A parent's guide to English as a second language

Research has shown that bilingual children have advantages over monolingual children and develop concepts more quickly. Bilinguals do not necessarily have any confusion when learning more than one language. They use the concepts learned in the home language and transfer these to other languages they are learning.

Will my child be confused if she is exposed to languages other than English in the nursery?
Children are flexible thinkers and enthusiastic learners of language. They have a fascination for the sounds and symbols offered by different languages. Charmian Kenner describes in her book Home Pages how 'monolingual children in the nursery project found their encounter with different languages stimulating. They began to talk about the languages spoken by their classmates'.

A niece of my own has an Urdu-speaking mother and a Japanese-speaking father. She was born in Japan and was brought up speaking Japanese as her first language and Urdu as her second language. When she was three years old she came to London to visit me. Within two weeks of arriving she was speaking sentences with words from all three languages.

To everyone's amazement, she could also very easily switch from one language to another. She did not have any confusion at all and she was having great fun experimenting with all the different sounds and words that the three languages offered.

If English is my child's second language, how quickly should they be acquiring it?
Research shows that it takes up to two years to develop basic everyday or survival language. However, it takes much longer - approximately five to seven years - to become a proficient speaker and acquire the academic language needed for success in examinations. The speed at which the proficiency develops is dependent on many factors. These can include age and time of arrival into the setting, level of proficiency in the home language, level of language proficiency in English and the type of support available for language development.

What policies can I expect a nursery to have in place when it comes to supporting my child's home language and helping them to learn English?
The early years setting should have a language policy, which emphasises the importance of developing the home language as well as English. All staff should have a commitment to valuing the languages and cultures of all children in their care. The setting should promote a positive attitude towards bilingualism and provide opportunities for the development of the home language. The language policy should involve and be understood by parents, carers and support staff.

Should I talk to my child at home in English or in our home language?
There are many advantages to talking to your child in the home language. Many studies have shown that children raised bilingually do better at school and are more tolerant of diversity. Speaking two languages is thought to increase cognitive abilities. There are many other advantages:

• Strengthening family ties through communication with grandparents, extended family and the community.
• Culture - the home language is important in social and personality development.
• Education - if the first language is maintained, children can continue their intellectual development without a break, and they can also carry on and study their home language at exam level.
• Learning English - good first language development can act as a support for learning English as a second language.
• Intellectual development - there is evidence that knowing more than one language can increase the flexibility of children's thinking in many areas.
• Employment - being able to communicate in more than one language creates wider employment opportunities.

(Nursery World, 07.12.06)