"Stick to English." "Two languages will confuse them." "Your child has a disability, they can't handle more than one language." If your family speaks more than one language at home, chances are you've heard at least one of these — from a relative, a teacher, sometimes even a health professional. The advice is usually well-intentioned. It's also, by and large, wrong.
This article is the myth-busting home base for our bilingual series. We hear these myths regularly from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families — and there's real relief on parents' faces when they learn the evidence tells a very different story. Let's walk through the most common ones.
Myth 1: Bilingualism Causes Language Confusion
This is probably the most common myth we hear, and it's simply not true. Children who grow up with two, three, or more languages do not get confused by having access to multiple language systems. Their brains are remarkably good at keeping languages separate, even from a very young age — and that's true whether they're learning two languages or managing a household where several languages are used every day.
Research by De Houwer (2009) on bilingual first language acquisition has shown that children exposed to two languages from birth develop two distinct language systems. They know which language to use with which person and in which context — often as early as two years of age. What looks like "confusion" to an outside observer is usually something called code-switching, which is a normal and sophisticated skill that bilingual speakers of all ages use deliberately.
Code-switching — moving between languages within a conversation — is not a sign of confusion. It's actually a sign of strong language ability. Bilingual adults do it all the time, and children learn to do it too.
Many of the bilingual families I've worked with arrive convinced their home language is "confusing" their child. It almost never is — and the relief when families hear that is one of the most common moments in this work.
Myth 2: Bilingualism Delays Language Development
Another persistent myth is that learning two or more languages means children will be "behind" in their language development. The reality is more nuanced than that.
Paradis, Genesee, and Crago (2021) have conducted extensive research into dual language development and found that bilingual children reach language milestones within the same general timeframes as monolingual children. However, their vocabulary in each individual language may be smaller than that of a monolingual peer — because their knowledge is distributed across two languages. When you measure their total conceptual vocabulary (everything they know across both languages), bilingual children typically have vocabulary sizes comparable to or even larger than their monolingual peers.
So if your child knows the word "dog" in English and "perro" in Spanish, that's one concept expressed in two languages — not a delay. Measuring a bilingual child against monolingual norms in just one language will almost always give you an inaccurate picture — a point we explore further in our article on what the research actually says about bilingual development.
Myth 3: Children With a Disability Can't Handle Two (or More) Languages
This myth is particularly harmful because it often leads families to abandon their home language at a time when connection and communication matter most. The idea that children with autism, Down syndrome, developmental language differences, or other disabilities should only be exposed to one language is not supported by the evidence — and this applies equally to children growing up with two home languages and those growing up with three or more. We go into this in depth in our article on bilingual children with disabilities.
Research has consistently shown that bilingual children with developmental differences do not perform worse than monolingual children with the same differences (Paradis et al., 2021). In fact, removing a child's home language can create significant problems — it can isolate them from family members who speak that language, reduce their opportunities for rich language input, and affect their sense of cultural belonging and identity.
Best-practice guidance is clear: families should be supported to maintain and use their home languages, and speech pathology services should respect and incorporate multilingual practices (Verdon, McLeod & Wong, 2015).
Why Do These Myths Persist?
These myths have been around for a long time, and they persist for several reasons:
- Outdated research: Early studies on bilingualism (from the early-to-mid 20th century) were poorly designed and often compared bilingual children from disadvantaged backgrounds with monolingual children from more privileged ones. The conclusions drawn were flawed, but they stuck.
- Monolingual norms: Most standardised language assessments are designed for monolingual English speakers. When bilingual children are assessed using these tools alone, they can appear to be "behind" — not because they are, but because the test isn't measuring what they actually know.
- Well-meaning professionals: Some health and education professionals still pass on outdated advice, often because bilingual development wasn't covered in depth during their training.
The Real Harm of These Myths
When families are told to drop their home language, the consequences can be significant:
- Loss of family connection. If grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins speak a language that the child no longer understands, relationships suffer. Language is how we share stories, pass on culture, and build closeness.
- Reduced language input. If a parent is more fluent and expressive in their home language but is told to speak only English, the child may actually receive lower-quality language input — fewer complex sentences, less storytelling, less natural conversation.
- Identity and belonging. Language is a core part of who we are. Asking a family to give up a language is asking them to give up a piece of their identity.
What Speech Pathologists May Suggest
At Speaking Speech Pathology, our approach is grounded in current research and in respect for your family's languages and culture. The three things we most want families to hear are these:
- Keep speaking your home language. The more rich, natural language input your child gets — in any language — the better.
- Code-switching is not confusion. It's normal, it's healthy, and it shows your child is learning the rules of both languages.
- If you're worried, ask for bilingual-friendly assessment. A speech pathologist who understands bilingual development will look at both languages rather than relying on monolingual English norms alone.
Ready for practical strategies? Read our companion article: The Truth About Raising Bilingual Children: What Brisbane Families Should Know
Alexandra Bouwmeester is a Senior Speech Pathologist (MSPA, CPSP) committed to culturally responsive practice. She offers mobile speech pathology to families across Brisbane's south side and Logan, and is passionate about supporting bilingual children in ways that honour all of their languages.
If you have questions about your bilingual child's language development, or you've been given advice that doesn't sit right, contact Speaking Speech Pathology. We can help you understand what's typical and how to make the most of your child's bilingual advantage.
References
De Houwer, A. (2009). Bilingual First Language Acquisition. Multilingual Matters.
Paradis, J., Genesee, F., & Crago, M. B. (2021). Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning (3rd ed.). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Wong, S. (2015). Supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children with speech, language and communication needs: Overarching principles, individual approaches. Journal of Communication Disorders, 58, 74–90.
