How are multilingual children different from bilingual children?

Although more and more families today experience multilingual environments, many people still find the difference between bilingualism and multilingualism confusing. While both terms refer to the use of two or more languages, there are clear differences between them.

1) Bilingualism refers to the ability to use two languages ​​fluently. Bilinguals are proficient in speaking, reading, and understanding two languages. This applies to countless people who grow up in families where both languages ​​are naturally integrated into daily life.

2) Multilingualism goes one step further and involves speaking three or more languages . Speaking three or more languages ​​is particularly common in cultures with many languages, where children are exposed to multiple languages ​​at home, at school, and in the community.

Children growing up in bilingual and multilingual environments share similarities in their language learning processes, but they also have unique characteristics that are unique to children growing up in multilingual environments.

Today, we'll explore the challenges and advantages faced by children growing up in multilingual environments, how bilingualism and multilingual development differ, and why that distinction matters.

Special developmental aspects experienced only by multilingual children

Multilingual children who are exposed to three or more languages ​​are said to have special experiences that are different from those of bilingual children. What are some of these experiences?

1. Changes in the dominant language

One of the biggest challenges facing multilingual children is the constant shift in their dominant language. While bilingual children tend to maintain a good balance between their two languages, multilingual children often deal with three or more languages, so there may be a point where one language becomes dominant over the others.

For example, a child who speaks French and Spanish at home may become more fluent in English when exposed to an English-speaking environment. This can lead to a decline in their ability in their native languages, which is a natural consequence.

2. Vocabulary distributed across languages

Additionally, multilingual children have more fragmented vocabularies than either bilingual or monolingual children. Because multilingual children must acquire more languages, they may have a large vocabulary in one language but a relatively small vocabulary in the other two languages.

However, this does not necessarily mean a developmental delay. It simply means that vocabulary is spread across multiple languages.

For example, one study reported that two-year-old children exposed to three languages ​​had smaller vocabularies in each language than bilingual children, but when all three languages ​​were considered, their total vocabulary was larger or similar to that of bilingual children (De Houwer, 2009).

3. Cognitive flexibility and executive function

Multilingual children have a huge advantage: greater cognitive flexibility .

Continuously switching between languages ​​forces the brain to perform a lot of linguistic processing, which is said to enhance executive functions such as concentration, memory, and cognitive flexibility .

Research also shows that multilingual children are better able to shift their attention on a given task or suppress unnecessary information, and furthermore, there is research that shows that children who grow up in a multilingual environment may show cognitive decline due to aging later.

Because we continually stimulate our brains by switching between languages, our cognitive resilience increases (Bialystok, 2001; Schroeder & Marian, 2017).

Social and Emotional Development: Improving Multicultural Empathy

Children growing up in multilingual environments exhibit unique characteristics not only in their language skills but also in their social and emotional development. Multilingual children are said to develop the ability to understand diverse cultural contexts, respect others' perspectives, and effectively express emotions through the process of using multiple languages.

1. Improve your ability to understand other people's perspectives

Children exposed to multiple languages ​​exhibit a greater ability to understand others' perspectives, also known as "perspective-taking." Beyond language, this ability involves understanding others' perspectives and understanding their intentions. Studies have shown that children exposed to multiple languages ​​demonstrate a greater ability to understand others' perspectives than children who speak only their native language.

For example, in an experiment with children aged 4 to 6, children exposed to a multilingual environment showed improved social cognitive abilities, as they understood adults' requests more accurately (Fan et al., 2015).

2. Enhancement of cultural empathy

Children who grow up in multilingual environments have a higher level of cultural empathy , the ability to understand and respect diverse cultural backgrounds.

As children learn multiple languages, they naturally acquire the cultural context of each language. These experiences positively impact their emotional intelligence and social relationships. Furthermore, these experiences help children understand and accept diverse cultural differences.

3. Enhanced emotional expression and self-awareness

Children who speak multiple languages ​​develop a richer vocabulary and more expressive ways to express their emotions. For example, the words used to express sadness may vary across languages, and this variety of expressions helps children more accurately recognize and express their emotions.

These abilities lead to improved self-awareness and emotional regulation, which play a crucial role in forming healthy social relationships (Fan et al., 2015).

Children growing up in multilingual environments...

Although children growing up in multilingual environments may experience shifts in language dominance and language delays , multilingual environments are nonetheless said to have positive effects on children , including cognitive flexibility, social empathy, and emotional resilience .

Next time, we'll explore how parents and educators can support multilingual children . We'll explore effective strategies to help multilingual children thrive at home and in school. Stay tuned!

Reference:

Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition . Cambridge University Press.

Byers-Heinlein, K. (2013). The role of cultural and linguistic diversity in the development of bilingual children . In JSG Kohnert, DW Ball, & MHK Silva (Eds.), The Handbook of Language and Communication Disorders (pp. 174-190). Wiley-Blackwell.

De Houwer, A. (2009). Bilingual first language acquisition . Multilingual Matters.

Fan, S., et al. (2015). Early exposure to a multilingual environment promotes effective communication . Psychological Science.

Schroeder, S., & Marian, V. (2017). Cognitive consequences of trilingualism . International Journal of Multilingualism.