3 common myths about bilingualism

There are officially over 50 bilingual and multilingual countries in the world, including Switzerland, a small but culturally diverse country with four official languages. As an early years educator in Switzerland, I have spent a lot of my time teaching both bilingual and trilingual children.

Even though the children are quite young, most show understanding of all languages spoken at home and/or school, even if they only recognize a few words and don’t yet communicate using sentences.

The acquisition of languages can happen in one of two ways: either simultaneously (when both languages are acquired at the same time), or sequentially (when the learning of a second language happens after the acquisition of a first language).

This brings us to the first myth about bilingualism:

Myth #1: Bilinguals have equal knowledge of both languages

Truth: The acquisition of two (or more) languages can be simultaneous or sequential. In the case of simultaneous bilingualism, children are taught both languages simultaneously (as the name itself indicates), while in the case of sequential bilingualism, the learning of a second language starts after the acquisition of a first language.

When one of the languages is more used than the other, it becomes dominant, which is often the case for bilinguals.

Another common misconception about bilingualism is that:

Myth #2: Bilingualism confuses children and could delay their speech

There are several myths regarding bilingualism at an early age; such as, the learning of a second language will delay the child’s learning of the first language. There are claims that the first language should not be spoken at home, so that the child can more easily start the learning process for the second language, although none of this has been proved.

In truth there are several factors that could slow down the learning of a second language, but none are directly linked to bilingualism. For example, factors such as the child not having enough exposure to the second language, or similarities between the first and the second language or even the child’s personality.

SIDENOTE: It is very important to detect language delays at an early stage and seek support to help the child during their learning process. The earlier you can detect potential delays, the better.

With more children being raised bilingual, more and more studies on this topic have arisen. This has naturally resulted in misinterpretation of the research, along with claims that bilingualism can be beneficial for brain development. This leads us to our final myth: 

Myth #3: Bilinguals possess twice as much vocabulary as monolinguals

Truth: Just because bilinguals have knowledge of two languages, that does not mean that they have more vocabulary than monolinguals. According to studies, bilinguals use just as many words as monolinguals when telling stories in both their languages. If anything, monolinguals might possess more vocabulary, and as bilinguals often have a dominant language, meaning they may know more words in their dominant language.

Suggested reading: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.43, doi:10.1017/S1366728908003477, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acn.2007.01.015