Dear all, Ini summary mengenai bilingualisme yang pernah dipostingkan di milis linguistlist 19 Januari 2001 yang saya juga menjadi anggotanya.
Salam, Joko From: Paul J. Rychwalsk, M.D. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> My first language is English and I am fluent in Spanish. My wife is from Mexico, her first language is Spanish and she is fluent in English. We live in the United States. Our child is now 4 months old and we are interested in theories of teaching both languages to our son. Our plan was to speak only Spanish in our home, assuming that he wil pick up English from his environment (friends, relatives, television). Some have said that this would put him at a disadvantage in English when he begins school. We have also thought about my wife speaking Spanish and me speaking English to him with Spanish between my wife and I. What are the current thoughts regarding raising a bilingual child? Are there any published data? Thank you. Dear Paul: This question and similar ones have been asked (and answered) in this forum a number of times, so you should do a search of our archives for complementary points of view (at http://linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/ask-ling.cgi). Just to give you what seems to be the generally-accepted consensus: there seems to be agreement that each parent should stick to a single language, usually each one's respective native language. What you suggest is nearly the generally accepted 'best plan'. The only bad information in your query comes from your misguided 'some' who suggest a disadvantage in school. All the information I have seen suggests that bilingualism is at worst neutral for the cognitive development of children, and most people (admittedly often on the basis of anecdotal or 'common-sense' evidence--this of course means that I just haven't read any relevant research on the topic, and I don't in fact know if any exists) think that there are positive benefits cognitively from bilingualism. In my personal case, I speak English natively and Spanish fluently. My wife speaks (Argentine) Spanish natively and English quasi-natively. We speak English with each other, and both used Spanish with our kids (a bit dumb on my part, but I just didn't know at the time, and one thing from personal experience that I can tell you is that it is *extremely* difficult to change the language you use with your kids, once you have started with one). In any case, despite the initial passivity of our kids' knowledge of English (all were raised in Mexico), they all attended a partially-English-language school in Puebla, Mexico, and all have excelled in English. The older two are now in college in the States, and doing very well, and the youngest is at least as good at English as the others were at her age. While their Mom and me [sic] are no dummies, I have the strong feeling that our kids' cognitive development was greatly aided by the bilingual environment they were raised in. In sum, your plan sounds feasible and recommendable, and I doubt that anyone here will try to argue you out of it. Jim --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Mau kirim bunga hari ini ? Klik, http://www.indokado.com/ >> Info balita, http://www.balita-anda.com >> Stop berlangganan, e-mail ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
