Why We Need to Cultivate America’s Multilingual, Multicultural Assets

There are approximately 430 languages spoken in the United States, making this country one of the most linguistically rich nations in the world. This linguistic diversity is a strength. Indeed, decades of scientific research show that bilingualism is associated with a host of positive outcomes - cognitive, academic, economic, social, and health - for children and adults, for those from multilingual households and for those from monolingual English speaking households. Bilingualism is the norm and not the exception in most other nations. For example, while 92% of Europeans speak two or more languages, only 20% of Americans are bilingual. What’s worse, currently only about 8% of multilingual children receive dual language education, leaving mounds of unmet potential on the table and a lingering gap in the multilingual advantage that will likely grow, not shrink, between the United States and other nations. Consider these findings summarized in a recent report by the Century Foundation and the Children’s Equity Project. Check out our latest reports on the benefits of bilingualism, equitable access to dual language education, and a guide for increasing high quality dual language education from the early years to the early grades.