Abstract
Raising a bilingual child is a book aimed at parents looking for information, practical advice and encouragement for creating a multilingual environment for their children. After an introduction explaining the author’s own background, the aim of the book and how to use it, the text is further divided into eight chapters on different aspects surrounding the multilingual environment.
Chapter 1, ‘The benefits of childhood bilingualism’, presents the (research-based) advantages of raising a multilingual child. It lists and describes a range of benefits a child can reap from bilingualism (from the point of view of personal relationships, financial gain, cultural heritage and education).
Chapter 2, ‘Learning a first language’, focuses on principles, theories and debates over language development (e.g., Language Acquisition Device, Skinner’s behaviourism, Chomsky, nature vs. nurture), and on children’s major linguistic milestones.
The third chapter, ‘Learning two (or more) languages’, looks at similarities and differences between monolingual and bilingual acquisition. It explains, for example, thedifference between bilingual first language acquisition and early second languageacquisition. It also introduces more complex notions of bilingual mode, one vs. two-systems and critical period before moving on to the development of the different aspects of the development of the language system (vocabulary, morphosyntax).
Chapter 4, titled ‘Establishing a bilingual environment’, outlines different strategies documented in the literature and used by parents to create and promote a rich linguistic environment. It also deals with a number of very practical everyday questions for parents in a variety of social situations (e.g., what to do if a visitor comes who does not speak one of the languages).
The fifth chapter, ‘How-to testimonials’, presents a series of case studies (real-life families) who have adopted a multilingual approach to child rearing. The case studies range from the traditional and well-documented One-Parent-One-Language strategy to what Pearson calls ‘accidental bilinguals’ (p. 189), who might learn another language through bilingual or immersion schooling, for example, or travel and distant relatives.
The sixth chapter is titled ‘Are there any children who cannot learn two languages?’ and focuses on what might/can go wrong with the learning of two or more languages. It deals with Specific Language Impairment, deafness and other issues by presenting a number of case studies highlighting possible solutions and sources of help.
Finally, the last two chapters, Chapter 7: ‘Research comparing monolinguals and bilinguals’ and Chapter 8: ‘About bilingual identity’, debunk the myths surrounding bilingual children’s slow pace of linguistic development and confusion. Pearson uses research evidence to dispel these myths and in particular her own research evidence from studies looking at vocabulary (and grammar to a lesser extent). She also uses testimonies in Chapter 8 to dismiss the claim that a bilingual child’s (cultural) identity will be confused by having two cultures. The book ends with a series of tables, indexes, definitions, references and summaries serving as a quick reference guide.
As a researcher in (bilingual) language acquisition, I am often asked to recommend books to parents about raising their child bilingually. I find this task quite challenging as I often wonder whether the level of the book I choose/recommend will be right for the parents/families in question. There are numerous books out there which do claim to be aimed at parents but fail to provide any real answer to their questions or do not pitch the issues at a level they will understand by being written in an academic style. Pearson’s step-by-step guide for parents does what it says on the cover. It is easy to read, presents facts and answers questions based on empirical research evidence but without being overly simplistic. All of the chapters are research-based and cite many excellent and up-to-date pieces of research without entering into the scientific jargon that usually scares parents away from such books. The book is full of tables and summaries which can be used as reminders or quick reference for answers. Pearson also uses some very illustrative figures (like that of the trees in Chapter 3 to show the differences between early SLA and BFLA). The content of the book is very flexible: each chapter can be read on its own and the reader can choose to follow the order of the book or not. The advice given is unambiguous and easy to follow.
Pearson’s enthusiasm about the topic can be seen throughout the book. Is it too enthusiastic? Some might say it is. From a researcher’s point of view, Pearson does not fully directly convey the idea that the bilingual child might not be two monolinguals into one. For example, a child’s lexicon in one language might be below the norm when compared with that of a monolingual child at the same age. Parents may need to be aware that this is a completely normal stage. Chapter 7, which deals with this issue, is probably the least easy to read chapter for parents but the most crucial one when it comes with dealing with potential developmental issues.
Despite this, when it comes to recommending books to potential bilingual families, this will now be part of my list.