Multilingual Families Research Articles

Persistence of the developmental language disorder diagnosis, neurodevelopmental trajectories and attendance at offered interventions.

To study the diagnostic stability of developmental language disorders, other neurodevelopmental disorders and interventions received until age 6 years in children who screened positive for language delay, but not for autism, at age 2.5 years. In 2016, in Gothenburg, Sweden, 100 monolingual or multilingual children underwent language assessment at a mean age of 2.9 years. At age 6 years, 85 of these children underwent language assessment. A review of paediatric records was performed after the clinical assessment to obtain information about other neurodevelopmental disorders and interventions received. At age 6 years, 74/85 (87%) of the children had persistent language disorders, and 20/85 (24%) had been diagnosed with at least one additional neurodevelopmental disorder. Five of them had autism. In general, families only attended half of the offered intervention sessions irrespective of intervention type and no difference between monolingual and multilingual families was found. The persistence of language disorder and the presence of later additional neurodevelopmental disorders highlight the importance of longitudinal and multidisciplinary monitoring of children with delayed language development. Further studies and analyses are warranted to investigate the reasons behind the poor attendance rate for interventions offered.

A corpus-assisted discourse study of parental concerns regarding multilingual child-rearing

ABSTRACT Many parents have concerns about raising their children with multiple languages. However, there is a paucity of previous research regarding parental concerns about multilingual child-rearing, particularly in multilingual societies. We address this gap with a corpus-assisted discourse study of parental concerns regarding multilingual child-rearing in Quebec, Canada. We created two corpora comprising 641 parents’ responses to an open-ended survey question regarding their main concerns about raising multilingual infants/toddlers (English corpus: 12,502 words, French corpus: 9,360 words). We examined frequencies, collocations, concordance lines, and longer segments to investigate the nature and strength of different concerns. Our results revealed that two previously-attested concern types – cognition concerns and exposure-fluency concerns – were most prominent. The results also provided more nuanced insights into the nature of these concerns. Moreover, the results revealed two additional concern types: concerns regarding trilingual/heritage language transmission and concerns about the effect of multilingualism on children’s identity and social/emotional well-being. These had not previously been attested. Our research makes a theoretical contribution by advancing knowledge about parental concerns and how they can contribute to the study of family language policies. Additionally, our findings may serve as the basis for improving support for multilingual families.

Language Management in Transnational Multilingual Families: Generation 1.5 Parents in Finland

In today’s globalized world, more children are born to parents who speak two or more languages between them. These families manage complex language dynamics, with diverse language practices influencing communication among family members. The complexity intensifies when multilingual and multicultural parents move with their children to a country with a new majority language, while keeping connections to their original society. In such cases, balancing heritage and host country languages affects both cultural preservation and integration into a new society. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven Generation 1.5 Russian–Hebrew bilingual parents living in Finland, this paper explores their strategies for managing their children’s multilingual development. The study poses two key questions: What are the language management strategies reported by the parents? What are the major challenges these parents face in maintaining heritage Russian and Hebrew languages in Finland? Thematic data analysis using ATLAS.ti software highlights the parents’ persistent commitment to maintaining multilingualism within their families, focusing on preserving existing social connections and fostering new ones for the entire family. The findings reveal key aspects of parental language management, parental involvement and home environments, along with reported challenges, both personal and institutional, in maintaining Hebrew and Russian as heritage languages in Finland. This study offers a new perspective on language management strategies in multilingual families, handling a less-explored language combination. By analyzing individual language management approaches, this study reveals common strategies used to support multilingualism and balance heritage languages with those of a new environment, thereby contributing to discussions on linguistic diversity and multicultural integration in transnational settings.

Language ideologies in transnational families with Israeli background in Finland.

