Told to drop the heritage language? What to ask first

You can ask a question before you change anything. King & Mackey, in The Bilingual Edge, call this advice common and say it comes from people who mean well, but they say no sound research stands behind it. The question they suggest is: what specifically concerns you about my child, and how do you think it connects to having two languages? The two are sometimes assumed to be linked when they are not, and the answer shows you which case you are in.

Where this advice comes from

King & Mackey describe the recommendation as common, and as coming from people who mean well. They also state, as one of their own "Fast Facts", that bilingualism does not cause speech delay or any other developmental disorder. That is the authors' position in the book, not a finding they borrow from someone else.

They back it with a 1992 study (Pearson, Fernandez & Oller), as they describe it. English-only children and English-Spanish children were compared on the same vocabulary questionnaire. Vocabulary grew on the same timetable in both groups, and by school age the bilingual children's combined vocabulary matched or exceeded that of their monolingual peers. We have read the authors' account, not the original paper. They add that a smaller vocabulary in each language taken separately is normal at an early age, and that the difference typically closes by school age.

Questions to ask the doctor or teacher

The first two questions are the authors' own script. The last two keep the conversation on the concern itself, whichever language you use at home.

1. What, specifically, concerns you about my child?
2. How do you think that connects to having two languages?
3. Is there something we should do about that concern, whichever language we use at home?
4. What would you expect to change if we stopped using our language, and how would we know?

These are questions, not a challenge. A professional who knows your child may give you a clear answer, and then you decide with that answer in hand. If the professional has seen something specific in your child, that concern still deserves attention. The open question is only whether dropping a language is the way to answer it, and what that choice would cost at home.

What a switch could cost at home

In the part of the chapter about children with an identified special need, King & Mackey list real costs that can follow a switch to the majority language. A parent can bring the same list to any conversation about switching:

• What would be lost if you used one language only, for example the ability to talk with a grandparent or relative who does not speak the majority language.
• Whether a parent would end up using their weaker language with the child, when the richest input they can give is in their strongest language.
• Whether brothers or sisters would lose the chance to grow up bilingual too, if the whole household changed languages.

The authors also say that doctors and therapists are trained to look closely at specific skills and have little time to weigh a child's whole family and social life. That is why this list is yours to bring: the person advising you may not have seen it.

Who decides

You decide together with the professionals already working with your child. The sources read for this site do not say which language arrangement suits a particular child, and this article does not either. It gives you the questions to bring and the costs to put on the table. If you are unsure how to start, write the first two questions down and bring the page to the appointment.