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Childhood Bilingualism: Aspects of Linguistic, Cognitive, and Social Development:

(Book by Doris Aaronson, Peter Homel, Michael Palij; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1987)

In 1962, Peal and Lambert published the results of a study comparing bilingual and monolingual children on various measures of intelligence and achievement. Their findings were surprising, at least in light of certain assumptions that had been prevalent in child psychology up to that time. They found no evidence to indicate any sort of intellectual deficiency in bilingual children. The performance of bilinguals on all measures was either equivalent or superior to that of their monolingual comparison group. These results were in clear contradiction to a belief that had come to be accepted as truism by psychologists and laymen alike, especially in North America: The acquisition of two languages in childhood impairs intellectual development -- it leads to mental confusion or difficulties in coordinating language and thought in children. The results obtained by Peal and Lambert suggested that there are no detrimental effects of bilingualism, and there may even be some cognitive advantages.

To read more of this online book at Questia.com, please click HERE.

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Other methods:

1. One language is spoken at home (usually the minority language) and the other is spoken at school.

2. The minority language is spoken at home and school, and the other in the community.

3. Both parents speak both languages to the child and use a different means of separating them, such as different speaking situations, alternate days, weeks etc.

NB: The method you use should be the same you use for all your children. Speaking different languages to different children may cause feelings of insecurity or rivalry.

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