Families and Bilingualism: Impressions on the Linguistic Development of Toddlers

Lívia Chung de Freitas; Adriessa Santos

DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-202603155

Article derived from a Final Course Work (TCC), with content based on the student’s original work and adapted to the editorial format of the E&S Magazine with the support of the ResumeAI tool, an artificial intelligence solution developed by the Pecege Institute for textual synthesis and organization.

Abstract

The growing increase in bilingual schools in Brazil, along with the advancement of research in neuroscience and bilingualism, has highlighted the need to deepen the understanding of the effects of early exposure to a second language on child development. The study aimed to contribute to research in the area through the collection and analysis of data on the bilingual experience of children aged two to three years (toddlers) in a Portuguese-English bilingual school context. The research was framed as qualitative and exploratory, adopting a case study as a methodological strategy and an online questionnaire as a data collection instrument, applied to 11 families from a bilingual educational institution in the interior of the state of São Paulo, after approval by the Research Ethics Committee. The data were analyzed in dialogue with the literature in the field. The results indicated that family perceptions were consistent with what the literature points out: early bilingualism did not harm the development of the mother tongue, with an observed expansion of vocabulary in both languages. The phenomenon of translanguaging was recognized by families as natural and expected, and there was a significant perception of an increase in children’s communicative intention after entering school. The role of the family as a complementary input environment also proved relevant, especially through songs, books, and games in English played at home. It was concluded that the bilingual brain develops a differentiated mental organization, whose effects are particularly evident in the areas of vocabulary and communication, reinforcing the importance of expanding studies in this field.

Keywords: bilingual education; early childhood education; neurodevelopment; toddlers.

1. Introduction

The Brazilian educational landscape has witnessed a notable growth in the number of bilingual schools. In 2021, the country registered over a thousand institutions, with an increase of six to ten percent between 2017 and 2022, according to data released by the Ministry of Education and the Brazilian Association of Bilingual Education (Abebi). This phenomenon is driven by technological advancements, global multilingualism, and the growing market demand for foreign language proficiency, which has stimulated the emergence of various bilingual education models.

In parallel with this growth, there has been significant progress in neuroscience and bilingualism research, highlighting the need to deepen the understanding of the effects of early exposure to a second language on child development. Historically, bilingualism was sometimes perceived as detrimental to child development. However, more recent studies have demystified this view, valuing it for the benefits it can bring in the areas of interaction, knowledge, culture, and cognition (Brentano, 2020).

Current literature indicates that the bilingual brain develops a differentiated mental organization, utilizing mental resources in distinct ways compared to a monolingual brain (Bialystok and Kroll, 2013). Research suggests that bilingual brains may exhibit alterations in executive functions, which would develop more rapidly in children exposed to a bilingual context (Brentano, 2020). This reorganization is due to the fact that the bilingual brain possesses two active language systems, which are activated even when only one language is in use (Kroll and Bialystok, 2013).

This work focuses on simultaneous bilingualism, defined as the acquisition of two languages from birth or before three years of age, in a context of consistent linguistic input in both languages (De Houwer, 2009; McLaughlin, 1978). The choice of this delimitation is justified by the age profile of the participants, children aged zero to three years, commonly referred to as toddlers. This phase is considered highly conducive to second language learning, given the high brain plasticity (Pinheiro, 2007) and the window of opportunity for L2 acquisition, which extends from eighteen months to eleven years (Doherty, 1997).

The perspective of dynamic bilingualism (García, 2009) is adopted, which understands being bilingual as someone who uses different languages in diverse ways, recognizing an idea of a living and plural language, with dynamic and transformative relationships between them. In this context, the phenomenon of translanguaging (Vogel and García, 2017), which refers to the mixing of words from two or more languages, is seen not as a sign of confusion or incomplete mastery, but as a characteristic of an integrated and fluid linguistic repertoire.

Despite the growing interest and expansion of bilingual schools, a deeper understanding of the effects of bilingualism on the human brain, especially at early ages, is still necessary. The relationship between bilingual education and the privileged socioeconomic profile of individuals who access it, as pointed out by Brentano (2020), is questioned, for example. Given this reality, and considering the continuous demand for bilingual schools, the need to deepen the understanding of the effects of this approach on the developing brain becomes a central justification for this study. Thus, this work aims to contribute to research in the area through the collection and analysis of data on the bilingual experience of children aged two to three years (toddlers) in a Portuguese-English bilingual school context.

