child has not only language learning to do, but also content learning to do. During the language learning period (which for older children can be 3-7 years to full cognitive fluency), the child is necessarily either losing out on content learning, or having to work really, really hard to catch up at home. The social aspects of being an older child learning a language in school are also more tricky – some kids are fine with it and some kids really struggle. So, if you have older children, the point at which an immersion experience becomes “worth it” is when there is enough time to master the language, and a long-term prospect to keep it up, and willingness on the part of the child (whenever possible).
If you are a multilingual family and want your children to master more than two languages, you need to plan as much as possible for balanced input. A common number from research is that children need a minimum of 20% total input in each language. This means about 2.5 hours a day of quality input in each language you want them to be able to use. In my experience, this number is on the low side – I find that many children who get only 20% in a language are reluctant to use the language, although they may understand it well.

The second factor to consider is your language goals. If you want your child to be a fluent speaker of a language and be able to read and write, then “enough” is going to be a serious commitment. Most families find that they can manage enough input in two languages to achieve this level in two languages, but the more languages you include the harder it becomes to find the time (and energy!) to provide adequate, good quality input. When looking at your family situation then, you plan for the amount of input that will help your children reach your language goals. If you have a minority language spoken at home and want your children to be able to speak and understand it, you may be able to get away with a couple of hours every day. If you speak a minority language at home but would like your children to be able to go home to your country to university some day, the time and effort needed to develop the language to that level will be much greater (for the parents and the children).

The third factor you need to consider is the individual child. There is a common myth that all children are little sponges and can soak up many languages. To a certain extent, it is true that young children seem to learn language more easily than adults. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t really hard work, and it doesn’t mean that it comes as easily to all children. If your child is very young and used to being communication-challenged, it may not be as hard for them to be put in an environment where they need to learn to communicate in another language. If your child is preschool aged and very shy and has difficulty adapting to new situations, the pay-off for a couple of years in a different language preschool may not be worth the price for the child. This means that each child’s situation must be considered as a part of the decision, and the outcomes may not be the same for all children in a family.

So the short answer is that there is no clear answer to what is “enough”. You must look at the language opportunities, age of children, length of exposure, amount of exposure, language goals and last but not least, the child, to find the answer to your question.

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10/09/2012 · 4:51 pm

Lessons from Scotland: Use it or lose it!

This is just a brief post on a reflection I had while on holidays. We went to Scotland for two weeks, with English-speaking family. About 10 days into our trip, I got a call from someone in the Netherlands. Now, my Dutch is reasonable, and I can usually understand and make myself understood without too much difficulty. However, after only just over a week absence from the need to use Dutch, I really struggled! I couldn’t find my words, and I had trouble following a conversation that normally wouldn’t have given me any trouble.
The moral of this is that if we don’t use language regularly, we can actually “lose” language. Not only is input important for language development, but opportunities for *output* are also critical. If you want your child to master a language, you need to make sure that you create situations in which there is a need to use the language, on a regular basis.

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10/07/2012 · 11:29 am

Talking about bilingualism in the summer holidays.

Summer holidays can be a boon or a bane for bilingual families. For some, it means an opportunity to go on vacation in a country where one of their languages is spoken. For families who can manage regular travel to their “home country”, this can be a valuable tool for helping children to develop in the minority language. Although it can be restrictive to always go to the same place for holidays, the benefits for the children to have an “immersion” vacation are immense. As children get older (and their school friends become more important than their parents…) it can be difficult to encourage them to continue in meaningful communication in the home language. The opportunity to “live’ in the culture, even just for a couple of weeks, reinforces the usefulness of the minority language. The more varied the activity plan, the better, as it is good to allow kids to interact with family members, to use the minority language in public places, to play with other children who only speak the minority language. These invaluable interactions help bolster the language skills of children who are at risk of becoming passive users of one of their languages. So, if you have a minority language, and it is at all possible to go “home” for the summer, or somewhere where the “home” language is spoken, take the chance – you won’t be disappointed in the results.
On the flip side, there are families (like ours) in which the minority language is also the school language. So for us, maintaining the usage of the school language over the holidays is important, especially as it competes with English (an unfair competition!). It takes a concerted effort for me, as the minority-language speaking parent, to change my input over the summer to favour French over English, to replace some of the time they would be doing French at school. On the other hand, I could just start planning a holiday in France!

Bon Voyage everyone!

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01/06/2012 · 10:49 pm

Once an OPOL, always an OPOL?

