{"id":55924,"date":"2021-02-09T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=55924"},"modified":"2021-02-09T02:02:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T10:02:16","slug":"dont-be-afraid-to-pass-your-first-language-and-accent-to-your-kids-it-could-be-their-superpower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/dont-be-afraid-to-pass-your-first-language-and-accent-to-your-kids-it-could-be-their-superpower\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t be afraid to pass your first language, and accent, to your kids. It could be their superpower"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Australia is a multicultural society. There are different traditions, cultures, accents and languages all over the country.<\/p>\n

The latest Census data<\/a>\u00a0show almost 30% of Australians speak a language other than English, or English and another language, at home.<\/p>\n

In our\u00a0latest survey<\/a>, we have had responses from 281 multilingual families across Australia, who speak a variety of languages at home. They include Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Teo Chew and Spanish.<\/p>\n

We found many first-generation migrant parents are hesitant to pass on their first language to their children. This is because they believe a different language at home will give their children a foreign accent. Yet some parents also feel if they speak English to their children, their children will pick up their own accented English.<\/p>\n

This can leave some parents in somewhat of a catch-22, feeling that no matter what, their children will be faced with the same discrimination as them.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s important to speak to your children in your own language, and your own accent. By being exposed to multiple ways of communicating, children learn multiple ways of thinking.<\/p>\n

They learn to understand that everyone plays different roles, has different identities; and that others may speak or look different.<\/p>\n

Bias against foreign languages<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Research suggests people are highly biased in their preferences for certain accents and languages. According to the\u00a0linguistic stereotyping hypothesis<\/a>, hearing just a few seconds of an accent associated with a lower-prestige group can activate a host of associations.<\/p>\n

Hearing a stereotypical \u201cforeign accent\u201d, for example, can lead people to immediately think of that person as being uneducated, inarticulate or untrustworthy.<\/p>\n

These kinds of biases develop early in life. In a 2009 study,\u00a0five-year-old children<\/a>\u00a0chose to be friends with native speakers of their native language rather than those who spoke a foreign language or had an accent.<\/p>\n

One hypothesis is that this is due to our broader survival mechanism. Babies learn early to\u00a0tune in more to the voice of their caregiver<\/a>\u00a0rather than a stranger\u2019s voice. This means they are better able to detect when they are in a dangerous situation.<\/p>\n

However, over time, these stranger-danger associations become stereotypes, which can lead us to\u00a0hear or see what we expect<\/a>. When we get older, we need to unlearn our biases that once kept us safe to become more accepting of others.<\/p>\n

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Almost 30% of Australians speak a language other than English at home. Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

In Australia, there is systematic discrimination towards speakers of\u00a0Australian Aboriginal English<\/a>, as well as towards speakers of \u201cethnolects<\/a>\u201d, which are a way of speaking characteristic of a particular ethnic group \u2014 such as Greek, Italian or Lebanese.<\/p>\n

When people hear these accents, they may think that person does not speak English well. But having an accent is special: it signals you are multilingual and you have the experience of having grown up with multiple cultural influences.<\/p>\n

Accentuate the positive<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Many of the parents we surveyed felt hesitant to speak multiple languages at home, or felt their efforts were not being supported at school.<\/p>\n

One parent told us:<\/p>\n

Instead of helping her (my daughter) develop the language, all primary teachers assessed her language in comparison with the monolinguals and demanded to cut the other languages \u201cto improve\u201d the school language.<\/em><\/p>\n

I would not have dared to experiment here in Australia with the kid\u2019s second language. The peer pressure, the teacher\u2019s pressure and the lack of language schools are main factors.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But over the centuries, some of the world\u2019s brightest people, such as author\u00a0Joseph Conrad<\/a>\u00a0spoke with a strong accent. Many others, such as\u00a0Vladimir Nabokov, Gustavo P\u00e9rez-Firmat and Eva Hoffman<\/a>\u00a0(who wrote Lost in Translation in her second language) harnessed the benefits of being bilingual to produce astounding literary works, drawing on the\u00a0different \u201cvoices\u201d in their heads<\/a>\u00a0to act out different characters.<\/p>\n

In this way, a second language can be a superpower.<\/p>\n

Children who can speak several languages tend to have\u00a0higher levels of empathy<\/a>. They also\u00a0find it easier to learn languages later in life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Multilingual exposure\u00a0facilitates interpersonal understanding<\/a>\u00a0among babies and young children. This social advantage appears to emerge from merely being exposed to multiple languages, rather than being bilingual per se.<\/p>\n

Being multilingual is also an amazing workout for the brain: speaking multiple languages throughout your life can help\u00a0delay the onset of dementia and cognitive decline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Parents\u2019 confidence translates to children<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Research shows migrant parents who feel pressured to speak to their children in their non-native language\u00a0feel less secure in their role as parents<\/a>. But if they feel supported in using their first language, they feel more confident as parents, which in turn has a positive effect on children\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

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Migrant parents who raise their kids with more than one language say they feel like they\u2019ve given them an advantage in life. Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

We found\u00a0migrant parents who do raise their children in more than one language<\/a>\u00a0report feeling good about passing on their culture to their children, and feel they have given them an advantage in life. They also feel as though their children are more connected to their extended family.<\/p>\n

So, what could you do?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Here are some ways you could help your children keep their native language, and accent, alive:<\/p>\n