It’s time for another Communication Development Red Flags downloadable resource! This time we’re talking about bilingual communication development.
Bilingualism comes in many shapes and sizes, and there are lots of different ways that children acquire a second language. Some children learn their first language (L1) before a second language (L2) is acquired. This pattern is called sequential bilingualism. Other children learn both languages at the same time. This pattern is called simultaneous bilingualism. Regardless of their pattern of acquisition, a bilingual child’s speech and language development may follow a slightly different path than it would if they were monolingual, and it can be a challenge to figure out whether they’re on track. We designed this downloadable resource to lay out some of the basics and to help to determine if there is a need for further investigation.
Here are a few things to remember if you know kids who are learning more than one language:
- bilingualism is beautiful!
- everyone has an accent
- learning a language is hard work and takes a long time
- language and culture are inseparable
- all languages are good languages
Click on the image or link below for a free download of this resource, and check out our other Red Flags downloads here.