Project Goals

As language researchers, we know that bilingualism has lifelong cognitive, social, economic, academic, and cultural benefits. We also know that there is incredible language diversity in the U.S. with more than 150 different languages spoken just in Illinois households with school-age children.

But too often, parents who speak languages other than English choose to stop speaking their home language to their children because they think it will be better for them. Sometimes this stems from the parents’ experiences, especially if they arrived in the U.S. speaking little or no English. They naturally want to give their children what they didn’t have – English – not knowing that by speaking their home language they can actually improve their children’s chances of academic success in school without hampering their English in any way.

What’s more, parents often are convinced that they shouldn’t speak their home language by teachers, educators, speech language pathologists, and even healthcare professionals, whose training revolved around monolingual (English-speaking) children.

This is preventable and “The Bilingual Advantage Starts at Home” project aims to tackle the issue and raise awareness of the benefits of bilingualism among teachers, parents, and families in Illinois so that everyone can make an informed decision about their language use.

For teachers and school administrators

We offer two interactive professional development workshops (one on the benefits of home language maintenance and the other on benefits of dual language immersion programs). These workshops also provide professional development hours that are recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education.

We have also included pre-service teachers-in-training in the creation of the workshop content, so that they begin their careers armed with information they need and can spread the word to others.

For parents and families

We have created a digital brochure that can be viewed or printed on-demand from our website in English and the 5 most spoken other languages in Illinois (Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, and Urdu).

We have also created an engaging video in those languages, also available on our website, as an alternative to reach parents, even if they are unable to read in English or their home language.

Our website also includes a wealth of resources for parents and families – from a locator where they can find dual language programs around the state to advice on raising bilingual children.