Infant Insights: Raising Multilingual Learners
Ana Palencia, Primary EAL Coordinator, UWCSEA Dover
September 2025
At UWCSEA, we feel proud of our diverse multilingual community. Families share their culture, traditions and languages, creating a rich and vibrant environment for our children. Multilingualism is more than speaking different languages – it helps children develop thinking skills, build literacy and grow as lifelong learners.
Benefits of Being Multilingual
Children who grow up with more than one language enjoy many advantages:
- They connect with different cultures and experiences.
- Their brain develops stronger memory and problem-solving skills.
- They can adapt more easily and think flexibly.
- They often learn new languages more quickly.
- They build strong early reading skills such as rhyming and blending sounds.
- They develop the ability to see the world from different perspectives.
- Research suggests that multilingualism may even support brain health later in life
Conceptual knowledge developed in one language helps to make input in the other language comprehensible.
– Jim Cummins
The Importance of Home Languages
We encourage our families to nurture their home languages. Using your home language at home:
Strengthens your child’s foundation for learning English.
Helps them make connections between languages.
Supports the transfer of important skills and concepts across languages.
Maintaining home language is not just an extra; it is an asset. While children are immersed in learning at school, continuing to use their home language gives them a strong base for academic success in both languages.
What are BICS and CALP?
When children learn a new language, they first develop BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills). This is the everyday social language used with friends, teachers and family. They may seem fluent socially, but this is only part of the language needed for school.
Academic language (CALP) requires time and support. Research shows that maintaining home languages supports both because skills and concepts can transfer across languages.
Alongside conversational fluency (BICS), children are also developing CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency), the language they need for:
- Understanding concepts across subjects
- Following complex instructions
- Expressing ideas clearly in writing
How You Can Help at Home
Here are simple ways to support your child’s language development:
- Read books and tell stories in your home language.
- Talk about daily routines in your home language.
- Tell stories, sing songs, play games and share traditions in your home language.
- Encourage your child to share what they learn at school in both languages.
Nurturing your child’s language helps them grow into confident, capable learners. Multilingualism is a gift – celebrate it!
Ana Palencia is the Primary EAL Coordinator at UWCSEA Dover. She is passionate about supporting children’s language development and celebrating the richness of our multilingual community.