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How do Bilingual Children with Language and Cognitive Impairments Compare with Monolingual Children?
Marika King
1/8/2017 10:21 PM
Bilingual language development is a common experience across the globe with an estimated 50% of the world’s children growing up exposed to more than one language (Crystal, 2003). Thus, it seems logical that our discussion of supporting children with complex communication needs includes children who grow up in bilingual and multilingual environments. Evidence from the literature related to bilingual language development in typically developing children points to no substantial negative effects of bilingual language development and possible cognitive advantages (Bialystok et al., 2009).
However, this raises the question, whether the same is true for children with linguistic and cognitive impairments. After all, if children with language impairments struggle with learning one language, wouldn’t learning two languages be even more challenging and possibly confusing? In recent years, researchers in speech-language pathology and related disciplines have begun to address this question. The majority of research on bilingual children with developmental disabilities has focused on children with specific language impairment (SLI) which by definition, excludes children with intellectual disability (e.g., Leonard, 2014). However, several studies have included children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and Down syndrome (DS).
Children with SLI who are raised in a bilingual environment, demonstrate difficulties in learning both languages but numerous studies indicate that these linguistic difficulties are similar to monolingual peers with language impairments (e.g., Gutiérrez-Clellen et al., 2008; Paradis, Crago, & Genesee, 2006; Paradis, Crago, Genesee, & Rice, 2003). Studies of bilingual children with ASD reveal similar findings to those of bilinguals with SLI. Several studies found that bilingual and monolingual children with ASD demonstrated similar language skills. (Hambly & Fombonne 2012; Ohashi et al., 2012; Petersen, Marinova-Todd, & Mirenda, 2012; Valicenti-McDermott et al., 2012).
Less is known about the bilingual language abilities of children with cognitive impairments, and many practitioners and parents are concerned about the ability of children with low cognitive abilities to learn to speak two languages. These concerns are understandable, given that children with cognitive disorders typically have difficulty learning language. However, emerging evidence indicates that bilingually-exposed children with DS demonstrate similar patterns of bilingual language use when compared with monolingual children with DS (Feltman & Kay-Raining Bird, 2008; Kay-Raining Bird, Cleave, Trudeau, Thordardottir, Sutton, & Thorpe, 2005).
Research to date provides a clear narrative that overall bilingual children with linguistic and cognitive impairments are not significantly more impaired than monolingual peers with language impairment. However, bilingual language experiences are widely different and individual variability in degree and quality of exposure to a second language can greatly influence a child’s language outcomes. Current understanding of bilingual language development in children with linguistic impairments is still in its infancy, and more research is critically needed. Because adverse effects on the family, community, and cultural interactions have been documented in families when parents abandon speaking their native language to their children with disabilities, it is important that speech-language pathologists provide accurate advice to parents and other professionals such as doctors and educators.
Marika King, MS CCC-SLP
Georgia State University
References
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., Green, D., & Gollan, T. (2009). Bilingual Minds. Pyschological Science in the Public Interest, 10(3), 89–129. http://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610387084
Conboy, B. T., & Thal, D. J. (2006). “Ties between the lexicon and grammer: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of bilingual toddlers.” Child Development, 77(3), 712–735.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Gutiérrez-Clellen, V. F., Simon-Cereijido, G., & Wagner, C. (2008). Bilingual children with language impairment: A comparison with monolinguals and second language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29(1), 3–19. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716408080016
Hambly, C., & Fombonne, E. (2012). The impact of bilingual environments on language development in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(7), 1342–1352. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1365-z
Hoff, E., Core, C., Place, S., Rumiche, R., Senor, M., & Parra, M. (2012). Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language, 39(1), 1–27. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000910000759
Kay-Raining Bird, E., Trudeau, N., & Sutton, A. (2016). Pulling it all together: The road to lasting bilingualism for children with developmental disabilities. Journal of Communication Disorders, 63, 63–78. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2016.07.005
Leonard, L. B. (2014). Specific language impairment across languages. Child Development Perspectives, 8(1), 1–5. http://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12053
Ohashi, J. K., Mirenda, P., Marinova-Todd, S., Hambly, C., Fombonne, E., Szatmari, P., … Thompson, A. (2012). Comparing early language development in monolingual- and bilingual- exposed young children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6(2), 890–897. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2011.12.002
Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., Urbano, R., & Cobo-Lewis, A. B. (1997). Development of precursors to speech in infants exposed to two languages. Journal of Child Language, 24(2), 407–425. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000997003097
Paradis, J., Crago, M., & Genesee, F. (2006). Domain-General Versus Domain-Specific Accounts of specific language impairment: Evidence from bilingual children’s acquisition of object pronouns. Language Acquisition, 13(1), 33–62. http://doi.org/10.1207/s15327817la1301_3
Paradis, J., Crago, M., Genesee, F., & Rice, M. (2003). French-English bilingual children with SLI : How do they compare with their monolingual peers? Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 46(February), 113–128.
Pearson, B., Fernandez, S., & Oller, K. (1993). Lexcial development in bilingual infants and toddlers: Comparison to monolingual norms. Language Learning, 43(1), 93–120.
Petersen, J. M., Marinova-Todd, S. H., & Mirenda, P. (2012). Brief report: An exploratory study of lexical skills in bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(7), 1499–1503. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1366-y
Petitto, L., Katerelos, M., Levy, B. G., Gauna, K., Karine, T., Tétreault, K., & Ferraro, V. (2001). of Child Language : Bilingual signed and spoken language acquisition from birth : implications for the mechanisms underlying early bilingual language acquisition Bilingual signed and spoken language acquisition underlying early bilingual language acquisit, 453–496. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000901004718
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Statement A
My child doesn't seem to have real control over his body yet.
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Statement B
My child has control over her own behaviors, but she doesn't use them to try to communicate to me.
She doesn't come to me to let me know what she wants, but it's easy for me to figure out, because she tries to do things for herself. She knows what she wants, and her behavior shows me what she wants. If she runs out of something to eat, she will just try to get more, rather than trying to get me to give her more.
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Statement C
My child clearly tries to communicate his needs to me through gestures, sounds or language.
He knows how to get me to do something for him. He uses some of the kinds of behaviors below to communicate:
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Mastered
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Each question you will see is related to a certain message that your child might be able to express using a variety of behaviors. Read the question and decide whether your child is able to express the message described using any of the listed behaviors. If the answer is YES, then you must also decide whether your child has mastered the use of each behavior or whether it is still at an emerging stage. Check either the mastered or emerging box next to any behaviors your child uses to express the message. Use the following definitions to decide whether a behavior is mastered or emerging