Transnational families manage complex language dynamics, with multifaceted linguistic practices representing a key aspect in shaping communication among family members, where balancing heritage and host country languages impacts both cultural preservation and integration into a new society. The situation complicates when multilingual and multicultural families relocate to a country with a new majority language, while maintaining ties to their original society. This study analyzes language ideologies of seven transnational participants who were repatriated to Israel from post-Soviet states (PSS) during childhood and decades later relocated to Finland with their children. The study based on the data gathered through semi-structured interviews addresses two key questions: What are the language ideologies held by Israeli Generation 1.5 parents in transnational multilingual families residing in Finland? What are the parental language beliefs concerning their and their children's social integration in Finland? Thematic data analysis reveals parents' efforts to balance multiple languages, driven by their overwhelmingly positive views on their children's multilingualism. The language choices impact language acquisition and maintenance, while also preserving old social connections and building new ones for the entire family. Findings highlight key factors shaping parental ideologies on language transmission, multilingualism, code-switching, and integration, mostly influenced by personal convenience and practicality. This study presents a novel perspective on the language ideologies of multilingual parents. By examining individual parental beliefs and attitudes toward each language involved, it identifies recurring collective ideologies regarding multilingualism overall and each specific language, thus enriching discussions on linguistic diversity and multicultural integration in transnational contexts. Additionally, informing policymakers about the linguistic challenges encountered by transnational multilingual families can facilitate the promotion of inclusive educational practices and foster cultural awareness initiatives, thus contributing to the creation of a more equitable and supportive environment for such families managinglinguistic diversity.

Testing the Early Differentiation Hypothesis: A Case Study of a Spanish-English Bilingual Child

This paper contributes to the field of simultaneous bilingual first language acquisition (2L1). Specifically, it examines the developmental stages of a bilingual child in two languages, Spanish and English. The analysis is performed by analyzing bilingual acquisition data from CHILDES database with the CLAN program. The study aims to support several hypotheses proposed in the field of 2L1 (e. g., The Early Differentiation Hypothesis). The results show that the developmental stages of a bilingual child correspond to the stages of a monolingual child acquiring a language; the only difference is the number of languages that is being acquired. The data also show that the child’s caregivers use certain strategies in their socialization as the important prerequisite for 2L1 (e.g., frequency of input, discourse strategies and maximal engagement with a minority language available in the input). The results of the study confirm the Early Differentiation Hypothesis that argues for the language-specific morphosyntactic patterns in child’s grammar. The study has very important pedagogical implications for parents who raise their children in bi- and multilingual families.

Caring and connecting with multilingual families through the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractThis study uses authentic cariño to explore a care and connect model in a case study of a single district in Teachers Educating All Multilingual Students (TEAMS), funded by a National Professional Development (NPD) grant. Along with ESOL/dual language licensure coursework, teachers in five districts engage in family–school–community partnerships to develop multilingual family engagement. COVID‐19 required urgent shifts in how teachers and districts reached families and offered services. Accordingly, the research question is as follows: How did TEAMS teachers' conceptions of caring and connecting to support multilingual family engagement shift in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic? Data included three teacher focus groups per district, interviews with facilitators and administrators, and individual teacher interviews. Case study was used across districts, but focusing particularly on one district with high percentages of teachers of color and low‐income multilingual families, the population hardest hit and dehumanized during COVID‐19. Analysis employed critical authentic cariño to explore teachers' authentic and aesthetic care that shifted over time—from focus on technologies and translators, pity, depersonalized objectives, and academic goals to warmer relationships, personalismo, relaxing together, reaching out, persistence, and advocacy. Results suggest ways to transform structures to better meet the needs of multilingual families by organizing around authentic care with families.

Home–school connection framework: Elevating multilingual familial engagement capital to build bridges

AbstractSchool readiness research points to familial assets as tools for enriching home–literacy and home–school partnerships. This research informs an urgent call for reimagining educator preparedness relative to bridging students' lived experiences at home and school. Developing a multidimensional approach to effectively partnering with multilingual families that centers families as knowledge holders has potential to interrupt persistent opportunity gaps for ethnoracially and linguistically diverse learners. This conceptual paper presents a reconceptualizing of educator preparedness through what we call a home–school connection framework. This framework situates seven principal tenets—asset‐based culturally sustaining foundations, bilingual and bicultural mirrors, authentic cariño (Curry, 2021; Kwon, 2020; Martínez‐Álvarez, 2020; Valenzuela, 1999), reciprocal collaboration, anti‐bias awareness, community valuing of multicultural literature, and familial capital. This framework is applied in practice across each tenet. Preliminary findings suggest the importance of shifting dispositional stance away from educators serving families and toward educators purposefully partnering with families honoring familial engagement capital to inform multilingual multiliteracies in educational spaces.

