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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Language and Communication

Bilingual

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

/baɪˈlɪŋɡwəl/adjectiveCore term

In child development & early education, bilingual means: Able to use two languages, or growing up with two languages, for example one spoken at home and another at nursery.

In Turkish: iki dilli

How it is used

Used about children, families and programmes, as in a bilingual nursery. In the UK, children learning English alongside their home language are said to have EAL (English as an additional language). Mixing two languages is normal for bilingual children.

Example sentences

  1. She is bilingual in Turkish and English and switches easily between them.

  2. Bilingual children may know fewer words in each language at first, but their total vocabulary is similar.

Common collocations

  • bilingual children
  • bilingual family
  • English as an additional language (EAL)
  • home language
  • language developmentThe process by which children learn to understand and use language, from crying and babbling to words, sentences and conversation.
  • inclusionMaking sure every child, whatever their needs, background or abilities, can take part fully in the life and learning of the setting and feels they belong.
  • expressive languageA child's ability to use language to communicate, through words, sentences, gestures or signs, in order to ask for things, share ideas and describe events.
  • partnership with parentsWorking closely with parents and carers as equal partners, sharing information and decisions so that home and setting support the child together.

More terms: Language and Communication

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