Internationally adopted children must learn a new language in order to communicate in their new country. Language development in internationally adopted children involves several methods and models for learning. Harvard University reports that internationally adopted children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 years old can rapidly learn the words of a new language even within their first year in the new country.
New Language versus Native Language
Internationally adopted children can acquire a new language either by the additive or subtractive language learning model, according to the Center for Cognitive and Developmental Assessment and Remediation. The additive model involves teaching an internationally adopted child a new language without detracting from the child's native language. Be aware that, in the process of acquiring a new language, an internationally adopted child may forget their native language as its usefulness in his daily life diminishes. The subtractive model minimizes the child's native language because it has no use in his current circumstances. The model involves immersing the child in the new language so he learns by interacting with others in daily life.
Daily Communication
Communicative language is a type of immersion learning that involves the languages skills necessary for social interactions in daily communication, according to the Center for Cognitive and Developmental Assessment and Remediation. Language used in this style is practical and involves the learning of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Communicative language imparts a fluency that includes facial expressions, physical gestures, posture and intonation. An example of communicative language can be recounting daily events at the dinner table, relating a story or talking about a television program.
Academic Language
Cognitive language, or academic language, includes the type of words and concepts a child will learn in school. The Center for Cognitive and Developmental Assessment and Remediation reports that cognitive language skills develop as the child learns to read and progresses through school. An elementary school science project about volcanic eruption that requires writing an essay after reading a text on the subject is an example of cognitive language skills.
Loss of Native Language
The Center for Cognitive and Developmental Assessment and Remediation reports that a 3-year-old internationally adopted child can lose a majority of his native language within three months of living in a new country where he is around a new daily language. The website further reports that a child may continue to understand his native language for up to three more months, but he will lose functional use of his native language the longer he remains in an environment that exclusively speaks a different language.
Considerations
Retaining the use of a native language can be a benefit for some children and a hindrance for others, according to The Center for Cognitive and Developmental Assessment and Remediation. An internationally adopted child with a background of healthy social interaction can develop better cognitive and social skills than an internationally adopted child with developmental delays or a background of emotional and physical trauma, making the learning of dual languages significantly easier for the socially healthy child.