Parents' and Children's Emotional Well-Being and Language Beliefs in Heritage Bilingual Families.

The present study aimed to examine how parents' psychological characteristics and positive beliefs about multilingualism predict children's emotional well-being in 51 multilingual families with an immigrant background. Parents were interviewed to assess their beliefs about multilingualism and completed a battery of questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety, psychological distress, parental competence, quality of life, and acculturative stress. They also completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which assessed their children's socio-emotional and behavioral characteristics. The results from regression analyses showed that parents' depressive symptoms were significant concurrent predictors of children's conduct problems. In contrast, higher acculturation stress was associated with more emotional problems and better prosociality in children, although the stronger predictor for the latter variable was parents' self-efficacy. Positive beliefs about bilingualism were not related to children's well-being. The discussion highlights the importance of targeting parents' depressive traits and acculturation stress as possible risk factors for children's emotional and behavioral problems. Conversely, fostering parental self-efficacy may promote children's prosociality.

Translanguaging space through pointing gestures: Multilingual family literacy at a science museum

Translanguaging theory highlights the dynamic use of multiple languages and communication modes by multilingual people in their daily experiences. Museums are informal family learning spaces where multilingual families use languages and other semiotic resources to create learning opportunities for their children. Using a microethnographic approach to discourse analysis and multimodal interaction analysis, I examined how a multilingual family uses translanguaging practices to organize their family learning in museums and the role of pointing gestures as part of their translanguaging repertoires in multilingual family learning. The analysis of two literacy events highlights that a child and his mother translanguaged with various semiotic resources to organize museum performances, joint attention, and telling, and that pointing gestures played a role in constructing a translanguaging space as they organized the two performances. Pointing involved the family in reading signage texts and allowed the mother to translate them for the child. Viewing translation as part of the translanguaging repertoire, this study recognizes the importance of the role of pointing gestures in constructing family learning at museums, enriching children’s schooling and literacy learning in classrooms. I argue that recognizing pointing as a critical component of translanguaging allows educators to develop strategies that leverage families’ unique repertoires to support multilingual students’ language and literacy learning.

Sociodemographic determinants of HPV vaccine awareness, uptake, and intention among parents of adolescents in France 2021-22

ABSTRACT Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage was <50% in France in 2022 and even lower among socially disadvantaged populations. We aimed to evaluate socio-demographic determinants of HPV vaccine awareness, uptake, and intention among parents of adolescents, and related attitudes and knowledge items. Parents of adolescents attending middle schools across France, who participated in a randomized trial responded to an anonymous baseline survey, conducted between November 2021 and February 2022. We used logistic regression models adjusting for a child’s age and sex to explore sociodemographic determinants (including at-home multilingualism, occupational categories, local deprivation index and urbanity) of HPV vaccine awareness, uptake, and intention. Among the 1889 participants from 61 schools, parents working as factory workers/farmers had significantly lower odds of vaccine awareness compared to executives/professionals, both if they reported (OR = 0.07; 0.03–0.15) or not (OR = 0.20; 0.11–0.36) speaking also another language than French at home. Parents in lower occupational categories with multilingual families were less likely to have the intention to vaccinate their child (OR = 0.19; 0.07–0.56). Recent physician visit or vaccine offer was strong positive determinants of awareness, uptake and intention. A substantial gradient across occupational categories was observed for attitudes and knowledge around HPV vaccine usefulness, safety, and accessibility. This study confirms the disparities on HPV vaccine uptake in France and provides insight into mechanisms of social disparities in HPV vaccine awareness, access and intention.

