Whitley 1

Lauren Whitley

Professor Jan Rieman

ENGL 1103

April 28, 2011

Hola mi Amigo, How are you?

I believe this is the best draft I could have created in regards to this writing assignment. Similar

to my last draft, I believe I covered multiple aspects of how to raise a bilingual child and used a

good variety of sources in finding out that information. I have since corrected the errors found

in my prior drafts, and made some editions that I believe help grammatically justify this piece.

Since before the day mi hija (my daughter) was born, I have worried about the process of

raising her and how I would incorporate both aspects of her heritage into her life. Mi hija,

Rylynn, is biracial: half Caucasian y mitad Mexicana (and half Mexican) and because of her

biracialism, I face the decision of also raising her to be bilingual. I, her mother, am Caucasian

and I speak solely English in my household; however, I can understand and speak some Spanish.

Her father is fully Mexicano and speaks Español (Spanish) the majority of the time in his hogar

(household); however, he is fluent in both Inglés (English) y Español. She hears English the

most, from both my family and even her father, yet hears only Spanish when she is around her

Abuelita (grandmother). My daughter is eighteen months old and is beginning to talk, with the

ability to already say a few words in English, understanding most anything asked of her in

English, and even responding to things said to her in Spanish. This leads me to the question that

is the basis of my research: how do I begin the process of raising un bilingue inglés-español niña

(an English-Spanish Bilingual child)?

In Lenore Arnberg’s book Raising Children Bilingually: The Pre-school Years, she

introduces questions that I will be focusing on, and hopefully answering, within this paper. She
raises the questions of what effects bilingualism has on a child’s development, how la familia

(family) situations affect the possible degree of bilingualism, how much effort is required to

produce a bilingual child, and most importantly, cómo (how) to raise a bilingual child (19). I will

be basing the majority of my research on information provided by parents of bilingual children,

for parents of bilingual children, as well include information that professionals have gained

through their own research. This will lead me towards the discovery of how and why I should

raise my own child in a bilingual environment.

Prior to recent research, many studies attempted to show that a bilingual child progresses

slower than a monolingual child in areas such as linguistics, cognition, and social behaviors. In

regards to speech and linguistic abilities, research has shown that a child is not delayed in the

normal process of learning their first words, but may be delayed in the normal “vocabulary

spurt” such as learning the concept that all things have names (Arnberg, 25). In an online article

by Kendall King and Lyn Fogle from Georgetown University, they concur with the information

in Arnberg’s book stating that “no empirical evidence links bilingualism to language delay of

any sort”. No evidence can prove that hearing more than one language leads to “delays or

disorders in language acquisition”. In regards to cognition, parents believed that bilingualism

would make their child less smart, yet bilingualism produces benefits in areas such as

“metalinguistic awareness, and cognitive processing” (King and Fogle). In regards to social

development, a study done on bilingual children versus monolingual children has shown that the

bilingual children were more capable of assuming the “roles of others experiencing

communication difficulties”, perceiving the needs of others, and responding to these needs

(Arnberg, 31). In every piece of research I have looked at, none have found significant evidence

that bilingualism in any way negatively affects the child to where they cannot effectively be

linguistically, cognitively, and socially successful. When I first began considering raising my

child to become bilingual in both English and Spanish, I worried if becoming so would have
negative effects on her in those same three areas. Luckily, my research has proved that despite a

few “bumps” along the way, a bilingual child faces no real setbacks.

Many parents choose to raise their child(ren) bilingually, including myself, for reasons

such as: a “desire to maintain ties to the parent’s heritage language and culture, to provide

children with academic and cognitive advantages, and to promote cross-cultural understanding

and communication” (Ken and Fogle). I plan on raising my child to be bilingual with hopes that

it does give her some advantages both in school and outside of school, and for her father’s sake, I

hope that she can learn both lenguas (languages) so that she is instilled with a part of his

patrimonio (heritage). There are many examples of successful bilingual children (along with

their parents) who have witnessed the benefits of learning both English and Spanish at a young

age. Alejandro Alejo, a bilingual Mexican-American, grew up speaking solely Spanish through

the early years of his childhood. He did so through kindergarten while living in Mexico, and was

first introduced to English when he moved to the United States at the start of first grade. Alejo

acknowledges that learning both Inles y Espanol has helped him to communicate with two

different types of people, especially on his family’s behalf, and even led him to being able to

learn a third language in Middle School and High School. Victoria Rodriguez, an associate

professor at Lehman College in New York agrees that many families believe that raising

bilingual children will allow them to “communicate with parents and other family members” as

well as benefit cognitively, academically, and socially on top of having “improved employment

opportunities” (Rodriguez). Omniglot, a website created by a mother of two bilinguals, Christina

