Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Bard College have recently examined in depth how language affects children’s psychological development. In the July issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, Stephen Chen and Qing Zhou of Berkeley and Morgan Kennedy of Bard turn to psychology and linguistics to understand how using different languages to express emotions can affect children’s emotional development.
In particular, research holds that the particular language parents use to express emotions and ideas can affect a child’s understanding, experience, and emotional regulation. Chen says the research was motivated by a growing interest in emotion-related language changes within the family and how people understand interactions.
Language is a vehicle with which speakers discuss or hide their thoughts and feelings. The interactions parents have with their children about their emotions contribute to a child’s emotional development by demonstrating a model of how emotions should be articulated. Parents’ discussion of emotions shows children how to regulate and classify their own emotions in different contexts.
Linguistic research suggests that bilingual people experience emotions differently depending on the language they use to describe them. For example, a native Finnish speaker may choose to tell their children that they love them in English because it is rare to express emotions explicitly in Finnish. As a result, the choice of language provides a clue to children about the emotional state in which their parents are. Parents can elicit a greater emotional response from children by switching to a different language, just as children can infer a particular emotional state simply based on their choice of language.
Research concludes that a child’s emotional competence is largely determined by the words spoken around him and, by extension, in what language. Multilingual families must be aware of how the choice of languages within particular contexts will affect the emotional growth of their children.
This field of research is likely to receive a lot of attention. Multilingual families are becoming more common and family counselors will be forced to deal with the new and changing dynamics. One area in which attention can be paid is that of family intervention by external sources. By understanding how language affects the emotional responses of different family members, counselors and social workers can better tailor settings (and even their choice of language) to promote responses that they consider positive.
Ultimately, children learn from their parents and providing a positive and consistent language environment will be key to their development.