Bilingual Children and Speech Therapy

A frequent parent worry: does raising a child with a speech or language delay in two (or more) languages make things worse — should we drop a language? The short answer, from Yasmin Akhtar's parent guide on speech therapy, which matches current mainstream thinking among speech-language professionals, is no.

The short answer

Don't drop a language to fix a disorder. The MEITS multilingualism research project puts it bluntly: reducing the number of languages a child with a speech and language disorder speaks doesn't cure the disorder — it just produces a monolingual child with a disorder.

There isn't yet much research on long-term outcomes of bilingualism with a language disorder. But the known benefits of growing up bilingual — higher educational achievement, richer social use of language, cognitive flexibility (the mental skill of switching between tasks or rules) — argue for keeping both languages where your family can support them.

Practical guidance

• Keep speaking your home language. If your family has one main home language, use it consistently at home. If there are two, the "one parent, one language" rule — each parent consistently speaks one language to the child — keeps the input clear.
• A speech-sound difficulty usually appears in all of your child's languages when those languages share the same sounds. The difficulty follows the child, not the language. Signing and AAC (augmentative and alternative communication, such as picture boards or communication devices) also transfer across languages.
• Split home and school roles. Before school age, practice therapy targets in your home language. Once your child is in school and receiving therapy in the school language (for example, English), do the therapy homework in that language — but keep using your home language for everyday play and conversation so it keeps developing.
• Expect therapy in the local language. Speech therapists are usually trained in the local language, so clinic sessions happen in that language. That's normal — your home language's job is home. Signing systems such as Makaton have materials in around 40 countries and languages.

Bilingualism is not the cause

Bilingualism does not cause language disorders. A bilingual child's vocabulary is spread across two languages, so each language on its own can look "smaller" than a monolingual child's. A good assessment should count your child's total conceptual vocabulary — every idea they can name, in either language — rather than judging one language alone.

If you suspect a delay, ask for an evaluation rather than assuming bilingualism explains it. Check what bilingual-friendly assessment and speech therapy services are available in your area, since provision varies by country and region.

Home practice

Everyday activities like singing, reading aloud, and narrating your day work in any language — your home language is a perfectly good vehicle for speech practice, and a strong first language supports learning a second.

Not medical advice. For a bilingual child with a suspected delay, ask the speech-language pathologist for a bilingual-friendly assessment. Decisions about adding or keeping a language should involve your child's specialist team — not be made out of fear.