Macau Deaf Association | Bilingualism may cause language delays in children

Results of a Cantonese-speaking assessment tool conducted by the Macau Deaf Association shows that some children raised in a bilingual environment are more likely to experience delays in language development.

The association has identified 240 children with language delays and disorders through its assessment tool, including those who have grown up in bilingual households.

Those children raised in a bilingual environment take slightly longer to pass an assessment test in comparison to toddlers raised in single- language homes.

The tool, which investigated the language capabilities of preschool children last year, measures the development of language in children with special needs.

According to the group, they only use standardized test materials to ensure accurate results.

One of the children’s parents told TDM they were glad to have participated in the assessment test as it gave them a warning.

“We’re actually glad to have taken the test because it gave us a warning. Now we know what problems my daughter is facing and that’s why I brought her here to see a speech therapist who’s now following up on her,” said the mother, who TDM identified as Jackie.

Macau Deaf Association’s speech therapist, Kou Lau Ieng, explained that the assessment tool could easily identify language or hearing delays in children between two and three years old.

“For example we’d ask what they see in this picture. […] They wouldn’t score a point if the pronunciation of “apple” is inaccurate,” Kou explicated.

The speech therapist said that the children diagnosed with language delays would be sent for further in-depth assessment.

“We will then need to conduct a more comprehensive test and analyze their family’s language profile and their development process and several other factors,” the therapist said.

Although 240 children in the MSAR suffer speech delays, not all of them experience significant problems with speech.