Understanding Language Milestones in Multilingual Children
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What are the speech development milestones in multilingual children?
One particular fear that parents raising bilingual or multilingual children voice frequently, is the question of delayed or different speech and language development.
Luckily, there is no scientific evidence that proves multilinguals speak later. Rather, language development is a complex and universal process that begins at birth, with children demonstrating an innate and remarkable ability to learn language. This inherent ability remains consistent across various languages and cultures, with the majority of children reaching significant developmental milestones at similar ages, regardless of whether they are raised in monolingual or multilingual environments.
The period of strongest language development is often referred to as “critical period” as essentially babies are being born with synapses for potentially all the languages in the world. And over the “critical period”, the brain strengthens the synapses of the sounds and language patterns that are actually needed. Research suggests that the critical period starts from birth and fades out at about 6 years old (with its main strength until around 3 years). During that time, the brain is particularly attuned to language development and so language learning is “natural”. It is further understood that multiple language learning from birth is easier for the brain than starting a second language at age 3 for example. Brain-developmental-wise, these two languages are handled differently compared to two languages acquired from birth.
The typical stages of language development can be outlined as follows:
0-6 Months: During this stage, babies respond to a variety of sounds, recognise familiar voices, and begin to produce cooing and gurgling noises, which lay a crucial foundation for their future speech skills.
6-12 Months: Infants start to engage in babbling, which includes the production of repetitive sounds, and they begin to comprehend basic words, potentially using simple words themselves to communicate.
12-18 Months: At this point, toddlers articulate their first words, gradually building a small yet significant vocabulary, while also showing an increasing understanding of spoken language, allowing them to follow simple instructions given by caregivers.
18-24 Months: Children experience what is known as a "language explosion," during which they rapidly expand their vocabulary and begin to form two-word phrases, significantly enhancing their ability to express thoughts and needs.
2-3 Years: Children begin to combine words into simple sentences, articulating more complex ideas and utilizing basic grammar rules, though they may still make some errors in their speech.
3-5 Years: Preschoolers develop increasingly sophisticated language skills, utilizing longer sentences, asking a variety of questions, and telling simple stories, all while exhibiting a rapidly growing vocabulary and an enhanced confidence in their communication abilities.
These language development milestones are the same for bilingual or multilingual children that are exposed to the languages from birth. Bilingual or multilingual children may go through a phase of code-switching and code-mixing (mostly until around age 4-5), but monolinguals initially make grammar mistakes or miss words from their vocabulary as well. So, utilising code-switching or code-mixing to overcome vocabulary shortcomings actually displays a healthy development of language awareness.
So, natural language development is not hindered by adding one or more languages. Knowing about the milestones can help you navigate your very own journey of raising a bilingual or multilingual child and you can support your child on their own path towards a confident and capable communicator.
