Raising children bilingually in Norway

Raising children bilingually in Norway is often perceived as quite a challenge by some parents, despite the social prestige accorded to English as an international language. A characteristic of the early bilingualism of these young children is language mixing, often a major concern for parents of bilingual children. This article presents the developmental story of two two-year-olds who acquire Norwegian and English in families in which the mothers are American and the fathers Norwegian. In the two families the parents practiced different patterns of interaction. In both families the children were met with rieh verbal Stimulation, and bilingualism was actively encouragedby the parents. Raising children bilingually for these two families, however, involved quite different experiences. The parents' interactional strategies with their children, particularly in regard to their language mixing, were investigated. Results indicate that each child received a different type of language socialization in the early years in regard to language mixing.