There are times when I just have to wonder, as I listen to my preschooler talk...
What happened to the verbs??? What happened to their morphemes? the past tense? the third person -s marker? the auxiliaries?
And the subjects, where are they? And the word order?
There may be other mothers out there, raising their children in a diverse linguistic environment, who wonder the same thing. Here are some languages samples to show you what I mean, and what she means in Standard American English:
A little bit draw my arm. (I drew on my arm a little bit.)
Why that baby cry? (Why is that baby crying?)
Why you laugh? (Why are you laughing?)
You see my hand? (Do/can you see my hand?)
This one go here. (This one goes here.)
This one wrong side. (This is the wrong side.)
He don't want pancake. (He doesn't want a pancake.)
How to close this up? (How do/can we close this up?)
Well, I can't really tell you where the verbs went. I guess that they're still in her head, but often hide there when she's at childcare all day, immersed in Singaporean** [childspeak] English. I know that they're still in her head, because I take it upon myself to use focused stimulation techniques to give her multiple models of the Standard English forms, and to hopefully elicit her use of them. I wanted to pass this along for any parents/teachers/caregivers/etc who want to know how to encourage bidialectalism (yes, this is a real word. I even looked it up to be sure I wasn't just making it up), without overwhelming yourself, your child, or making the child feel as if they're speaking "wrongly" when they use the other dialect.
A brief note here-- I don't mean to pick on my 4 year-old daughter in all of these posts. She just happens to be a very dynamic moment of language development. It would be fascinating to observe her language development now anyway, even if there weren't multiple languages and dialects involved. The diverse linguistic exposure only adds a little "spice." I have had to use similar language enrichment techniques with my 6 1/2 year old son, but basically they "worked," so he can switch back and forth between American and Singaporean English with great ease and fluency.
Following are some sample conversations my daughter and I might have to demonstrate use of the techniques. They basically involve:
- multiple repetitions of the desired form
- highlighting the target word (ex. saying it a bit louder, and/or with higher intonation, slowing down your rate of speech)
- demonstrating use of the target form in many similar but slightly different sentences and questions
- talk to keep the conversation going on that topic, because more often than not, the child will comment on what you said about what s/he said... but now using the desired form.
It ends up to be a very natural way to elicit use of the specific language target.
Child, "Why that baby cry?"
Adult, "Why IS that baby crying? I don't know. He IS crying."
Child, "You see my hand?"
Adult, "Yes, I DO see your hand! I DO. I DO see it. DO you see mine? I think you DO!"
Child, "This one wrong side."
Adult, "Oops! That IS the wrong side. It IS. Ah, look-- this IS the right side."
Child, "He don't want pancake."
Adult, "No, he DOESN'T want A pancake. He DOESN'T, no, he DOESN'T."
It may look a bit awkward, but I find that if you maintain eye contact with the child, and keep your voice animated about what you're saying, it ends up being quite natural. Conversations with children are different from adult conversations anyway. If anything, a child with typical language development will talk over you, especially if you try a lot of repetitions.
It may be tricky when the 1st and 2nd person forms are used. For example, "Why you laugh?" Is it better to repeat what the child says in 2nd person even though s/he was talking to you, and you should technically use 1st person to refer to yourself? Or is it better to model the language form in 1st person?
I usually end up stepping out of the indirect, naturalistic mode, and go towards a more explicit practice. I'll say, "You say, 'Why are you laughing?'", with a slowed down rate of speech, and then ask the child to repeat the question to me that way. I also often feign misunderstanding because "not all the words were used and I don't know what she means." So the child basically learns that sometimes, things have to be said in a specific way in order for understanding to occur and for the conversation to continue as desired.
I don't want my children to end up self-conscious of their speech & language. Or feeling that there's a cultural divide between them and their parents, who spent their childhoods on other sides of the planet, and had very different linguistic and personal experiences as they're having. But I do think that it's important for them to get practice using Standard English forms. Standard English is what they will encounter in school (and what will be expected of them in writing tasks). The should use Standard English in the future when looking for a job.
I try to encourage my children to become good communicators. I'm proud that they've been able to acquire the local English so that they're effective communicators with their peers and teachers. But I also want them to communicate effectively with English speakers outside the island... namely, their family "back home"! Experiences with learning language must include listening to language as well as multiple opportunities for practice; using these techniques allows us to do both.
** post written in Singapore, 2011
