When bilingual children reading in English take a little longer to reach fluency, many parents immediately worry they are falling behind.
Australia is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse countries in the world. In many classrooms, more than half the students speak a language other than English at home. When a bilingual child takes a little longer to read fluently in English, many parents immediately worry they are falling behind.
If this is you, here is what the research actually says, and why you may have much less to worry about than you think.
Being bilingual is a cognitive advantage, not a delay
Children learning two languages at once are doing something cognitively complex. Their brains are constantly managing two language systems, which builds what researchers call cognitive flexibility: the ability to shift between concepts, hold multiple pieces of information at once, and filter out distractions.
These are skills that support reading comprehension, problem-solving, and learning more broadly. The extra time it may take a bilingual child to reach the same reading milestone as a monolingual peer is not a deficit. It is the natural result of something genuinely valuable. Research from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association confirms that bilingualism does not cause language or learning delays.
What is normal and what to watch for
It is entirely normal for bilingual children to:
- Take slightly longer to develop reading fluency in English
- Mix languages in the same sentence. This is a sign of language competence, not confusion.
- Have stronger reading skills in one language than the other
- Use their home language to support understanding in English
What warrants a closer look is if your child is struggling significantly in both languages, not just English. A difficulty that exists across both languages is more likely to indicate a specific learning need, such as dyslexia, than simply the challenges of bilingual development.
How to support bilingual children with reading at home
One of the most important things you can do is maintain and value the home language. Children with strong literacy skills in their first language transfer those skills to English more effectively. The logic of reading, the concept of sentences and meaning, carries across languages.
Here are some practical approaches:
- Read in both languages. Books in your home language are just as valuable as English books, and perhaps more so at this stage.
- Use the home language to discuss English books. If your child understands a story better in Mandarin, Tagalog, or Arabic, talking about it in that language deepens comprehension, which is the goal.
- Do not discourage mixing languages at home. The school environment will develop English fluency. Home is where the first language should be protected.
- Visit the library together. Many Australian public libraries hold multicultural collections. Your child may find familiar stories in both languages.
When to seek additional support
If your child is in Year 2 or beyond and still significantly behind their peers in English reading, it may be worth a conversation with their teacher or a reading specialist. An individualised assessment can separate the effects of bilingualism from a genuine learning gap, and guide what kind of support would actually help.
The right support does not ask a bilingual child to set aside their home language. It meets them where they are and builds from their actual strengths. Not every child will need extra help, but knowing the signs means you can act early if they do.
Eye Level’s English programme is built around exactly this principle: every child begins with a diagnostic assessment so we understand their individual starting point, including the strengths that bilingualism brings. Find a centre near you to learn more.
