Fostering Second Language Development in Young Children (continued)

By validating the students' cultures and using communication patterns familiar to them, teachers provide a much richer and more effective approach to culturally sensitive instruction than by focusing on occasional celebrations of the history and traditions of different ethnic groups. Children will feel validated in the classroom if they are encouraged to acclimate gradually through daily affirmation of their learning styles and communication patterns.

Principle #4

For Some Bilingual Children - Code Switching is a Normal Language Phenomenon

While some children acquiring a second language appear at first to confuse the two languages, code-switching is, in fact, a normal aspect of second language acquisition. Young bilingual children tend to insert single items from one language into the other (McClure, 1977), primarily to resolve ambiguities and clarify statements. Children over nine and adults, however, tend to switch languages at the phrase or sentence level, typically to convey social meanings.

Studies of code-switching in adults show it to be a sophisticated, rule-governed communicative device used to achieve goals such as conveying emphasis or establishing cultural identity. Children acquiring a second language are learning to switch languages in the sophisticated manner they hear in their homes and communities. Teachers should not hesitate to switch languages to accommodate the language and culture of their students. The goal must always be to communicate, rather than adhere to rigid rules about which language can be used in a given circumstance or at a given time.

Principle #5

Children Come To Learn Second Languages in Many Different Ways

Children become bilingual in different ways, the two most common being simultaneous acquisition of two languages and successive acquisition of a second language. A child under the age of three who is exposed to two languages usually experiences simultaneous acquisition. If the child is exposed to the second language at an older age, successive acquisition usually occurs. The rate of acquisition varies depending on the amount of exposure and support the child receives as well as on individual differences. Four types of bilingualism that fall into the two ways of learning languages have been identified.

For types 1 and 2, children have had high exposure to both languages at an early age.

• Type 1, Simultaneous Bilingualism, refers to children who have early exposure to both languages and are given ample opportunities to use both.
• Type 2, Receptive Bilingualism, refers to children who have high exposure to a second language but have little opportunity to use or practice it.

For types 3 and 4, children are learning the second language sequentially, after they have learned their first language.

• Type 3, Rapid Successive Bilingualism, refers to children who have had little exposure to a second language before entering school but have ample opportunity to use it once they enter.
• Type 4, Slow Successive Bilingualism, refers to children who have had little exposure to a second language and who have or avail themselves of few opportunities and have low motivation to use it.

While these four generally describe the second language acquisition process, the complexity of bilingualism can produce other variances.