In this article, we will discuss the benefits of language intensification in early childhood education. The time from birth to preschool is the best time for children to learn a second language. The reason is, these years are the best period when the information will be kept in mind the most. In this article, we will talk about the benefits of bilingual development in the preschool period in order to support language development and to explain the importance of bilingual education for children and their families during the early learning years.

Parents may hesitate to enroll their children in a bilingual education program because they do not know a second language. It is important to remember that when children are fully involved in a language-speaking community, they will continue to speak a language other than the language spoken at home. In this way, children can develop the skills necessary to speak the second language. The reason for this is that when only one language is spoken at home, the child will learn both the language spoken at home and the language spoken at school at the same time. Children are age-appropriate and can understand and speak both languages ​​at the same level.

More than half of the world’s population speaks two languages. In our increasingly globalized society, educated parents are increasingly choosing to enroll their children in bilingual programs.

What are the benefits of exposing children to bilingual languages in early childhood?

Everyone is probably aware that learning more than one language has many benefits. Research has concluded that the following benefits may be true for children taught multiple languages during their developmental years:

• Increasing analytical language orientation
• Higher performance in standardized tests
• Easier to learn a third language or additional languages
• Higher self-esteem
• Increased social-emotional skills
• Increased creativity and problem-solving skills

Children learn a second language best when they are in a community that speaks that language fluently. In order to introduce the language and the culture of that language to the children in the education place in the best way, only the second language should be spoken.

Most of the developed countries of the world have innate bilingualism. Studies show that children exposed to more than one language in early childhood have an increased analytical orientation to language in general. They also score higher on standardized tests in other subjects, such as math and logic. When children are exposed to two languages, they form permanent connections in their brains that make it easier for them to switch back to a second language or learn a third language later on.

They also have higher self-esteem, their social-emotional skills, creativity, and problem-solving skills improve. The developmental and cognitive benefits of bilingualism in the early years are truly undeniable. We can even say that it is beneficial for later in life. For example, it has also been found that when people are bilingual as children, there is a decrease in the onset of Alzheimer’s later in life.

How can early childhood children be exposed to two languages at home?

The most basic rule when exposing children to bilinguals is to include them in a community where this language is spoken at all times. For example, if Turkish is spoken all the time at home, but English is spoken at school, the child can learn English just like Turkish.

If parents can include their children in such a community, they will not need to do anything extra at home. This is because if this environment can be provided at school or daycare, parents would have already done their best by sending their children there. Another situation is that a second-language parent may only speak their language to their child. For example, if the mother speaks English, she only speaks English to her child, and the father only speaks Turkish. In this way, there are two separate bilingual models at home for the child, which facilitate language acquisition.

We do not recommend this method if parents do not know the second language as their mother tongue. Instead, if you really want to expose your child to the second language at home, you need to try different methods. Among these, first of all, there is the use of real audio recordings from that language. For example, if you want to teach your child French as a second language, play French music or leave French audiobooks on at night while they sleep. Native French speakers or those who speak French fluently with the correct pronunciation will always have better resources for your child.

If the parents do not speak any languages, one of the activities that can be done at home can be dancing to the songs of the second language to be taught. This is a great way to support language acquisition.

Bilingual Children and Social-Emotional Development

Communities that adopt a multilingual and multicultural approach outside the family establish closer ties with each other and develop a better understanding. Being bilingual supports children to form strong bonds with their families, cultures, and communities. Bilingual children can make new friends and build strong relationships using their second language. By bridging the communication gap between languages, bilingual children are able to understand and connect with more individuals. It can also build even stronger friendships within their schools and communities.

Research has shown that in addition to relating to more people in the community, bilingual children learn to focus and self-control better during critical developmental stages. These important skills emerge through improved communication experiences overall. This allows them to form better relationships than students learning a single language.

Dual Language Acquisition and Learning

One of the biggest concerns in the early education phase for most parents is preparation for kindergarten. There are many questions about how to help children be prepared not only to attend kindergarten but to succeed in it.

According to research, one of the best ways to ensure your child gets the most out of their early childhood experiences is to introduce a second language at an early age. In fact, the benefits of bilingualism in children’s learning are something they will carry with them throughout their lives.

Are bilingual children confused?

One of the biggest concerns parents have about raising a bilingual child is that it will cause confusion. But there is no scientific evidence that children get confused when learning two languages. Fluently bilingual adults can speak the language of their choice at the moment and are not confused. What about bilingual children and babies?

A behavior that is often seen as evidence of confusion is when bilingual children use bilingual words in the same sentence. This is known as code-mixing. In fact, code-mixing is a normal part of bilingual development, and bilingual children actually have good reasons for using words from both languages.

Some children do this because it happens so often in language communities, children simply do what they hear from the adults around them. A second reason is that bilingual children, like monolingual children, have limited language resources. Just as a monolingual 1-year-old would initially use the word “dog” to call any four-legged animal, bilingual children sparingly use their limited vocabulary. If a bilingual child does not know the appropriate word in one language or cannot come up with it quickly, he or she may borrow the word from the other language.

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