What Do Language Delays Look Like In Bilingual Kids?

The normal pattern of monolingual language development has carefully been mapped out by pediatric providers performing well-child checkups. It seems easy for a pediatrician to say whether or not a monolingual infant or toddler is “on target” with her language development. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that all children develop individually, and that these schedule may not be very meaningful in every situation. “Behind” could indicate a real problem, or it could simply mean that the child is a little later than the majority of his peers.

The same is true for bilingual children as well. Some bilingual kids are going to be late talkers, which may or may not indicate a learning difference. Simultaneously bilingual children will generally follow a language development schedule similar to their monolingual peers, with the difference that the words they'll know can be in either language, and that the may mix their languages into a hybrid at first.

Sequentially bilingual kids could manifest syntax issues. If the child's second language is, in fact, the majority language in the child's country of residence, then professionals involved in that child's life may be more likely to see this as a problem. The child is simply going to need time and more exposure in order to fix these issues though. In time, the child will catch up with their monolingual peers.

How about kids with learning difficulties? Professionals may see multilingualism as harmful in children with learning difficulties, or children of below-average intelligence. They may suggest that families speak only the country's official language. I have no personal experience with this situation, but professional literature points out an obvious problem with such proposals.

If a child fluently speaks a first language, and you then decide to utilize only the official language, you may be stripping the child of his only way to express himself comfortably. This is clearly a bad idea. Furthermore, Canadian studies suggest that children of below-average intelligence are indeed capable of learning two languages. They may well take more time, however.