Bosemark, believes that access to multiple languages “makes it easier for children to understand

the nature of language itself, and improves overall literacy skills”.

Now that the benefits of raising a bilingual child have been addressed, there are a few

“bumps” (not necessarily completely negative factors) of choosing to raise your child on more
than one language. There are three main drawbacks to bilingualism that I believe sum it up in a

non-aggressive way: slight delay, the mixing of two languages, and the extreme amount of effort

needed on the parent’s behalf. The delay is not based upon scientific research or observation, but

merely as an agreement between parents that a delay of about three to six months exists, and that

it is probably due to the child learning twice as much information and vocabulary (Bosemark).

The mixing of two languages is the most common drawback; however, professionals from the

Spanglish Baby website console worried parents by letting them know that the mixing of

languages is “completely normal and harmless since the child is learning both languages and

won’t know all words in either one” (Flores and Soto). Lastly, the drawback of the extensive

amount of effort needed by the parents is evident. A parent already faces numerous challenges

when raising a child, but the added challenge of raising them on two languages can be extremely

difficult. Raising a child to be bilingual takes a lot of “commitment” on the parents’ part and

because it is a “long-term investment” you must set aside a large amount of time to allow for

maximum “second language exposure” and you need “persistence” to keep your “family

language rules as consistent as possible” (Bosemark). These three drawbacks that many parents

face can be minimal if a parent has the right access to information that will guide them in how to

raise their children in a bilingual environment. Not having this information can often delay the

process, if not eliminate it altogether, so it is essential that parents do all that they can to learn

proper techniques and ideas that will help them successfully raise their niño's de bilingüe

(bilingual children).

One of the biggest questions parents have when beginning the process of raising their

children bilingually is how to raise them so that they are successful bilinguals? There have been

many studies done to decide how much time a child needs around the second language,

techniques to use, methods to introduce, and everything and anything between. The decision of
how is solely based on the parent’s decisions as to what they are capable of doing and what they

feel comfortable in doing, but for the parents who don’t know where to begin, there is a plethora

of information existing that can be a starting place. In Raising Multilingual Children, a book by

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, who received her Masters of Education at Harvard and taught in

various international schools in places such as Japan, Ecuador, and France, Tokuhama-Espinosa

creates a “libro de cocina” (“cookbook”) filled with recipes to “cook” a successful bilingual

child. In her “Cookbook”, she gives ten key factors in raising a bilingual child: timing and the

windows of opportunity, aptitude for foreign languages, motivation, strategy, consistency,

opportunity and support at home, school and in the community, the linguistic relationship

between the chosen languages, siblings, gender, and hand use (13). On the Omniglot website,

Bosemark lists five tips on how to raise a bilingual child: building a family agreement, being

enthusiastic- yet realistic, creating a practical plan, building a supportive network, and

maintaining patience throughout the entire process. The steps and support that I find most helpful

are the motivation, consistency, and planning through the child’s family, as well as the

opportunities outside of the home, such as at school and in the community.

I’ll begin with focusing on the home environment, what I believe is the most important

location for a child to learn and be reinforced with his or her bilingualism. A child needs to be

exposed to the second language “about 1/3 of their waking hours to be actively bilingual”

(Bosemark). The largest part of this will be done in the home and therefore the amount of time

and persistence that a parent needs comes into play. Rodriguez developed a study on three young

girls who were learning English and Spanish during their early childhood years. The child that

produced the best results was one who was addressed in Spanish almost exclusivo (exclusively)

in the dos primeros años de su vida (first two years of her life), yet received some input of

English through sus hermanos, la television y su comunidad ( siblings, television, community).

