It is common for Australian children to grow up with languages other than English in their family lives.
More than one-fifth of Australians report speaking a language other than English at home.
But when it comes time to start school, it’s common for parents to worry about raising a child to be bilingual or multilingual.
They may wonder, am I harming my child’s English development if I speak another language at home?
The short answer is no. Research shows speaking more than one language doesn’t hinder a child’s academic progress – in fact.... This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Valeria Maria Rigobon, Lecturer in Literacy, Australian Catholic University et Rauno Parrila, Director and Professor, Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy, Australian Catholic University