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Bilingualism and Specific Learning Difficulties

Professor Dr Ludo Beheydt, Professor of Dutch Linguistics,
Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Professor Beheydt looks at how learning a new language affects the child with specific learning difficulties, the processes involved and the necessity for parents to fully understand the burden this can place on some children where bilingualism is introduced through immersion education.

Some dyslexic students can and do learn a second language or third language successfully, at least within limitations. But this is best achieved with the help of qualified teachers using appropriate structured teaching strategies adapted to each child’s individual learning style.

Definition
Bilingualism is not an absolute concept. The perfect bilingual who has a native-like control of two languages hardly exists. It seems safer to look at bilingualism as a continuum using the working definition: ‘the ability to communicate in two languages with a certain amount of ease in all usual situations.’ It goes without saying that these situations will be more demanding linguistically for adults than for children and that an adult bilingual will be expected to have a greater proficiency in the two languages than a child. It may be also be useful to distinguish between bilingualism as ‘basic interpersonal communicative skills’ (BICS, Cummins) and bilingualism as the ‘cognitive academic language proficiency’ (CALP, Cummins) necessary to express abstract ideas adequately.

Bilingualism, and more specifically early bilingualism, is generally viewed as an advantage to children. In Europe it is increasingly seen as a social necessity that should be encouraged from birth. The need to acquire a second language so as to be better equipped to face the challenges thrown up by a united, frontier-free Europe has led to a strong political plea for generalised, early bilingual education.

The key argument in favour of early bilingual education is based on research that showed children of average intelligence acquired a second language relatively easily. The earlier the bilingual education was started, the more likely it was that the child would become a balanced bilingual, able to switch languages easily and without noticeable effort.

Bilingualism and intelligence
Against this background, some of the counter-arguments against bilingualism lost their credibility. Early studies warned about the negative consequences of early bilingualism on cognitive development. It was thought that the intellectual energy required for learning a second language was used at the expense of other activities such as mathematics or logical thinking.

This led to the development of the balance theory which claimed that proficiency in one language could only be gained at the expense of the other language, because exposure to a second language from an early age would hamper the process of ‘fixing’ the first language.

More recent research on the relationship between cognitive functioning and bilingualism has undermined this theory. It is now thought that the continual switching of languages is a powerful cognitive exercise for the intellectually gifted child. It can lead to greater cognitive flexibility, and bilingualism could, therefore, enhance intelligence.

W.E. Lambert (1990) found that ‘bilingual youngsters in Montreal scored significantly higher than did carefully matched monolinguals on both verbal and non-verbal measures of intelligence’ (1990:211). This research finding must be considered with some caution, however, as the children in question were part of a prestigious, total immersion language project. Any child who encountered difficulties with the bilingual element of the project dropped out. So, in this case, Lambert’s findings only proved that bilingual education was a bonus for children with an aptitude for languages.

For many children immersion education in a second language is too heavy a burden. In fact the positive effects of bilingualism on intelligence are only felt by those of at least average intelligence, according to Cummins and Swain in theirthreshold theory. Below a certain threshold, they maintained, rather than improving cognitive function, bilingualism can be a disastrous experience for the child.

Becoming bilingual requires extra cognitive effort from the child. The monolingual child begins the acquisition process by sorting out separate chunks of sound that constitute words from the diversity of noise he hears. Cracking the code of language enables the child to relate the series of sounds to the concept, for example, the word ‘book’ to the concept ‘book,’ which in turn refers to objects which differ greatly in form, size and quality. This task requires the child to discriminate between different sounds of words (auditory discrimination) and then to have the cognitive ability to relate words to concepts.

This is a complex task which not all children can do at the same speed. Speed is one of the basic problems for children who experience specific learning difficulties. Dyslexia has been described as a specific language learning difficulty that has to do with the prerequisites of learning: speed of processing information (aural and written), short-term memory, sound systems in language and organisation. Dyslexic children may well find bilingualism overwhelming as the auditory and cognitive processing required to assimilate two languages simultaneously demands increased cognitive and linguistic aptitude.

The English words ‘ball’ and ‘balloon,’ for example, are ‘balle’ and ‘ballon’ in French, but the concepts to which they refer respectively are not equivalent. Apart from the fact that the bilingually educated child has to be able to discriminate between more sounds than the monolingual child, he will also have to discriminate between four ‘word forms’ instead of two. Moreover he will have to understand that the concepts, and hence the ‘referents,’ which relate to the parallel sound forms in the two languages, do not coincide. Words in different languages are not exact translations for the same concepts. Understanding this will take more time than just understanding what the concept and referent are for a word in a single language.