The result of this study showed Rodriguez, and also proves to me, that in order to raise a
successful bilingual child, you must make sure your child receives adequate exposure to both

English and Spanish. It is not enough to simply speak the minority language in one area such as

at home; a parent must give the child access to that second language in all aspects of his or her

life.

Through my research I have discovered multiple methods that parents tend to use when

raising their children to become bilinguals. The three main ones I picked up through various

sources were “One parent, one language (OPOL)”, “Minority Language at Home (ML@H)” and

“Time and Place (T&P)”. All three of these techniques are based upon the parent’s discretion and

upon the ability of the parents. Certain methods require both parents to understand the

minority/majority languages, others require only one. All three methods have produced children

who are successfully bilingual and, although there are infinitely more methods that exist in

regards to how to raise your children, these were the three methods that I found most informative

and relatable.

The OPOL technique requires that uno padre (one parent) solely speaks in his/her native

language to the child y el otro padre(the other parent) solely speaks in his/her native language. In

my case, my daughter would only receive English within my household and with my family, and

she would only have access to Spanish in her father’s household and con la familia de su padre

(with her father’s family). This technique has proven successful for parents off the Spanglish

Baby website, who say that the OPOL method has neither confused nor inhibited their ability to

learn both English and Spanish fully. One mother spoke solely Spanish to her children, even

though her husband spoke solely English and didn’t know any Spanish. Their children became

the translators between both parents who spoke the two different languages. Her children, by the

age of two were able to speak fluently in either Spanish or English – a true success story. A

professional stated that the positive attributes to using the OPOL method were that it supported

consistency, it was simple, it was effortless, it was a natural way to encourage your child to
speak your personal language, and enables maximum language input (SpanglishBaby). It is also

suggested that using the OPOL method allows the child to learn two languages without “noticing

it”, “exerting any special effort” and assists the child in keeping the languages separate so that

they do not mix them. The only problem with using this method is that both parents must remain

absolutely consistent with using solely their native languages with the child so that the child does

not become unmotivated to use the minority language and will eventually attempt to end using

the minority language altogether (Arnberg 87-89). This is what is referred to as “passive

bilingualism” in which the child is competent in and understands both languages, yet only speaks

the majority language (King and Fogle).

The ML@H Language would require my daughter to solely hear Spanish, her minority

language, any time she is a su casa (at her house) or with either family. Seeing as I am only able

to speak un poco de español (a little Spanish) this method would be virtually impossible for me

to use. Alejo was brought up with what can be considered the ML@H method due to the fact he

only heard Spanish from his mother and family, and spoke English in his community, especially

at school. This method allowed him to keep communication con su familia (with his family) but

also allowed him to be able to communicate and interact with others who only spoke English.

Other families who use this method found “gigantic” results due to the “expansive” vocabulary

their children gained, and their children loved to speak the language. You must be as strict as

possible when using this method, especially if you are raising your child in a community that is

based around English (SpanglishBaby). This produces a “highly positive situation for fostering

bilingualism in the home” and prevents the child from dropping their minority language, because

it is virtually impossible for them to do so. The only problem with this method is the possibility

of little interaction with the “majority” community, and the child falling behind when constantly

being surrounded by majority language interactions (Arnberg 90-91).

 The third method is the T&P method which appropriates specific tiempos y lugares

(times and places) that either the majority or minority language is used. The Time and Place

method seems to be most effective for a child who has equal access to both languages, but who is

in a daycare or other activity which requires him or her to speak one language or the other. This

is a method that could possibly be used within my family; however, I worry that since my

daughter is primarily around me and therefore has a large influence from English, she would lose

her ability to learn the Spanish language. Some parents find this method successful because it is

the most flexible method. When using this method, you as a parent are able to control when and

where the child uses each language and the level of fluency in either the majority/minority

language of each parent is not as important as it is in the other two methods. The problem with

this method is that it is up to you, as the parent, to reinforce how much of each language the child

has access to, and it proves difficult when the community is solely influenced by the child’s

majority language (SpanglishBaby).

