Developmental language disorder (DLD) is an often overlooked condition that affects around 8% of children globally. This disorder severely impairs a child’s ability to learn, use, and understand spoken language, posing significant challenges for both parents and educators.
In England, for example, around 21% of schoolchildren are growing up with a first language other than English. While most children’s language development, whether monolingual or multilingual, is typical, the average classroom includes two DLD-affected children. The prevalence of DLD is similar worldwide, from China to Mexico.
Identifying DLD in multilingual children can be particularly difficult, as each language a child learns develops at its own pace, depending on factors such as exposure and usage. Multilingual children may temporarily lag behind their monolingual peers in vocabulary in one language, which should not be mistaken for DLD.
Children with DLD, however, show problems across all their languages and require specialist support. In contrast, those with typically developing language only struggle in the language they need more exposure to, such as English at school.
Contrary to longstanding myths, learning multiple languages does not cause or exacerbate DLD. In fact, it promotes linguistic, social, and cognitive strengths in all children. Support for DLD should sustain all of a child’s languages, as these are critical for their wellbeing, identity, and family relationships.
The impact of DLD is lifelong and extends far beyond language, with consequences for mental health, socialisation, literacy, academic performance, and quality of life. Accurate, timely diagnosis and support are essential, not just for individual life chances, but also for society. Adults with DLD are more likely to have difficulty getting a job and have a criminal record.
While progress is being made, with promising new assessment tools, significant obstacles remain. Speech and language therapists in linguistically diverse countries like the UK still lack reliable tools to equally assess English and children’s additional languages. With a shortage of appropriately trained interpreters, DLD can be missed or typical multilingual development mislabelled as disordered, delaying or misdirecting support.
Detecting DLD is the first step. With support from families, schools, and speech and language therapists, multilingual children with DLD can transform their life outcomes, growing up healthier and happier.
