Volume 1 in the Parents & Teachers' Guides series.

Includes a table of contents, acknowledgements, a glossary and an index.

SECTION A: FAMILY QUESTIONS
A1 What are the advantages of my child becoming bilingual?
A2 Are some families better placed than others to produce bilingual children?
A3 Is the mother more important than the father in the child ’s language development?
A4 What happens if parents don’t agree that their children should become bilingual?
A5 If we raise our child to be bilingual, will it affect our partnership/marriage?
A6 My partner does not understand the language that I will speak to my child. Is this a problem?
A7 What happens if grandparents and the extended family disapprove of bilingualism?
A8 What is the ‘one person–one language’ (OPOL) approach? Is it effective?
A9 I’m a one-parent family. How can I raise my child bilingually?
A10 Neither of us speaks a second language. How can we help our child become bilingual?
A11 My children get little practice in speaking one of their languages outside the family. What should I do?
A12 When watching television, should my child be encouraged to listen to one language or both languages?
A13 My children can speak two languages. How can I help them belong to two cultures?
A14 How important is it that the child’s two languages are practised and supported outside the home?
A15 What kind of community support is valuable for bilingualism?
A16 My neighbours think we should integrate more which means using a different language from the home. Should we keep separate or integrate?
A17 Can I learn a second language alongside my child?
A18 We have just moved to a different country. Should we speak the host country’s language in the home to help our children?
A19 What should our language strategy be with an adopted child?
A20 I speak two languages fairly fluently – which should I choose to speak to my child?
A21 I would like to speak my first language to my child but I have got out of the habit of using it. Can I do anything to get back in the habit?
A22 My partner won’t understand the language that I will be using to speak to my child. Is this a problem?

SECTION B: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS
B1 What are the most important factors in raising a bilingual child?
B2 Do some children find it easier than others to become bilingual?
B3 Does bilingual development start in the fetal stage?
B4 Is it easier to become bilingual as a young child?
B5 How early do bilingual children recognize that they have two languages?
B6 Is it better for my child to learn a language early to secure better storage in the brain?
B7 Will my child become equally fluent in two languages?
B8 Is it better to develop two languages together or one language later than the other?
B9 How do I know my child’s language development in each language is normal and acceptable?
B10 Will learn a second language interfere with development in the first language?
B11 Are there benefits even if my child has a less well-developed second language?
B12 What effect will bilingualism have on my child’s intelligence?
B13 I want my children to be successful. Should I concentrate on developing their first/majority language skills?
B14 Should my child keep the two languages separate in different situations and with different people (e.g. visitors)?
B15 Should my child use two languages with the same person?
B16 Will my child’s attitudes affect the learning of a second language?
B17 Is it sensible to raise my child multilingually?
B18 Do bilinguals learn a third language easier than monolinguals learn a second language?
B19 Do girls and boys differ in their progress towards bilingualism and biliteracy?
B20 Are first-borns different to later-borns in developing bilingualism?
B21 My child mixes their two languages. Is this normal?
B22 Does switching between languages have any value or purpose?
B23 When will my bilingual child be able to interpret and translate from one language to another?
B24 How much will experience of majority language mass media affect the development of bilingualism in my child?
B25 Can music and drama help my child’s bilingual development?
B26 Will computers and information technology affect my child’s bilingualism?
B27 How important are employment prospects to preserve my child’s languages into adulthood?
B28 I need to change the language(s) I’ve used with my children. How will it affect them?

SECTION C: QUESTIONS ABOUT PROBLEMS
C1 What are the disadvantages of my child becoming bilingual?
C2 My child mixes the two languages. What should I do?
C3 My child refuses to use one of his/her languages. What should I do?
C4 My teenage child is speaking the majority language more and more. What can I do?
C5 The balance of my child’s two languages seems to be shifting. How can I ensure one language doesn’t disappear?
C6 Will my child learn two languages only half as well as a monolingual child?
C7 Will my child’s thinking be affected by being bilingual?
C8 Does bilingualism have an effect on the functioning of the brain?
C9 Will my bilingual children have a problem of identity with two different cultures?
C10 Will my identity change if I raise children to be bilingual and bi(multi)cultural?
C11 What will happen to our identity if we move to live in another country?
C12 Will bilingualism have any adverse effect on my child ’s personality?
C13 Will bilingualism have any adverse effect on my child ’s friendships and social development?
C14 My child seems to have learning difficulties. Is this due to bilingualism?
C15 My child seems to have an emotional/ behavioural problem. Is this caused by bilingualism?
C16 My child has a specific diagnosed problem (e.g. severe learning difficulty, language disorder, emotional problem). Should we change to speaking one language to the child rather than two languages? What language should I speak to my child?
C17 My child stutters. Is this caused or made worse by bilingualism?
C18 My child is autistic or has Asperger’s syndrome. Should we use one language only with the child?
C19 People make fun of our speaking a minority language. How should I react?
C20 People around me are prejudiced and racist. Should we as a family switch to speaking only the majority language?
C21 I’m a recent immigrant to a country. Should I stop speaking my native language and switch to the first language of that country?
C22 My second language is not perfect. Should I speak it to my child?
C23 A local professional (e.g. a doctor, psychologist, speech therapist, teacher) advised me against bilingualism. Is this correct?
C24 Do teenagers suffer or gain if their parents come from different language and cultural backgrounds (mixed language marriages)?
C25 What are the most common reasons that children raised in a multilingual setting do not achieve functional multilingualism?

