Is your child growing up in a bilingual environment, and are you worried they will fall behind in French? Rest assured: according to the French Scientific Council for National Education (CSEN), bilingualism is absolutely not a handicap for a child’s cognitive development. Quite the opposite.
While a slight gap can sometimes appear in one given language, the combined vocabulary of both languages, once added together, often exceeds that of a monolingual child.
Even better, the bilingual brain develops attentional and executive capacities that last over time.
Would you like to know more on the subject? Our bilingual school in Paris sheds light on bilingualism and cognitive development.
Key Takeaways
- Bilingualism is not a handicap: nor is it a cause of language delay in children.
- A slight gap can appear in one language, but the combined vocabulary of both languages is often greater than that of a monolingual child.
- Bilingual children develop attention skills and executive control superior to those of monolingual children, as research confirms.
- These cognitive benefits last throughout life, well beyond childhood.
- Speaking to your child in the language you master best remains the best support for their language development.
Does bilingualism delay a child’s language acquisition?
This worry remains one of the most common among parents of bilingual children, but research clearly disproves it.
Indeed, the CSEN states it plainly: bilingualism is not a handicap for language development. It is true that a bilingual child may show, in one given language, a slightly less extensive vocabulary than a monolingual child of the same age. But this difference is mainly explained by exposure time being shared between two languages, rather than by a learning difficulty.
Once you add up the vocabulary of both languages, the gap disappears, or even reverses.
Even more, bilingual children show an awareness of how language works that is at least as developed as that of monolingual children, and often better.
Bilingualism therefore does not delay language acquisition: it builds it differently.
What cognitive benefits does bilingualism bring?
Beyond language, switching between two languages stimulates certain cognitive functions from a very young age.
Between the ages of 4 and 8, bilingual children show a clear advantage in solving tasks that require focusing attention while ignoring misleading information. This advantage goes beyond language alone: it is also found in categorisation exercises or in distinguishing appearance from reality.
Moreover, these benefits are not limited to childhood. The executive control developed through bilingualism persists throughout life, even providing an extra cognitive reserve later, as we age.
The CSEN also highlights another notable effect: multilingualism can even help offset the impact of disadvantaged socio-economic conditions on a child’s cognitive development.
How can you support a bilingual child day to day?
Encouraging harmonious bilingualism does not require overhauling your daily routine: a few simple habits are enough to make a difference. The CSEN and Réseau Canopé (the French educational resource network) offer several concrete recommendations, for parents and teachers alike.
Speaking in the language you feel most comfortable in
It is better to speak in the language you master best than to force a less confident one. This recommendation, put forward by the CSEN, encourages higher-quality exchanges with the child: a rich, spontaneous conversation nourishes language far better than a hesitant one.
Multiplying opportunities to exchange in both languages
The “language diamond” model, proposed by Réseau Canopé, encourages exploring, comparing and using multilingual teaching materials, also drawing on peer tutoring between children.
At home, shared reading, nursery rhymes or games organised in each language also help maintain this balance. In addition, some schools organise a week dedicated to languages, which creates a useful bridge between home and the classroom.
Our experience in the field: at École Galilée, preschool classes are bilingual on a 50/50 basis, with 50% of the time in English and 50% in French, taught by native French and English-speaking teachers. This daily bilingual immersion, combined with the Montessori method, allows every child to build both their language repertoires without pressure or comparison.
A framework designed to best support this dual learning
At École Galilée, bilingual development starts very early, from our bilingual preschool in Paris onward. Indeed, English becomes part of everyday life, both in lessons and in playtime, before becoming trilingual with Spanish taught from Year 2 (CE1). This multicultural pathway then smoothly prepares the transition to our bilingual high school in Paris.
Is your child growing up in a bilingual environment, and would you like support within a framework designed for this dual learning? Meet the École Galilée team today and discover our bilingual approach, from preschool onward!
Sources
- Conseil scientifique de l’éducation nationale (CSEN), “Avoir deux langues et plus à l’école maternelle et élémentaire”, csen.education.gouv.fr. https://www.csen.education.gouv.fr/publications/avoir-deux-langues-plus-maternelle-elementaire/
- Réseau Canopé / CSEN, “Avoir deux langues et plus à l’école: recommandations”, reseau-canope.fr. https://www.reseau-canope.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Projets/conseil_scientifique_education_nationale/syntheses_et_recommandations/18_avoir_deux_langues_et_plus/CSEN_Synthese_deux_langues_ecole_web-recommandations.pdf
- Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development (CEDJE), “L’acquisition d’une deuxième langue, le bilinguisme pendant la petite enfance et leur impact sur le développement cognitif précoce”, enfant-encyclopedie.com. https://www.enfant-encyclopedie.com/deuxieme-langue/selon-experts/lacquisition-dune-deuxieme-langue-le-bilinguisme-pendant-la-petite