In this video we talk about Speech and Language Development in Multilinguals with Speech and Language Therapist Weronika Ozpolat.
We explore the nuances of speech and language development in multilingual children and delve into the impact of multilingualism on language acquisition and communication skills. We will also address the phenomenon of technoference – how technology influences language interactions...

0:00 Introduction
2:10 What should parents of multilingual children know when searching support from a Speech and Language Therapist?
2:16 About one of the most persistent myths
4:10 What is the difference between Speech and Language?
5:33 Delay vs Disorders: When does a delay turn into a disorder?
6:23 Many health practitioners don't have much understanding about bilingualism
7:50 When there is an issue, it should appear in all the languages the child is acquiring/learning
10:21 Speech and Language Therapists should and can (!) asses multilingual children in all their languages; the collaboration with interpreters is very important and needs guidance
12:51 Possible causes for Language Delays
16:45 The use of technology when raising children with multiple languages and how it can affect communication and language development in the positive and negative way
21:17 Question from the followers: "At what age can language delay be observed?"
22:00 Early signs that children might struggle with language (or speech)
22:20 What are kind of "words" our children will produce/articulate at early stages
23:30 Young children need time (years) to produce the full range of sounds of a language
26:00 Overgeneralisation (and the use of "mama" and "papa"...)
27:20 Question from the followers: Do language delays or difficulties have an impact on the cognitive abilities of the child?
28:58 Technoference (technological interference) and its impact on our children's language development
31:18 Weronika's tips for parents about how to best support their children's language development
41:08 About "balanced" bilinguals...
41:44 What Weronika wishes parents, teachers and other health practitioners would know about raising children with speech and language difficulties, delays and disorders with multiple languages
52:08 Question from the followers: Is there an international milestone chart (word count per age) that is easy to understand and to look at for parents? [We share some links in the comments]


#languagedelay #parenting #languagelearning

About Weronika Ozpolat:
Weronika is an Independent Speech and Language Therapist at Raising Talkers specialising in bilingualism, autism and the early years, based in Bristol, UK.
After graduating from De Montfort University with a degree in speech and language therapy, Weronika started a PhD at the University of Reading researching language and cognition in bilingual children with autism. Through her research she gained extra training in the areas of bilingualism and autism and is ADOS trained.
Weronika worked on her PhD for 3 years but did not finish it. She hopes to go back into research in the future.
Since 2014, Weronika writes for her blog, Multicultural Motherhood, about motherhood, homeschooling and speech, language and bilingualism issues. Through her blog and social media accounts, she has advised many parents with bilingual children who have speech and language difficulties.
Through this advisory role, Weronika became aware of the many families who are unable to access speech and language therapy for their children and this led her to develop online speech and language courses for parents to train them to do speech and language therapy with their children at home. Information about these courses can be found on her blog www.multiculturalmotherhood.com.
Weronika Ozpolat also hosts the podcast Wonder and Learn where she talks about education and child development.
Website: http://www.multiculturalmotherhood.com/
Instagram: multiculturalmotherhood
Podcast: ‘Wonder and Learn’ : https://open.spotify.com/show/70hP3aM...