Peer-reviewed article
Bilingual Exposure Does not Delay Language Development in Preterm Toddlers: Findings From 24 to 30 Months.
Vaughn KA, Guttentag C, Zucker T, Vannucci M, Berlanga A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared language development in preterm toddlers aged 24 to 30 months across three language groups: English monolingual, Spanish monolingual, and Spanish-English bilingual children. The researchers found that bilingual exposure did not delay or worsen language development compared to monolingual exposure. The findings suggest that clinicians can support families in maintaining bilingual exposure without concern that it will harm language outcomes in preterm children.
Key points
- Spanish-English bilingual toddlers showed language skills comparable to English monolingual toddlers at 24, 27, and 30 months of age
- Study included 37 preterm toddlers: 16 English monolingual, 16 Spanish-English bilingual, and 5 Spanish monolingual
- Language was measured using both parent-reported vocabulary and experimenter-administered language assessments
- Bayesian statistical approach was used to quantify evidence for and against the hypothesis that bilingual exposure would not worsen language outcomes
- Findings support clinicians encouraging bilingual exposure in at-risk populations without concern for negative language outcomes
Limitations
The study has a small sample size, particularly for the Spanish monolingual group (n=5), which limits generalizability. The study does not follow children beyond 30 months, so long-term language development outcomes are unknown.
Abstract
Objective The goal of this research was to compare language growth from 24 to 30 months of age among English monolingual toddlers, Spanish monolingual toddlers, and Spanish-English bilingual toddlers who were born preterm. Previous research has led to inconsistent findings about the relationship between bilingual exposure and language development for children born preterm. Based on research from other populations of children at-risk for language difficulties, we hypothesized that bilingual exposure would not worsen language difficulties among children born preterm. Methods Between August 2023 and March 2025, we collected measures of parent-reported vocabulary and experimenter-administered language assessments from 37 toddlers (54% female) across 3 language groups (n = 16 English monolingual toddlers; n = 16 Spanish-English bilingual toddlers; and n = 5 Spanish monolingual toddlers). We compared the 3 language groups using a Bayesian approach, which allowed us to quantify the strength of the evidence for and against our hypothesis. Results We found substantial evidence that Spanish-English bilingual children's language skills were comparable with those of English monolingual toddlers at 24, 27, and 30 months of age. Conclusion This study adds to a growing body of evidence across multiple populations of children at-risk for language difficulties showing that when language skills are measured appropriately, there is no evidence that bilingual exposure worsens language outcomes relative to monolingual exposure. We strongly encourage clinicians to support families' decisions about their child's language exposure without fear that bilingual exposure will worsen language outcomes, even for children at-risk for language difficulties.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Bilingual exposure (Spanish-English) compared to monolingual exposure (English or Spanish only) in preterm toddlers
- Population
- Preterm toddlers aged 24 to 30 months (37 participants: 16 English monolingual, 16 Spanish-English bilingual, 5 Spanish monolingual; 54% female)
Key finding
Spanish-English bilingual children's language skills were comparable with English monolingual toddlers at 24, 27, and 30 months of age