2. Material and Methods

The present study was framed as a qualitative research with an exploratory nature. This approach was selected for favoring the interpretation and in-depth understanding of the meanings attributed by subjects to a phenomenon still little investigated (Minayo, 2001). The aim was to analyze in detail the conceptions and ideas of a specific population about the bilingual experience.

As a methodological strategy, the case study was adopted, considered appropriate for investigating a phenomenon in an in-depth and contextualized manner (Yin, 2015). The empirical object of the research focused on the bilingual experience of children approximately one to three years old, commonly referred to as toddlers, in a bilingual school context.

The research was conducted in a bilingual educational institution, which offers education in Portuguese and English, located in the interior of the state of São Paulo. The study’s focus group was composed of parents of Brazilian students, with children in the age range of one to three years, who attended the aforementioned institution.

The participation of the guardians was voluntary and conditioned on the signing of the Free and Informed Consent Form (TCLE). The study included parents of children aged between one and three years who were enrolled in the Portuguese-English bilingual school and whose first language was Portuguese.

Excluded from recruitment were those responsible for children who had less than six months of exposure to the institution’s bilingual educational context. Additionally, families who did not have Portuguese as their mother tongue and/or who had English as their first language were excluded, ensuring the homogeneity of the initial linguistic profile.

Initially, 14 families responded to the online questionnaire. However, three of these responses were excluded from the final analysis for not meeting the minimum exposure time criterion to the bilingual environment, which was six months. Thus, the final sample of the study comprised 11 families, whose perceptions were considered for the analysis.

As a data collection instrument, an online questionnaire was used. This questionnaire was designed to gather qualitative information that would allow for an in-depth understanding of parents’ perceptions of their children’s linguistic development in a bilingual context. The instrument sought to capture relevant aspects of the children’s experiences.

The ethical procedures were rigorously followed. The research was submitted for review by the Research Ethics Committee, in accordance with the guidelines of Resolution 510/2016. After approval, registered under CAEE No. 95081025.0.0000.9927, the data collection phase began, ensuring the protection of participants.

Contact with the participants was established through the institutional application ClassApp, after due authorization from school management. The researcher sent a formal invitation to participate in the study, accompanied by the online form. This form included the Free and Informed Consent Term, in addition to the justification and scope of the research, respecting the personal data protection laws of the users.

The analysis, processing, and interpretation of the collected information were carried out in constant dialogue with the bibliography studied throughout the course and with other relevant authors in the field of bilingualism and neuroscience. This approach allowed for the contextualization of family perceptions within the existing theoretical framework, seeking to identify convergences and divergences with the literature.

3. Results and Discussion

This section details the research findings, interpreting them in light of the theoretical framework and the proposed objectives, which aimed to understand the bilingual experience of children aged two to three years in a Portuguese-English school context. The results obtained from the questionnaires applied to families revealed perceptions consistent with specialized literature, indicating that early bilingualism not only does not harm the development of the mother tongue, but can also enhance vocabulary acquisition in both languages and improve children’s communicative intention. The analysis also highlighted the relevance of the family environment as an essential complement to linguistic immersion, reinforcing the importance of continuous stimuli for bilingual neurodevelopment.

Respondent Profile

The study included the participation of 14 families, of which three were excluded from the final analysis for not meeting the minimum exposure time criterion to the bilingual educational context, established at six months. This exclusion was based on the literature, which emphasizes the need for a significant period of contact and continuous use of the second language for consistent changes in linguistic development to be observed (Lightbown and Spada, 2013). Thus, the analysis was performed based on the responses of 11 families, ensuring that the data reflected a more consolidated bilingual experience.

Regarding the exposure time of children to bilingual school, the data revealed that 6 out of 11 respondents indicated an exposure time of over one year, while the remaining 5 reported a period between six months and one year. As for the age range of the children, the majority of participants, eight in total, were three years old, and the others were two years old. This diverse profile of respondents, in both age and exposure time, provided a rich range of insights into the linguistic and cognitive development of children in the bilingual environment.

The age range of children, from two to three years old, is considered particularly conducive to the acquisition of a second language, due to the high cerebral plasticity characteristic of this period (Pinheiro, 2007). Cerebral plasticity allows developing cells to adapt more easily to new stimuli, making the learning of new concepts and ideas more efficient than at older ages. Furthermore, the window of opportunity for L2 acquisition, which extends from eighteen months to eleven years (Doherty, 1997), favors learning in the toddler phase, as per the focus of this study.