This simple example shows how intricate the processing of information is for the bilingually educated child, compared with that of the monolingual child. Obviously processing information will become even more complex when the child starts reading. At that point the child will have to recognise written word forms and be able to relate them to spoken forms as well as to the concepts that are associated with them in both languages.

These mental activities demand acceleration and cognitive effort. For a child who already has a problem with processing at speed, distinguishing the two sets of sound systems and the two sets of conceptual systems may slow processing down to such an extent that comprehension will be hampered and disturbed. Independent from intelligence, disturbed comprehension interferes with intellectual development and as a result the dyslexic child can even be put at a disadvantage by a bilingual education.

Sorting out two language systems, developing a double conceptual system and a double vocabulary, expanding the articulatory repertoire, distinguishing two types of input and efficiently switching from one language to another requires linguistic abilities and aptitudes. Parents of children with specific learning difficulties should not underestimate these demands.

Current research projects are, however, under way to detect dyslexia and language aptitude in children, and linguists, speech and language therapists and psychologists are working together to develop a standard European test.

Interactive assistance
It is of utmost importance in bilingual education to separate the contexts in which the two languages are acquired as much as possible. The child should not be confused more than is strictly necessary. Ideally, the old rule ‘one person – one language,’ first formulated by the French linguist Grammont, should still be adhered to since it ensures the highest quality input. For example; in the case of a mixed nationality marriage, it is preferable for each parent to speak to the child in his or her mother-tongue, thereby reducing the risk of transferring his or her linguistic insecurities and errors. But practicalities dictate that in social situations even within the family this rule will have to be suppressed in favour of one language of common communication. This is the better alternative to speaking a mixture of languages, encouraging ‘semi-lingualism.’

In order to input language at a high quality level, it is important to expose the child to at least a minimum level of ‘motherese.’ Motherese (Beheydt 1986) is the special interactive language that mothers use to foster communication with their young children. Children need this kind of simplified language if they are to crack the language code, that is if they are to be able to relate the language system encountered in their environment to the conceptual and referential world. Exposure to such language is necessary for normal language development to take place. If two languages are being learned then it is advisable to provide as much well-tuned input language in both languages as possible.

Motivation
Motivation is of prime importance for any learning task, including early bilingualism. Not all problems relating to bilingualism are due to cognitive functioning, language aptitude or language input. Bilingual education is most successful when both languages and cultures are highly esteemed by both parents and by the social environment. The success of the Canadian immersion project was largely due to the enthusiasm of the parents of the anglophone children for the project. English remained the dominant language but the French acquired was viewed as being of great social and cultural benefit.

On the other hand, where the language spoken at home is looked down on at school, the child may well feel undermined: ‘his cultural heritage and its language are subtly stigmatised as a handicap to be washed away’ (Lambert 1990:217). Under such an attack, the child’s learning difficulties can only be aggravated. For children who are not equipped to cope with bilingualism psychologically and emotionally, their intellectual and emotional development can be affected, giving rise to stress and anxiety.

Bilingual education through immersion in the second language should not be taken on lightly. It should remain a matter for careful consideration.

Further reading
A more comprehensive survey in article form is to be found in Bilingualism and the Young, Le Language et l’Homme, vol. XXIX, no. 3, pp. 225-247: L Beheydt (1994). A general, and very readable, introduction to bilingualism can be found in Life with Two Languages: F. Grosjean (1982), Harvard University Press.

A comprehensive introduction to bilingual education which gives a more professional insight into this complex issue is Bilingualism in Education. Aspects of theory, Research and Practice: Jim Cummins and Merrill Swain (1986), Longman, London/New York.

A survey of the discussion about intelligence and bilingualism, about the conditions for the success of bilingual education and about the role of attitude and motivation is to be found in Key Issues in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education: Colin Baker (1988), Multilingual Matters Ltd. A final report on the Canadian project can be found in The Development of Second Language Proficiency: Brigit Harley, Patrick Allen, Jim Cummins and Merill Swain (eds) (1990), Cambridge University Press.

References
‘Persistent Issues in Bilingualism’: W.E. Lambert (1990) in The Development of Second Language Proficiency: B Harley et al (1990), Cambridge University Press.

‘The Semantic Primacy Principle in Motherese’: Ludo Beheydt (1986) in Language Enfantin, Tendances et Recherches: Cahiers de l’institut de linguistique, 12: pp.3-4. Ludo Beheydt (ed.), Edition Peeters, Louvain-la Neuve