Do bilinguals take longer?

I often hear parents and teachers express concern because their bilingual students and English language learners take longer to show adequate reading or language development progress. It is a valid concern that most people that have not learned more than one language experience the most. My personal experience as an English language learner reminds me how difficult and time consuming it was to learn and keep up with two different languages. It took me about a whole year to stop translating in my head before I could respond to others during a conversation. So for me, it has always been clear that students learning more than one language or an additional language keep up with more. Nevertheless, while reading an article that discusses why bilingual children take longer to learn a language, I experienced some aha moments that address this concern.

Although I knew from experience how challenging it is to learn a language, I always wondered why other teachers were often concerned about students making slower progress than regular peers. The article titled, Children, take longer to learn two languages at once compared to just one -- don't fret confirmed my responses to concerned parents and teachers of bilingual learners. Children take longer because they are learning more. A student learning two languages at the same time must learn vocabulary, grammar, oral language, and reading for both languages. In immersion classrooms, students learn mathematics and science or social studies in the target language to help develop academic and oral language. On the other hand, a child learning English as a second language is required to learn vocabulary, grammar, oral language, and reading in a new language while having to keep up with their native language usage at home with family members. One unique difference about a second language learner is the amount of time spent translating back and forth to try to keep up and absorb the new language.

Most research addressing dual language learners will tell you that these learners often show slow progress in the beginning grade levels but catch up as they approach upper-grade levels. As parents and educators, we must keep in mind that dual language learners are learning two languages, not just one. Students are also known to show different strengths and weaknesses depending on his/her educational background and ongoing instructional support in school and at home. As a result, experts will never recommend comparing students even when they are siblings.

The same goes for English language learners who often perform below their grade-level peers. To reach academic mastery, English language learners must master the English language, in listening, speaking, reading, and writing to be able to read and understand content-area instruction. Even mathematics can become a bit of a challenge at times when academic language is used to teach the content. These students must also develop the ability to predict and make connections using background information using the new language.

It is clear that it takes language learners longer to reach academic success but research also supports that as long as the instructional models used to teach these learners use best practices and is implemented with fidelity students succeed. Only time allows students to show language progress and every student grows at a different rate. A child's educational background, language exposure to both languages and the quality of instruction contribute to his/her language development.

Related Article: Children take longer to learn two languages at once compared to just one -- don't fret

What has been your experience with your child? Is he/she experiencing slow progress towards reading or any other content area?

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