Bilingualism in early childhood: parents’ perceptions

This thesis investigates how children acquire two languages in early childhood and how parents perceive, support, and experience this process. By combining a literature review with a survey, the study examines both the linguistic foundations of early bilingual devel-opment, and the real-life challenges families encounter. The literature review provides an overview of bilingual language acquisition, addressing similarities and differences be-tween monolingual and bilingual development, the distinction between simultaneous and sequential bilingualism, and the role of input quality, family language policies, and soci-ocultural context. The survey analyzes data from an online survey of 113 parents raising bilingual children. The results show that parents generally hold strong positive beliefs about bilingualism, driven by motivations such as preserving cultural heritage, maintaining communication with extended family, and offering future opportunities. Despite this positive outlook, re-spondents reported uneven exposure between languages, concerns influenced by mono-lingual expectations, and mixed experiences with institutional support. Many parents de-scribed maintaining the minority language as demanding and requiring sustained, inten-tional effort within the family. This study contributes to the understanding of early bilingualism by integrating theoretical insights with parents’ lived experiences. It highlights the need for clear guidance, stronger collaboration between families and schools, and increased awareness of what constitutes typical bilingual development. Ultimately, the findings underscore that bilingualism in ear-ly childhood is dynamic and shaped by input quality, family strategies, community con-text, and the emotional experiences of both parents and children.