Debunking the Myth: Can Multilingualism Cause Confusion and Developmental Delays?

“One of my biggest regrets is that we never tried to teach my son my language. We were so afraid that speaking two languages to him would confuse him and delay his language development that my husband and I shifted to English the moment our son was born.” As Fathin* recounted her reasons for adopting her family language policy, her voice was heavy with regret. “I wish I knew then that speaking to my child in my own language would not have caused him any harm, and in fact would probably have been better for him.”

Fathin’s concerns about adopting a family language are not uncommon. Many parents from multilingual backgrounds have concerns about their children’s linguistic development. Caregivers often worry about what might be an optimal age at which to introduce more languages to a child, and what might be the best languages to teach. Many parents from linguistically minoritized backgrounds wonder whether the use of a home language that is different from the school or societal language can cause confusion for the child, hold back their development, or slow their academic progress.

We know from numerous scientific studies that these are unfounded worries. The reality is that the human brain, especially that of infants and young children, can handle multiple languages without any form of confusion and without causing any developmental challenges. A multilingual child develops in much the same way as a monolingual child — except that they have the added benefit of knowing more than one language.

What Does the Research Say About the Young Multilingual Brain?

According to the Unitary Language System Hypothesis, proposed by Volterra and Taeschner in the 1970s, children exposed to more than one language initially develop a single linguistic system, which includes elements of their multiples languages. At a later stage, different lexical systems begin to form for each of their languages, while the child continues to apply the syntactic rules of their dominant language to each lexical system. Finally, in a third stage of development, grammatical systems become distinct, allowing for full differentiation between their languages. According to this theory, the practice of code-mixing is evidence of confusion on the child’s part, as they are unable to distinguish between their different languages.

In contrast, the Separate Systems Hypothesis posits that the child constructs one lexicon and one grammar for each language that they're trying to acquire. Their separate systems may have underlying connections, but the child is aware of the differences between the languages from the beginning. Evidence from multiple studies conducted on this issue show that multilingualism does not cause confusion. Comparisons between multilingual and monolingual children clearly and consistently show that simultaneous exposure to two or more languages from a young age does not create confusion for children because human brains are predisposed to acquire multiple languages effortlessly, and without formal instruction.

Considerations

Though we may have the natural ability to become multilingual through exposure to different languages, it is important to consider what might help to achieve optimal proficiency. The quality and quantity of input in each language is essential here.

Let’s take the example of Fathin, whose concerns about her son we recounted at the beginning. Fathin speaks Dhivehi and English, and lives in an English-majority context. If she wanted her son Umar to become a proficient bilingual, she would ideally ensure that Umar receives 50% of input in each of the languages, and that they are matched in terms of the type of input. However, this 50/50 ratio may often be unrealistic to achieve. Living in an English-dominant society where Dhivehi is only used in their family home, the only Dhivehi Umar hears is likely to be from his parents. Everything else, including the media exposed to him, is likely to be in English. In such cases, it is recommended that at least 30% of the input Umar receives should be in Dhivehi.

If input falls any lower than this threshold, there is a significant risk that the child would not be successful in developing full communicative competence in all linguistic domains in that language.

That said, in embracing multilingualism, parents not only preserve their cultural heritage but also offer their children the gift of cognitive flexibility, greater communication skills, and a deeper connection to their roots and the world around them.

*All names are pseudonyms