Developing a Practice of Growth Mindset in the Multilingual Family

Helping children to develop literacy skills is an important goal and challenge for parents and educators of developing bilinguals. Previous research into family language policy and parental interaction strategies indicates that parents’ interactions with their children during home literacy activities reflect their beliefs about language (Hu &amp; Ren, 2017). In this self-ethnography study, I analyzed my own interactions with my daughters during monolingual English and bilingual Spanish/English reading sessions. Transcript data is analyzed to identify how reading strategies differed depending on the language of the text, as well as demonstrate how textual features influenced the type of interaction strategies used. The interactions were further analyzed from the perspective of growth mindset (Dweck, 2017). Results indicate that bilingual reading can provide an enjoyable vehicle for interactions focused on explicit language learning, offering opportunities to praise the children for effort rather than intelligence, and could thereby promote a growth mindset. 子どもの読み書き能力を発達させることは、バイリンガルの親や教育者にとって重要な目標であり課題である。家庭における言語ポリシーと親子の関わり方に関する先行研究では、家庭での親の子どもに対する読み書き指導が、言語に関する親の信念を反映していることを示している（Hu &amp; Ren, 2017）。本稿では、多言語読書における私自身と娘たちとの関わり方を分析した。トランスクリプトデータを基に、テキストの言語によって読み方がどのように異なるかを明らかにするとともに、テキストの特徴が親子の関わり方にどのような影響を与えたかを示した。さらに、グロース・ マインドセット（Dweck, 2017）の観点から分析した。その結果、多言語読書は、楽しく明示的な言語学習であることが示された。このような関わりは、生まれつきの知能ではなく、努力したことを褒める機会を提供し、それによってグロース・ マインドセットを促進する可能性があった。

Discourse strategies in multilingual families: A qualitative analysis of interviews with parents in the Netherlands

Discourse strategies in multilingual families: A qualitative analysis of interviews with parents in the Netherlands

Hebrew–Russian Bilingual Children's Early Literacy Skills: The Roles of the Home Literacy Environment and Mothers' Writing Support

AbstractToday, many children worldwide grow up in bilingual or multilingual families. This study explores early literacy development in Russian–Hebrew bilingual families in Israel. It studies the contribution of the home literacy environment (HLE), the language of communication, and the nature of the maternal writing support in Hebrew and Russian, to children's early literacy skills in the two languages. Participants were 61 Israeli children (4–6 years old) and their mothers. The mothers completed questionnaires about home literacy activities in both languages and were videotaped while supporting their child in writing a list of eight words in Hebrew and Russian. Children's early literacy skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and word recognition) were assessed in both languages. Results showed that mothers adjusted their writing support not only to the child's skills but also to the particular orthography. The HLE and aspects of mothers' writing support predicted their children's early literacy skills, not only within each language but also in cross‐language models. The literacy activities provided at home and the nature of mothers' support seem to link to the children's literacy outcomes. The results stress the importance of parents' explicit efforts to support children's early literacy skills in both heritage and societal languages.

Amplifying Parental Views about Language Choice When Raising Multilingual Children: Towards a Family-Centered Approach in Professional Contexts

Multilingualism has become the norm in families all over the world. These families need to juggle their children’s linguistic identity and integration in their contexts. They may also need professional advice about which language(s) they should use at home, especially when children present with developmental disorders. There is a dearth of studies addressing the role parental views play in home-language maintenance with children with developmental disorders. This study is conducted in Spain, where Spanish is the national language, along with local languages in certain regions, as well as foreign languages. This qualitative study aimed to deepen our understanding of the views about language choice of multilingual families whose children have either typical language development or a developmental disorder in Spain. We recruited 26 parents of multilingual children aged between 5 and 10 years, from different linguistic backgrounds. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. The findings illustrate the complexity and nuance of parents’ views and decisions regarding language choice in their contexts. The themes included identity and belonging, as well as the influences of external advice on parental decisions. It is important that professionals such as speech–language therapists understand these views to enable them to deliver family-centered care.

