Is speaking multiple languages bad for a child's education?

While the merits of such linguistic fluency (sometimes even before the age of five) are widely accepted and indeed encouraged in the very young, because of the positive effects it has on a child’s brain development, an ongoing concern that parents have is how this ties in with school assessments that seem to require a degree of comprehension that may not always be as required.

From the schools’ point of view, while there is an expectation that a child coming for an assessment in the hope of entering the British education system is fluent in the language of instruction, head teachers and staff are generally broad minded enough to understand - particularly at the very young age of three and four - that the benefits of a multilingual upbringing far outweigh whether or not a child is referring to the family pet as “my dog”, “mon chien” or “mi perro”.

Richard Berlie asks that multilingual pupils can understand simple instructions in English (Image: St Anthony's)

Having said that, the child should have a good enough grasp of English to follow simple instructions and conduct a conversation with their peers and their teachers.

This is not to say that parents should drop all attempts at bringing up their child with a rich cultural heritage at all. It is more the simple practical need of a child being able to function in a classroom of peers who speak the language of instruction that is in question.

Statistics show that more than 300 different languages are spoken across London schools, but balancing multiple languages and school assessments becomes challenging for both sides.

Swapping the superficially simple rules, ‘one parent, one language’ and ‘minority language at home’ with a fluid approach that is both conducive to language development and academic success reduces the frustration and resentment that comes with children being subject to a strict rule of communication with a particular parent or when at home, and also expand the child’s vocabulary at a much faster rate.

In terms of the impact on school assessments, schools welcome children who have been exposed to linguistic diversity. As long as children are able to comprehend, speak and follow instructions in English, accents, occasional word swaps and a slight delay in responses would not be identified as causes for concern, which hopefully is reassuring to all the international parents thinking about 4+ assessments.

• Richard Berlie is the headmaster at St Anthony's School for Boys in Hampstead.