A crucial aspect for second language acquisition is immersion, and the results indicated that bilingual living is not restricted solely to the school environment. The vast majority of participating families (7 out of 11) reported that English is used at home, complementing the linguistic input received at school. This family engagement is a significant factor that contributes to the intensity of L2 input, as pointed out by Li, Legault, and Litcofsky (2014), and can accelerate language development.

The contexts in which English is introduced in the domestic environment are varied, but music and books were the resources most frequently mentioned by families. Other forms of exposure included play, spontaneous conversations, intentional reinforcement, daily routines (such as bathing, meals, and dressing), and the use of videos or television. The possibility of choosing multiple alternatives in the survey revealed the diversity of strategies adopted by families to promote second language immersion, creating a rich and conducive environment for learning.

Social interaction with real people is a fundamental element for L2 learning, as suggested by Kuhl, Tsao, and Liu (2003), who highlight the greater effectiveness of human contact compared to audiovisual content. In this sense, play, conversations, and routines in English within the family environment not only increase the intensity of linguistic input but also create a social bond that attracts children’s attention and motivation. This complementarity between school and home stimuli is vital for the observed effects on children’s language development and neurodevelopment.

Notions About Bilingualism and Family Concerns

Historically, bilingualism was often associated with aspirations and fears, being perceived as a factor potentially detrimental to child development. However, the evolution of academic research has transformed this perception, leading to a more positive and realistic view of the benefits of bilingualism (Brentano, 2020). This study sought to investigate whether these initial concerns still persisted among participating families and how they evolved after their children’s bilingual experience.

Among the families who responded to the questionnaire, three reported having had significant concerns about bilingualism before their children entered school. The main anxieties mentioned included speech delay, the possibility of confusion between languages, difficulties in understanding and adapting to a new language, and the fear that the child would not feel welcomed in an environment with a new language. These concerns reflect a social imaginary that, although being demystified by literature, still permeates common sense.

It is noteworthy that, after the adaptation period and their children’s concrete experience in the bilingual environment, all three families who initially expressed concerns reported that their anxieties were overcome. Furthermore, 100% of the participating parents stated they believe that bilingualism will bring benefits to their children’s future. This result demonstrates a change in perception aligned with the advancement of scientific knowledge, which has demystified initial fears and highlighted the positive aspects of bilingual education.

The Bilingual Brain and Linguistic Development

The literature on bilingualism highlights that the bilingual brain develops a differentiated mental organization, which manifests in benefits such as the enhancement of executive control and linguistic selection capacity. Bilinguals face the constant challenge of identifying and using the resources of the appropriate language in each communicative context, which, according to Kovács and Mehler (2009), leads them to develop cognitive flexibility skills and simultaneous monitoring of structural differences between languages. This dynamic imposes a cognitive challenge that strengthens the brain’s inhibitory control (Yoshida, 2008).

One of the most relevant findings about the bilingual brain is the simultaneous activation of two language systems, even when only one language is in use (Brentano, 2020; Kroll and Bialystok, 2013). This constant activation generates a reorganization in the linguistic and cognitive systems, allowing conceptual and metalinguistic skills acquired in one language to transfer to the other (Cummins, 1979). This phenomenon suggests that bilingualism not only benefits the second language but also enhances the development of the mother tongue.

Participating families perceived a significant increase in Portuguese vocabulary after the start of the bilingual experience at school. Most respondents indicated a “clearly” noticeable increase, while a smaller portion observed a “slight” increase. This positive perception can be attributed to two main factors: contact and broad socialization in the school environment, where children interact daily with peers and teachers in Portuguese, and the effect of bilingual teaching itself, which, by activating and reorganizing executive functions, promotes language development in both languages (Kroll and Bialystok, 2013).

Regarding English vocabulary, 65% of participants reported a “clearly” noticeable increase since the beginning of school, and the remaining 35% perceived a “slight” increase. These varied perceptions of L2 vocabulary are in line with the predictions of Hill and Flynn (2006), who indicate that after six months of L2 contact, the student enters the “Early Production” stage, characterized by limited comprehension and production of short words or phrases. A richer vocabulary is expected after at least one year of continuous L2 contact, which aligns with the diversity of exposure times observed in the sample.