The Relevance of Family Language Policy in Germany and Italy in the Development of Child Bilingualism: The Role of Natural Translation

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of natural translation in heritage speakers’ bilingual communication in relation to the family language policies (FLP) adopted to maintain heritage language in Italian and German multilingual families. In order to investigate this, in spring 2023, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to both parents and children. The sample consists of 60 Russian-speaking bilingual HS living in Italy and Germany, where they have access to regular primary education and attend, in some cases, private Russian courses or schools. The informants do not receive specific translation training from or into the Russian language (they only practice translation at school from or into Italian/German), and they translate, in most cases, as an occasional activity, closer to the function of mediation or brokering. The role of translation in relation to FLP seems particularly relevant when comparing the two samples, considering different family compositions: mostly bi-ethnic in Italy and mono-ethnic in Germany. The survey showed that in daily life, both parents and children use translation, often as a specific kind of bilingual communication. In the Italian part of the sample, the strategy called OPOL prevails, and translation is a frequent activity in the domestic sphere. In the German one, instead, the separation of language use contexts is widespread, and all family members speak both Russian and German, making translation activity less relevant.

Cognitive Distancing Language in Parent-Child Book Sharing Among Low-Income Mexican American and Chinese American Families: Cultural Group Comparisons and Links to Children’s Executive Functions

ABSTRACT Research Findings: In the context of parent-child book sharing, cultural influences on cognitive distancing language and associations with child executive function (EF) have been understudied. This study examined cultural group similarities/differences in parent and child book-sharing distancing language among preschool-aged dual language learners from low-income Mexican American (MA) and Chinese American (CA) families. We further tested concurrent relations between parent/child distancing language and children’s EF. The sample consisted of 88 children (45 MAs, 43 CAs, age = 38–68 months) enrolled in Head Start preschools and their parents. To assess distancing language, utterances were coded for cognitive demand and classified as referential (low demand), behavioral (moderate demand), or inferential (high demand). Cognitive tasks tapping inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility were used to assess child EF. Results showed parents and children from both cultural groups produced comparable numbers of story-related utterances. MA dyads used higher proportions of parent/child inferential statements and a lower proportion of parent referential questions. The proportions of parent behavioral questions and child behavioral statements were positively related to child cognitive flexibility. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight heterogeneity in parent-child verbal interactions among low-income multilingual families and have implications for promoting preschoolers’ cognitive/language development in diverse populations.

Determinants of speech and language delay among children aged 12 months to 12 years at Yekatit 12 Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a case–control study

BackgroundSpeech and language delay among children can result in social interaction problems, attention difficulties, decreased writing and reading abilities, and poor cognitive and behavioral development. Despite the mounting prevalence of speech and language delays in Ethiopia, there is a lack of literature addressing the factors contributing to this delay. Consequently, this study aims to identify determinants of speech and language delay among children aged 12 months to 12 years at Yekatit 12 Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsWe conducted an institutional-based at Yekatit 12 Hospital, unmatched case–control study with 50 cases and 100 controls aged 12 months to 12 years. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from the parents or caregivers of the participating children. Epi Info v7 was used for sample calculation, and SPSS v26 was used for analysis. The chi-square test was performed to determine the relationship between speech and language delay and determining factors, which was then followed by logistic regression. The significant determining factors were identified based on the adjusted odds ratio (AOR), with a 95% CI and p-value (< 0.05).ResultsCase group constituted 23 males and 27 females, totaling 50 children. Upon completing the multivariate analysis, birth asphyxia [AOR = 4.58, 95CI (1.23–16.99)], bottle-feeding [AOR = 4.54, 95CI (1.29–16.04)], mother–child separation [AOR = 2.6, 95CI (1.05–6.43)], multilingual family [AOR = 2.31, 95CI (1.03–5.18)], and screen time greater than two hours [AOR = 3.06, 95CI (1.29–7.28)] were found to be statistically significant determinants of speech and language delay.ConclusionsOur study found that birth asphyxia, bottle-feeding, mother–child separation, being from a multilingual family, and excessive screen time contribute significantly to speech and language delay. As a result, it is important to develop interventions that target these modifiable factors, while also ensuring that early diagnosis and treatment options are readily accessible.

