Multilingual Early Language Transmission (MELT) - Mercator ...

piano, you need to practice a lot. It's the same with language. In order to learn to speak a
language children need a lot of opportunities to actually speak it. Without this practice it is
near impossible for children to learn to speak a language well.
In conclusion
For the intergenerational transmission of language to take place, children must learn to
speak their parents' language(s). This sounds obvious enough, but in many regions in the
world this intergenerational language transmission is just not taking place. In bilingual
settings where a minority and a majority language are present the minority language is quite
vulnerable: Instead of becoming fluent bilingual speakers of both a minority and a majority
language about a quarter of bilingually raised children end up being monolingual speakers of
just a majority language (3).
There are several reasons for this. Quite fundamental are negative attitudes towards specific
languages and child bilingualism. Where those exist, it will be extremely difficult to raise
bilingual children. Secondly, children may not hear each of their languages sufficiently
frequently and regularly. Thirdly, they may not need both of their languages for
communication and may thus restrict themselves to only one.
What can parents do to support their children's bilingual development? Their own positive
attitudes towards both the minority and the majority language and towards early
bilingualism are the cornerstone for children's successful bilingual development. Influencing
attitudes from people outside the immediate family is difficult. In many cases, though,
parents have a choice in who they engage to help take care of their children. Parents should
carefully choose their day-care workers, pediatricians and schools. They should find
professionals who are respectful of the family's language(s) and wish to raise a bilingual
child. This sounds much easier than it is, but is crucial. Parents should not have to find
themselves in confrontational situations where they need to defend their minority language
or the fact that they wish their child to grow up speaking two languages. Many speech
therapists, doctors and teachers today unfortunately still hold very negative opinions about
bilingual development and will make claims that are not substantiated by the research data.
Parents should rest assured that hearing two languages does NOT slow down the child's
cognitive or linguistic development. Parents should ask professionals who might have to deal
with their children on a longer term basis what their attitudes towards early bilingualism are,
and should stay away from those who voice negative views.
Parents should in addition make sure that they give their children as many opportunities to
hear and speak the minority language. The majority language will most likely "fall into place"
once children start to attend school, and is usually not at risk. It is the minority language that
parents should focus on. If at all possible, both parents should speak the minority language
at home, even if one of them does not speak it all that well. Additional contacts with the
minority language through media and cultural activities, visits with older relatives and,
where possible, bilingual schools, should be actively sought out.
Within the family it should additionally be made into a matter of course that children
respond in the minority language. This should start when children begin to speak. This
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