Study finds that mother’s language choice has twice the impact on bilingual families

New research shows mothers have twice as much influence on language contact, calling into question traditional parenting advice.

Parents who want to raise bilingual children have long been given advice to “follow a strict one parent, one language approach.” But a recent Concordia University study published in the journal Child Development found that bilingual Montreal families are setting out on their own paths, with mothers having a huge influence on their children’s language exposure. It became clear.

The study found that it is common in Montreal families for parents to speak both languages ​​to their children, rather than following a single-parent, one-language approach.

“This made sense to us because Montreal has a lot of adults who are actively bilingual,” says Dr. Andrea Sander Montand. student at Concordia Early Childhood Research Institute and lead author of the study.

“We also see that despite the traditional advice parents have been given about raising bilingual children, families are adopting the approach they feel comfortable with.”

The researchers analyzed questionnaires filled out by hundreds of families who participated in the lab’s research between 2013 and 2020. They identified four main strategies: one parent monolingual, both parents bilingual, and one parent bilingual (where one parent uses both languages ​​and the other uses one language). and when one language is used within the home (one language is used at home and the other language is used outside the home, such as in a nursery school).

“We found that none of these strategies told us much about what children were actually listening to at home. What strategies were used and how much of either language children were listening to? “There was almost no correlation between the Department of Psychology and supervising author of the study.

“A new way to talk about language transmission”

This means that there is no one “best” strategy for raising children bilingually. But when the researchers looked at parents’ language use individually, rather than at family strategies as a whole, they made an unexpected and surprising discovery. They found that mothers have up to twice as much influence on language exposure as fathers.

“In the average family, for example, if the mother only speaks French, the child will hear a lot of French. If the father is the only French speaker, the child will hear considerably less French. ” says Byers-Heinlein.

Maternal external influences were especially pronounced in heritage language-speaking families. Of the approximately 300 families surveyed, a subgroup of 60 families with both a regional language (English or French) and a heritage language at home found that even when both parents speak the heritage language, Her mother passed on her traditional language.

“We suspect this may be the case because mothers spend more time at home than fathers, and also in cultures where mothers feel it is their responsibility to pass on the language. Other factors may also be involved,” Sandermontand added.

“This shows us a new way of talking about language transmission,” says Byers Heinlein, Concordia University’s Research Chair in Bilingualism and Open Science. “It is estimated that young children need to stay awake for 20 to 30 hours a week to listen to each language they are learning. Instead, you can calculate who will spend time with your child and then work backwards to figure out how to make sure your child gets enough experience in each language from fluent speakers. .”

The researchers believe these findings have real-world implications for policy makers, health care workers, and professionals who work closely with and advise bilingual families. This study points to the need for flexible, family-centered recommendations to support bilingual development.