Nursery World - So to speak

Far from discouraging children to speak their home languages at nursery, practitioners should actively promote it, and recognise that all children will benefit from hearing a mix of languages Children who are new to English are not new to language. It is not uncommon to hear early years practitioners say that bilingual children 'have no language', but this could not be further from the truth. Young bilingual children arrive in settings with a sophisticated understanding of one language and with the potential to apply this knowledge to learning English. It is vital, therefore, that practitioners understand how best to support children new to English and view being bilingual or multilingual not as a problem, but as an asset.

Children who are new to English are not new to language. It is not uncommon to hear early years practitioners say that bilingual children 'have no language', but this could not be further from the truth. Young bilingual children arrive in settings with a sophisticated understanding of one language and with the potential to apply this knowledge to learning English. It is vital, therefore, that practitioners understand how best to support children new to English and view being bilingual or multilingual not as a problem, but as an asset.

WORLD LANGUAGES

You may be surprised to know that there are more than 6,000 recorded languages and dialects spoken across the globe, that most people worldwide speak at least two languages and that about 70 per cent of the world's population are bilingual (see box).

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