Another relevant linguistic phenomenon observed was the mixture of words between English and Portuguese, reported by the vast majority of respondents. Three participants stated they observed this mixture “sometimes”, and one of them said they did not observe it. However, 100% of the families considered this mixture as something natural, demonstrating an understanding aligned with current literature. This alternation, previously called code-switching, is today more accepted as translanguaging, a perspective that sees the mixture not as confusion or incomplete mastery, but as a characteristic of an integrated and fluid linguistic repertoire (Vogel and García, 2017).

Translingualism, from the perspective of dynamic bilingualism (García, 2009), recognizes that bilingual individuals possess a unique linguistic repertoire, composed of elements from their cultures, languages, and experiences, which are activated according to the communicative context (Vogel and García, 2017). Thus, language mixing is seen as a positive sign of construction and appropriation of the entire set of both languages, indicating competence and not difficulty. The presence of this phenomenon in young children, even with an exposure time to bilingualism of up to one year, suggests that high fluency is not necessary for it to occur.

The research also revealed a significant perception of increased communicative intent in children after entering school. Before the bilingual experience, communication forms ranged from gestures and pointing, specific cries for needs, vocalizations and isolated words, to small sentences and complete sentences with meaning. After entering school, children began to communicate in a more sophisticated manner, predominantly using small sentences, complete sentences, and in some cases, short and coherent stories, a feature that had not been pointed out previously.

This evolution in communication is expected in the period from zero to three years, when children transition from pre-intentional behaviors to intentional communicative acts (Bates et al., 1975). The alternation of gaze between the desired object and the adult, to confirm message reception, is an indicator of this communicative intention, which progressively refines. The perception of 90% of families that there was an increase in children’s intention to seek communication, call others, and share facts, reinforces that stimuli from the school and family environment contribute to this evolution, resulting in more elaborate and intentional communication.

In summary, the results of this study corroborate the view that early bilingualism, especially in a school immersion environment and with family support, is not only beneficial for linguistic development in both languages but also promotes differentiated mental organization. The families’ perceptions of vocabulary expansion, the naturalness of translanguaging, and the increased communicative intent of the children demonstrate that the bilingual brain develops cognitive and linguistic skills in an integrated manner, responding positively to stimuli in a multilingual context and reinforcing the importance of continuing to investigate this field.

4. Conclusion

This study sought to contribute to research on the bilingual experience of children aged two to three years in a Portuguese-English school context, through data collection and analysis. It was found that family perceptions aligned with the literature, indicating that early exposure to a second language did not harm the development of the mother tongue. A vocabulary expansion in both languages and a significant increase in children’s communicative intent after entering school were observed. The phenomenon of translanguaging was recognized by families as natural and expected, and the family environment, with the use of songs, books, and games in English, proved to be a relevant complement to linguistic input. The main contribution lies in reinforcing the understanding that the bilingual brain develops a differentiated mental organization, with notable positive effects in the areas of vocabulary and communication, demystifying initial concerns and validating pedagogical practices that promote simultaneous bilingualism.

The data analysis reinforces the importance of a neuroscientific perspective in education, by evidencing how dynamic bilingualism shapes neurodevelopment and cognitive and linguistic skills in an integrated manner. However, it is recognized that the study was limited to a small sample, in a specific geographical and age context, and used an online questionnaire as a data collection tool. Such methodological characteristics suggest the need for future investigations to broaden the scope, seeking more expressive data in other contexts and employing diverse research and analysis tools. In this way, it will be possible to deepen the understanding of bilingualism as a constantly moving process, which forms singular and complex subjects.

Bibliographic References

Bialystok, E.; Kroll, J.F. 2013. Understanding the consequences of bilingualism for language processing and cognition. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 25(5): 497-514.

Brentano, L.S. 2020. A experiência bilíngue e a cognição: implicações na sala de aula. p. 123-136. In: Megale, A. Desafios e Práticas na Educação Bilíngue. v.2. Fundação Santillana, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

De Houwer, 2009 [Referência completa não encontrada no documento original]

Doherty, G. 1997. Zero to six: the basis for school readiness. Applied Research Branch R-97-8E. Human Resources Development, Ottawa, Canada.

García, O. 2009. Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: a global

McLaughlin, 1978 [Referência completa não encontrada no documento original]

Pinheiro, M. 2007. Fundamentos de neuropsicologia: o desenvolvimento cerebral da criança. Vita et Sanitas 1(1): 35-48.

Article originating from a Final Course Work on Neuroscience and Learning in Education

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