Now that we’ve examined the demographics and nativity of children who are multilingual learners, as well as the significant variability that exists between them, it’s time to focus more narrowly on language development and the processes of acquiring multiple languages that serve as an asset to children who are multilingual learners, their classrooms, and communities.

Systems of Language

Language can be divided into five major systems that regulate sound reception and production, the creation of words, sentences, and questions, the appropriate use of words, and connected speech and text in different situations. The brain has a great capacity, especially during the birth to age five period, to understand and use the similar and different rules of multiple languages.

5 major systems of language

1. Phonology: the form of language
2. Morphology: the structure of language
3. Syntax: the organization of language
4. Semantics: the content of language
5. Pragmatics: the function of language

We’re going to focus on pragmatics, since it’s especially important for children who are multilingual learners.

Pragmatics combines phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics in functional and socially appropriate communication. Children learn the languages they hear (and see, in the case of sign language and print) used for different purposes. Children can be taught some of the pragmatic functions of language that are different in various cultures and families, such as when it is appropriate to speak and when it is appropriate to listen. Think about classroom rules, such as waiting your turn to speak during circle time; that is teaching pragmatic language abilities!

Have you ever worked with a child, or an adult, who could appropriately use the forms of  language (i.e. words and sentences), but did not seem to have the ability to use it pragmatically (correctly), in different settings?

Possible examples include children who don’t use their inside voices, or adults who tell stories and assume that listeners already know the people in the story.

Receptive and expressive language

In addition to the five major systems of language, children also develop both receptive and expressive language.

Receptive language is the ability to understand language spoken to you.

Expressive language is the ability to communicate.

Receptive language develops before expressive, however both continually inform the other the more an individual engages with communication (either receiving or expressing).

Reference

American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (2019). Language in brief. [Website]