SECTION D: READING AND WRITING QUESTIONS
D1 Should my child learn to read in one language first?
D2 Will learning to read in a second language interfere with reading in the first language?
D3 If the two languages have different scripts, will learning to read and write be a problem?
D4 Can a child learn to be literate in three languages?
D5 When should a child begin to read in a second language?
D6 How should I help my child to read and write in both languages?
D7 Which approach to teaching reading works best? The ‘look and say’, ‘phonemic awareness’, ‘phonics’, ‘whole language’ or what approach?
D8 Should I buy books for my child to read that contain two languages or just one language?
D9 How can I locate books for my child to read in each language?
D10 Will my child find it hard to write in two different languages?
D11 My child seems slow in learning to read. Is this due to bilingualism?
D12 My child has problems with spelling. Is this due to bilingualism?
D13 My child has been diagnosed as dyslexic. Should we develop reading and writing in one language and not two?

SECTION E: EDUCATION QUESTIONS

Basic Education Questions
E1 How can a pre-school playgroup or nursery school support children’s bilingualism?
E2 What are the language features of an effective pre-school or nursery school to support my child’s bilingualism?
E3 Should my child go to a bilingual school?
E4 What should I look out for in choosing a school for my bilingual child?
E5 Should my child be taught bilingually in the primary school but not in the secondary school?
E6 I do not speak the language used at my child’s school. How can I help my children with their homework?
E7 The language of the university is different from that of the secondary school. Will my child suffer because they have not been educated in the language used at the university?
E8 Should older children not be placed in bilingual education?
E9 Is there a ‘critical age’ when children shouldn’t be moved to a school with a different language pattern in the curriculum?
E10 My children can hold a conversation in a second language. Is that sufficient for them to be taught in that language at school?
E11 My child is learning through a second language at school. Should we change our language pattern at home?
E12 How easy or difficult will it be for my children to find a job if they are bilingual?
E13 My child is being offered lessons as a beginner at school in a language they already speak fluently at home – what should I do?
E14 Is Home Education a good option for a multilingual family?

Types of Bilingual Education
E15 What types of bilingual education exist?
E16 What are Dual Language schools?
E17 What are Dual Language Peace schools?
E18 What are International schools?
E19 What is the European Schools Movement?
E20 What is Heritage Language Bilingual Education?
E21 What is Transitional Bilingual Education?
E22 What is Immersion Bilingual Education?
E23 What are the main classroom features of successful immersion programs?
E24 What language strategies are used in immersion classrooms?
E25 What is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)?
E26 What is the new form for Intensive Second Language Immersion at the end of elementary schooling?
E27 What is a Withdrawal class for extra language support?
E28 What does Scaffolding mean, and why is it important in supporting language learners in school?
E29 What kind of education should I give my child if we regularly move to different countries?
E30 What are Saturday Schools and Voluntary Schools outside regular school hours, and how valuable are they in the development of a minority or second language?

Achievement and Underachievement Questions
E31 Will my child’s performance in school be affected by being bilingual?
E32 Are there positive effects of learning through the medium of two languages?
E33 My child is learning through a new language. Will this affect attainment at school?
E34 My child’s school teaches through the minority language. Will this affect my child’s development in the majority language?
E35 Speakers of our home language are often poor and unemployed. Should we ensure our child is educated in the majority language to aid employment prospects?
E36 My child seems to be underachieving at school. Is this because of bilingualism?
E37 Should my child be placed in a Bilingual Special Education Programme?
E38 My child is suffering in school because other children tease him/her about speaking another language. What can I do?

Language in the Classroom
E39 Will my child be able to learn a new language thoroughly in the school system?
E40 How should two languages be distributed in a bilingual classroom?
E41 What is ‘Translanguaging’?
E42 Should Science and Mathematics be taught in an international language such as English?
E43 My child’s school doesn’t support bilingualism and there is no bilingual school nearby. What should I do?
E44 Which language should be used to test/assess/counsel a bilingual child? What should be the nature of such assessment?
E45 Are teachers trained to help bilingual children?

SECTION F: CONCLUDING QUESTIONS
F1 The economy and politics of the world is changing. Is there a future for bilingualism?
F2 Are monolinguals more common than bilinguals in the world?
F3 Why are many politicians against bilingualism and bilingual education?
F4 Is bilingualism a natural right of any individual?
F5 Does my child have a right to bilingual education (e.g. in law, a natural right)?
F6 Language is an important part of our religion. Should my child learn a second language for this purpose?
F7 I use a particular dialect/a Creole/a Pidgin language in the home. Is your advice about raising a bilingual child different or similar?
F8 I have a Deaf child. Is your advice about raising a bilingual child different or similar?
F9 Books on child care and child development warn me against bilingualism. How should I react?
F10 How do I contact other parents in a similar situation?
F11 Is the internet going to affect my child’s bilingualism?
F12 How do I find out more information about bilingualism?

Glossary

Index

''In this accessible guide to bilingualism in the family and the classroom, Colin Baker delivers a realistic picture of the joys and difficulties of raising bilingual children. The Q&A format of this book makes it the natural choice for the busy parent or teacher who needs an easy reference guide to the most frequently asked questions. This revised edition includes more information on bilingualism in the digital age, and incorporates the latest research in areas such as neonatal language experience, multilingualism, language mixing and the effect that siblings have on family language choice.'' (Book Cover)