Bilingual children and speech delay: myths, facts and when to worry

Growing up with two languages does not cause speech or language delay. Bilingual children babble, say first words and combine words on the same timeline as monolingual children, with their vocabulary spread across both languages. The sign that something may need a closer look is a delay in both languages when everything is added together. This guide clears up the common myths, explains what is normal, and describes how assessment works for multilingual families in Ontario.

Myths about bilingualism and delay

Many Ontario families hear well-meaning advice that is not supported by research. Here are the most common claims and what the evidence says.

Myth: Two languages confuse a child and delay speech. Research summarized by ASHA on learning two languages finds no evidence that bilingual exposure causes delay. Children’s brains are built to handle more than one language from birth, and a majority of the world’s children grow up with more than one.

Myth: Bilingual children start talking later. Studies comparing bilingual and monolingual toddlers find that first words appear around the same age, close to the first birthday, and two-word combinations around age 2. What differs is how the words are divided.

Myth: You should switch to only English before school. Dropping the home language does not speed up English. It removes the language in which parents are most fluent, most expressive and most able to tell stories, explain and comfort. A strong first language supports the second. Speech-language pathologists recommend keeping both.

Myth: One parent, one language is the only right way. Families use many patterns, including one language at home and another outside, or both languages mixed by everyone. What matters most is that the child hears plenty of rich, responsive talk in each language, not the rule used to divide them.

Myth: Bilingualism makes a language disorder worse. Children with developmental language disorder, autism or Down syndrome can and do become bilingual. The research reviewed by ASHA finds that a second language does not add to the difficulty. Removing a language can, however, remove a child’s access to family and community.

What is normal in bilingual development

A few features of bilingual development look unusual to people used to monolingual children. They are expected and healthy.

Code-mixing

Bilingual toddlers and preschoolers often use both languages in one sentence: “I want more leche” or “Dada, car gaya”. This is called code-mixing or code-switching. It is not a sign of confusion. Children usually mix when they know a word in one language but not the other, or when the word in one language is easier to say. Bilingual adults mix in the same way with other bilinguals. Mixing typically drops off in each setting as children learn which language their listener uses.

Uneven languages

Almost no bilingual child has exactly equal skills in both languages. The language a child hears more is usually stronger, and the balance shifts over time. A child may know household and food words in the home language and daycare and playground words in English. Hoff and colleagues (2012) found that the amount of exposure to each language predicts vocabulary in that language, which is why the two cannot be judged separately against monolingual norms.

The silent period

When a child who speaks one language at home starts daycare or kindergarten in another, it is common for them to say very little in the new language for weeks or sometimes months. During this time, they are listening and building understanding. A silent period in the new language only, while the child keeps talking at home, is normal. A child who is quiet in both languages is a different situation.

Accents and sound substitutions

A child may use sounds from one language when speaking the other, for example a rolled “r” in English words. These influences are expected and are not a speech sound disorder. Speech-language pathologists compare a child’s sounds with the sound system of each language, not just English.

Counting words across two languages

The milestones most families see, such as the ASHA 2023 communication milestones, were collected from monolingual English-speaking children. Applied to only one of a bilingual child’s languages, they will undercount.

The accepted approach is to count total vocabulary: every word a child uses in any language. If a 2-year-old says 40 English words and 45 Punjabi words, the total is 85, which is well past the 50-word milestone. Some clinicians also count conceptual vocabulary, where a pair such as “milk” and “doodh” is counted once because it is one concept. Both approaches show the same thing: a bilingual child’s combined knowledge is usually similar to a monolingual child’s.

To count at home, keep one list and note the language of each word. The free toddler word counter can be used for either language, and our guide on how many words a toddler should say explains what counts as a word, including approximations, signs and animal sounds.

When to worry

The clearest sign is a delay in both languages taken together. Specifically, speech-language pathologists in Ontario recommend an assessment for a bilingual child when:

• there is no babbling by 12 months, or no words in any language by 18 months,
• the total across languages is fewer than 50 words, or there are no two-word combinations in any language, at 24 months,
• the child has difficulty understanding in the home language, the one they hear most,
• the child uses few gestures, rarely points or shows, or shows little interest in communicating,
• skills in either language are lost rather than shifting,
• speech is hard for parents to understand at 3, even in the home language, or
• there is any concern about hearing or a history of ear infections.

Two things are not reasons to worry on their own: a smaller vocabulary in one language, and mixing. A child who is behind in English but on track in Tamil does not have a language delay. A child who is behind in both has the same referral triggers as any other child, and our guide on when to see a speech-language pathologist lists them by age. The milestone checklist can be filled in with skills from either language.

Because the home language is usually the stronger one in the early years, understanding in the home language is especially informative. A child who follows directions and answers questions at home in the family’s language has a solid language foundation even if English is only beginning.

Assessment for bilingual children in Ontario

Assessing a bilingual child properly takes more care than assessing a monolingual one. The ASHA Practice Portal on bilingual service delivery describes the standard: a speech-language pathologist should assess a child’s skills in all of their languages, gather a detailed language history, and avoid relying on English-only standardized tests, which were normed on monolingual children and can make a typically developing bilingual child look delayed.

Here is what to expect and what to ask for.

A language history. The clinician should ask which languages the child hears, from whom, how much, since when, and which language the child prefers in different settings. Bring this information to the first appointment. It shapes everything else.

Assessment in both languages where possible. If the clinician speaks the home language, they can assess directly. If not, they should work with an interpreter or a cultural-linguistic mediator, and ask you detailed questions about the home language. Parent-report checklists in the home language are a recognized and valid tool.

Careful use of test scores. Standard scores from English tests should be interpreted cautiously, and a clinician should say so in the report. The focus should be on patterns across both languages: understanding, vocabulary, sentence building, speech sounds, play and social communication.

Speech sounds compared with the right language. A sound that is “wrong” in English may be correct in the other language, and some English sounds do not exist in the home language. The speech sound checker uses English norms, so results for bilingual children should be read with that in mind.

Public services in other languages

Ontario’s Preschool Speech and Language Program is free, open to every family, and does not require a doctor’s referral or a diagnosis. Children are eligible from birth until they start school, and families self-refer through their local lead agency or SmartStart Hub. Many agencies in diverse regions have clinicians who speak languages other than English and French, and agencies can arrange interpreters for assessment and parent sessions. Ask about this when you call to refer, and be clear about every language your child hears at home. Our guide on how to get speech therapy in Ontario explains the process, and the Ontario services finder lists the agency for your area.

Private clinicians and the register

For private services, the CASLPO Public Register lets you search for registered speech-language pathologists by language of service. If no clinician speaks your language, a registered speech-language pathologist can still assess your child with an interpreter and with your input, following the bilingual service delivery standards above. Our guide on checking whether a speech-language pathologist is registered shows how to use the register.

What you can do at home

The most useful thing a bilingual family can do is keep talking in the language you are most comfortable in. Rich, natural language in your first language builds the foundation that transfers to English. Tell stories, sing, read picture books and talk about daily routines in the home language.

Use the same responsive strategies that help any child: follow your child’s interest, get face to face, pause and wait for a turn, repeat what they say and add a word, and comment more than you question. These work in any language, and our guide on everyday strategies to help your child talk explains each one.

If your child is in the silent period at daycare or kindergarten, let the educators know that your child talks at home, and ask them to keep including your child without pressure to speak. Most children begin to use the new language within a few months.

And if you have a concern, do not let anyone tell you it is “just the two languages”. Ask for an assessment. A registered speech-language pathologist can tell the difference between typical bilingual development and a delay, and either answer gives your family something useful to work with.