Stuttering and ELL students

https://www.stutteringhelp.org/stuttering-and-bilingual-child

In young children who are bilingual or second-language learners, stuttering may be noticed when:

  • The child is mixing vocabulary (code mixing) from both languages in one sentence  This is a normal process that helps the child increase his skills in the weaker language, but may trigger a temporary increase in disfluency.
  • The child is having difficulty finding the correct word to express his/her ideas resulting in an increase in normal speech disfluency.
  • The child is having difficulty using grammatically complex sentences in one or both languages as compared to other children of the same age.  Also, the child may make grammatical mistakes.  Developing proficiency in both languages may be gradual, so development may be uneven between the two languages.
  • Adding a second or third language between the ages of three and five years of age may cause stuttering to increase (become more severe).  However, this may be the case only when: (1) the child’s first language is not strong and/or the child is experiencing difficulties in her first language, (2) One language is used more than the other or, (3) the child resists speaking the additional language.

Will speaking to my child in two languages at home make him/her more likely to start stuttering?

No evidence has been found to suggest that speaking two languages in the home since birth causes stuttering.  In fact, this may be the best time and the best way to input a second language.

What should I do?

If your child is bilingual and he or she begins to stutter, we recommend the following:

  1. Monitor the stuttering in the child’s strongest language as that is generally where the most frequent stuttering would be noted.
  2. Follow the recommendations for stuttering prevention outlined in previous publications of the Stuttering Foundation.
  3. If stuttering persists for more than six months, see a speech pathologist specializing in stuttering.
  4. Avoid mixing vocabulary words from both languages when speaking to the child.  In other words, speak one language at a time to the child.
  5. Allow the child to mix vocabulary in both languages, but then model the word in the primary language.  Don’t ask the child to repeat your model.

Bilingualism in Young Children: Separating Fact from Fiction By Lauren Lowry Hanen Certified Speech-Language Pathologist

Benefits of Bilingualism 

  • Bilingual children are better able to focus their attention on relevant information and ignore distractions (7, 8). For more information, click here for our article “Are Two Languages Better Than One?”.
  • Bilingual individuals have been shown to be more creative and better at planning and solving complex problems than monolinguals (9, 10).
  • The effects of aging on the brain are diminished among bilingual adults (7).
  • In one study, the onset of dementia was delayed by 4 years in bilinguals compared to monolinguals with dementia (10).
  • Bilingual individuals have greater access to people and resources (9).
  • In Canada, employment rates are higher for French/English bilinguals than monolinguals (7).
  • Canadians who speak both official languages have a median income nearly 10% higher than that of those who speak English only, and 40% higher than that of those who speak French only (7).

The article continues on to describe the different myths about bilingualism.

http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/Bilingualism-in-Young-Children–Separating-Fact-fr.aspx

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