Understanding parents’ pragmatic and emotional attachments to ‘their' language in multilingual family contexts: exploring self-assessment options for family well-being

ABSTRACT In recent years, the conceptualisation of heritage languages in both family and society has received increased attention, including the motivations behind heritage language maintenance. This paper explores the development of the Heritage Language Identity Questionnaire (HLI-Q) as a tool for facilitating reflective discussions with parents in multilingual family contexts. Informed by preceding studies which established a theoretical framework to help describe parents’ pragmatic and emotional attachments to ‘their’ language within the family context, an initial form of the HLI-Q instrument was administered to 505 participants for further development. Exploratory factor analysis of the resulting data is supportive of the four-factor theoretical model while also yielding a helpfully reduced set of 20 questionnaire items, facilitating further use of the instrument by professionals and parents to help explore their attachments to linguistic heritage within their family contexts. The study contributes an important tool to improve understanding of emotional and pragmatic reasons behind heritage language maintenance, opening up opportunities for family support and further research with specific population groups.

Should Parents Only Use One Language with Their Autistic Children? The Relations Between Multilingualism, Children's Social Skills, and Parent-Child Communication.

Parents of autistic children are often advised to use only one language to simplify their child's language acquisition. Often this recommendation orients towards the geographically predominant language, which may cause difficulties especially for minority-language families. On the other hand, scientific evidence suggests that multilingualism does not hinder language acquisition and that communicating in exclusively foreign languages may even impede social interaction. Therefore, we investigated how parent language use is linked to the social skills of 68 autistic children and to their parents' ability to feel comfortable, authentic, and free to express themselves. Data was collected online, using parent-report questionnaires from parents of 25 different nationalities in the European context, assessing children's language, autistic traits (AQ-C), social skills (SRS-2), and parent-child communication. Language use was not found to significantly relate to social skills in children. However, parents using their mother tongue, either only their mother tongue or in combination with other languages, reported feeling significantly more comfortable and more authentic than parents using exclusively foreign languages, either one or many. There were no significant differences between monolingual and multilingual families regarding parents' feelings in regard to their language use. Our findings may encourage specialists to consider multilingualism more often and consult with parents whether monolingualism is worth risking the negative outcomes we have found. Especially, since advising parents to raise their child multilingually may facilitate access to therapeutic treatment, childcare, and social interaction in multilingual societies and families and subsequently improve support and orientation for stakeholders.

Family language policy in a transnational family living in Finland: multilingual repertoire, language practices, and child agency.

Each multilingual transnational family is unique and thus deserves to be carefully studied in terms of its family language policy (FLP). Speaker-centered approaches can provide a deeper understanding of linguistic diversity in a multilingual setting. The studied Russian-Italian family is raising a multilingual boy (8:2) in Finland. The multilingual repertoire includes Russian, Italian, Finnish, English, and Hebrew. In this case-study, an ethnographic approach is used to explore the multilingual family repertoire by presenting their lived experiences and language practices. I discuss the FLP and child's active role in shaping the family's linguistic practices (child agency). The following methods were combined: semi-structured interviews, language background surveys, written diary entries, self-recordings of interactions in the family, and a language portrait that depicts the child's multilingual repertoire. The interviews and other recordings were transcribed manually. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How do the family members describe their FLP? (2) How does the FLP evolve through everyday interactions (language practices)? (3) How does the child exercise his agency in the family setting? The results reveal that the family's language practices follow predominantly an one person-one language (OPOL) strategy; consequently, the child speaks a different language with each parent. However, the analysis of the language ideologies reveals positive attitudes toward both multilingualism and all the languages in the family's repertoire, which explains the multilingual practices having multiplicity and unexpectedness. FLP is shaping the family language practices. Evidence of language hierarchy can be explained by a number of family-external and family-internal social factors.