One of the most common and well-understood methods of raising bilingual children is OPOL – the “One-parent-one language” paradigm. Used mainly in families where the parents have different first languages, OPOL is generally a successful method for raising children who speak two languages. One of the main tenants of OPOL is the importance of consistency – each parent needs to stick with their own language, in order to give consistent input in each language to the child-in-development.
How to go about this can cause some confusion – what about when everybody is together? Should the parents continue to speak *only* their first language? What if they do not speak each other’s languages and need to speak some common language together? Realistically, in an OPOL family, parents do their best to maximize the input from each language, with the understanding that the children will hear them speak other languages sometimes too. When children are very young (up to about the age of 3-4 years old), input for the purposes of language learning is mainly one-to-one interactions. This is why first children often start talking earlier than younger siblings, and why singletons often start talking earlier than twins – the more the input from parents/caretakers is shared among other children, the longer it takes to accumulate enough language to start talking (generally speaking, of course).
The question is, how long must OPOL families retain these strict language divisions? Should each parent keep speaking only their own language until the kids are off to college? In some families, it does work that way, but for the majority of OPOL families (mine included) after the first few critical years, the language dynamic becomes much more fluid. Once the children have differentiated the two languages (or three) in their environment, and have a solid understanding of what belongs in what language, the OPOL rule can often be relaxed somewhat, without damage to the bilingualism process. In our family, we have moved to a “Domains of Use” model now – the kids go to school in French, and when I talk about school with them it’s mostly in French. But when we are together with other English speakers (including the Dad), we all speak English together. This works for us because we have a good balance of French and English in our daily lives, with a healthy smattering of Dutch thrown in. The kids all know what is what in terms of language, and who does what, and they can adjust accordingly.
There are families for whom the move away from the OPOL guidelines can be a slippery slope. Even after the children have developed and are aware of the different languages, if one language is a minority language, the input from that parent is critical. For example, an Italian-Dutch couple raising their children in the Netherlands need to be wary of moving towards using Dutch to the exclusion of the maintenance of Italian. The Italian-speaking parent then needs to always be aware of the importance of enough Italian input to keep the children’s language skills growing. Some research puts the magic figure at 20% of waking time in a language, but I really think it varies among children, and to keep an active usage of the language and encourage growth, 20% is fairly scant.
The bottom line is that OPOL is not always a choice for life – like every other element of the bilingual journey with your children, you need to be aware of how they are doing at all times, and consider different language input options for different circumstances, and even for different children.

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12/03/2012 · 2:17 pm

Talking to Child-minders about Bilingualism

Although I certainly have no objection to working parents (I am one myself, after all!), being a two-working parent family adds another layer to your family language dynamic, and another element to your Family Language Plan.
There are a few issues that come into play when choosing/using child care for your children, in a multilingual family.

Firstly, what language childcare are you going to choose, presuming you have a choice? The easy answer is that you should choose someone who is a proficient speaker of the language your child hears least. In our case, that meant that when our twins were little, we choose a nanny who would speak Dutch with them. Our reasoning was that Dutch is a language they need (we do live in the Netherlands, after all) and we do not speak it at home.
However, it is not always that easy to choose or find childcare in the language you need. For families dealing with a minority language only spoken by one (working) parent, it’s often best to choose childcare with that language in mind. Sometimes difficult decisions need to be made about which languages take priority over others – a process that should be addressed in the family language planning process.

Once you have chosen your childcare, there are two other issues that may arise. The question of “proficient speaker” is one of these. I encounter many families who have chosen in-home care for their children, often in the form of live-in au pairs or nannies. Frequently, these caregivers are not native English speakers (or Dutch) but come from other parts of the world. Many parents worry that their children hearing “substandard” language input will be affected by it. For the most part, I encourage parents not to worry – as long as the children are getting ample correct input (from parents, schools etc) there shouldn’t be an issue, beyond some minor and easily rectified items.

However, a secondary concern is “What language is your childminder actually speaking with your children?” I know from experience that all too frequently, childminders use the language that is easiest, rather than the language the parents want them to use. This is especially common in cases where parents put their children into daycare/creche in the majority language, aiming to have their children become fluent. The strength of the Dutch in learning English often becomes a drawback here – in an attempt to be “nice” or to help the children understand better, many childcare workers here will talk to non-Dutch speaking children in English. While their aims may be noble, in fact they are undermining the language acquisition process, by not maximizing language input in the target language. I’m sure this happens elsewhere in the world as well, and it leads me to my title of today – talking to childminders about bilingualism.

If you childminder is a part of your language plan for your children (and they should be!) then you need to have an on-going discussion about your language goals for your children, and the part the nanny/creche etc plays in those goals. Generally speaking, if you include childminders in your plans, and explain to them their important roles, they will be more likely to be consistent in their language use, and therefore your children will get better input in the target language.

So this week’s task is to talk to your childminder about bilingualism – considering how many childminders I know who are bilingual themselves, it’s bound to be an interesting discussion!

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