Week 6
Chapter 5: The Early/Late Development of Bilingualism
This chapter explains the different ways
that a person becomes bilingual at the very early stages of development.
Depending on how many languages are spoken at home, children are capable of
learning and differentiating between different languages from their formation
in the womb. From the time they are born, bilingual children are able to
differentiate between their mother and father language. Baker and Wright
discuss the different routes that exist during the process of becoming
bilingual. They suggest that in order to “acquire successfully two languages
from birth, babies need to be able to differentiate between the two
languages”(pg.88). During this process of learning a second language, it was
found that infants are able to differentiate between the two languages as early
as four to five months. The simultaneous acquisition of bilingualism and
multilingualism is determined by the way the child develops a different
language. Some parents choose to teach their child one language at home and
then, when they go to school, learn the primary language used in the school
community. There are many factors that address the way a child is learning a
second or more languages simultaneously. It can be cultural, language
competency, peer interaction, personality development and educational
circumstances.
Baker and Wright also mention the
phenomenon of trilingualism /multilingualism. They found out that there are
countries, such as Sweden South Asia . It was found that in these countries
where people speak three languages, it is common to see that they speak two
different languages at home and one different educational language in school. There
are findings that show that bilinguals have advantages from learning a third
language. According to Baker and Wright, “The cognitive advantages of
bilingualism such as a wider linguistic repertoire, enhanced learning
strategies, cognitive flexibility and metalinguistic awareness”(pg.97). All
these finding show that being bilingual gives you the advantage of learning a
third language more easily. Having a third language makes multilinguals be more
confident, and also makes them be more aware of different cultures and
countries to expand their knowledge in globalization.
Baker and Wright define Codeswitching
and Codemixing depending on where the switches of the language occur. According
to Baker and Wright, codeswitching refers to any switches between languages
that occur within or across sentences during the same conversation.
Codeswitching and translanguaging are used frequently in a Bilingual classroom.
Baker and Wright suggest that “codeswitching and translanguaging are not two
discrete terms and have overlaps”(pg.99). During my observation in a Bilingual
Social Studies class, I could observe how the bilingual teacher was conducting
classes in both English and Mandarin Chinese using codeswitching and translanguaging
simultaneously. As soon as the teacher changed languages, the students paid
more attention and were more responsive, but gradually, their attention waned,
so the teacher would change languages again. At the end of class, we talked
about it and she told me that it is something she is doing especially whenever
she sees students facing elsewhere; she realized that most of the time students
have difficulty understanding. She said using this technique is a way of
getting their attention, reinforcing the subject, clarifying material, explaining
particular points and easing tension. All these techniques help students feel
more comfortable and learn in a language of their preference. I believe that
the use of bilingualism is essential in school because there are many students
whose first language is not English but they have the capability to learn in
both languages, especially in multicultural New York
Baker, C. and Wright, W.E.(2017). Foundation of
Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Pennsylvania
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