Article published in:
10th Anniversary Celebration
Edited by Pádraig Ó Duibhir and Laurent Cammarata
[Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 10:2] 2022
► pp. 153–181

The monolingual bias

A critical analysis

| McGill University

The developmental trajectory of monolinguals has often been used as the benchmark against which the progress of all language learners is assessed and understood, and the abilities of monolinguals are used to define the native-like competence that is widely cited as the ultimate goal for all language learners. Moreover, language learning standards and curricula to guide language teaching and learning in school, as well as frameworks and strategies for assessing language learner outcomes in school, have all been shaped in significant ways by a monolingual bias. In this article, I critically examine assumptions underlying the monolingual bias and review findings from research on preschool and early-school-age learners who acquire language under diverse circumstances. Explanations that go beyond the monolingual bias are proposed for findings of differences between children who learn language under diverse circumstances and monolingual children. I argue that current research supports the view that there are alternative pathways to becoming language competent.

Keywords: monolingual bias, bilingual standards
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Assumptions underlying the monolingual bias
    • 2.1The assumption of neuro-cognitive capacity
    • 2.2Assumptions about language separation
    • 2.3The assumption of invariant developmental trajectories
  • 3.What research on diverse learners has taught us
    • 3.1Pre-school language learners
      • 3.1.1Similarities
      • 3.1.2Differences
    • 3.2Children with developmental disorders
    • 3.3Internationally-adopted children
  • 4.School-age children in dual language programs
  • 5.Putting it all together
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 25 February 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.21016.gen
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