Regardless of the method you use when raising your bilingual child, you will encounter

positive and negative experiences within the process. A situation that most children and parents

face when becoming bilingual is that of “code-switching” in which the child frequently switches

between both English and Spanish when speaking. Usually confused with “language mixing” in

which the child mixes both languages before the child is really aware of his/her ability to speak

two languages, code-switching is a conscious or purposeful switching between

the two languages. The use of code-switching can be due to various reasons such as not knowing

certain vocabulary, being an easier form of expression, or to create a certain communication

effect either showing expertise or even excluding someone (Arnberg 27). Many professionals,

however, feel that code-switching is a positive occurrence because it “is a verbal skill requiring a

large degree of linguistic competence in more than one language, rather than a defect arising

from insufficient knowledge of one or the other… [R]ather than presenting deviant behavior, [it]
is actually a suggestive indicator of degree of bilingual competence.” (qtd. in SpanglishBaby).

Code-switching according to many sources, is something that a child eventually learns to grow

out of as they become more adept at the vocabulary from both English and Spanish and as they

learn the appropriateness of using either language. As a young child, Alejo remembers switching

between English and Spanish when speaking but within two years of learning his second

language of English, he was able to completely speak solely in one language or the other without

depending on mixing the two to effectively get his thoughts across.

Teaching a child to become bilingual is something not only done in the home but also at

school and in the community. Many communities offer dual-immersion schools in which the

child can be introduced and taught with both languages, as well as after-school programs, and

specific language classes. For younger children, pre-schools and daycares employ bilingual

teachers who are willing to work with children in either language to promote the child’s

bilingualism. Parents of bilinguals can also find Spanish playgroups, as well as bilingual

babysitters who can help better reinforce the minority language. There are often things in the

community that promote the minority language of Spanish and simply making the connection

between the home, at school, and in the community, and the use of two languages can really

benefit a child.

There are multiple things parents and community-members can do to reinforce

bilingualism with young children. Bosemark gives ideas such as using Spanish-only books, TV

programs, and especially music, to reinforce the second language. She also recommends parents

“tapping into” the child’s interests by focusing on what they like to do and teaching them to do it

in Spanish whether it is translating their favorite TV program, or playing Dress-Up, all while

being done in the minority language. There are multiple resources parents of new bilinguals can

use when raising their child and although the home is the most important place to learn two
languages, the community, and the child’s school can easily be positive contributing factors for

the child.

Raising a child to become bilingual in Spanish and in English is a process that requires a

large amount of time, dedication, persistence, consistency, and patience. The role of a parent in a

child’s path to bilingualism is vital and even necessary to produce success. Whether you are

“cooking up” a bilingual child using the OPOL, ML@H or T&P method, or producing your own

methods and ideas in order to do so, it is a factor that will be a life-long beneficial element of a

child’s life. As visible in the life of Alejandro Alejo, who is now a successful bilingual using

both Spanish and English with his family, at school, and in the workplace, as well as other

families with success stories of raising their own bilingual children, it is something that is

possible as long as you have the right resources and the knowledge of how to do it. As I begin

the process of teaching my own daughter to learn both English and Spanish, I continue to think

to myself “Yo se puedo” or “Yes I can

Works Cited

Alejo, Alejandro. Personal Interview. April 8, 2011.

Arnberg, Lenore. Raising Children Bilingually: The Preschool Years. England: Short Run Press,

1987. Print.

Bosemark, Christina. Omniglot: Writing Systems and Langaugaes of the World. 1998-2011.

Simon Ager. Web. 30 March, 2011.

Flores, Anna, and Roxana Soto. SpanglishBaby. Spanglish Baby Media, 2008. Web. 26 March,

2011.

King, Kendall, and Lyn Fogle. “Raising Bilingual Children: Common Parental Concerns and

Current Research”. Cal Digest. (2006): 2pp. Web.

Rodriguez, Victoria M. “Pathways to Bilingualism: Young Children’s Home Experiences

Learning English and Spanglish”. Early Childhood Research and Practice. 12.1. (2010):
 9pp. Web.

Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey. Raising Multilingual Children. Connecticut: Greenwood

Publishing Group Inc., 2001. Print.