Bilingual milestones in early language development in comparison to monolingual peers
In this talk, Karolina examines when bilingual children reach key early language milestones, babbling, first words, and first word combinations, between 0 and 3 years of age.
Bilingual milestones in early language development in comparison to monolingual peers
16 Mar 2026, 18:00 – 19:30
Understanding typical developmental trajectories in bilingual acquisition is essential for interpreting individual variation.
Using data from 300 bilingual children (Polish as L1; varied L2s; living outside Poland) and 300 matched Polish monolingual peers, she compares milestone timing (a) between bilingual and monolingual children and (b) across bilinguals’ two languages. Across a wide set of milestones and a relatively large sample, results suggest that typical bilingual development broadly follows a trajectory comparable to monolingual development.
The study also illustrates a mobile-app approach to developmental research: Karolina will discuss its scalability (6,000+ downloads) alongside challenges in retention and longitudinal participation, and offer practical lessons for researchers considering app-based data collection.
Multilingualism and Diversity: Impact on Education, Health and Society seminar series
This seminar series aims to bridge science with practice in education. Leading experts in linguistics, psychological sciences and neurosciences will engage with education practitioners, parents, students and members of the public who have an interest in multicultural diversity and inclusion.
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RODNAE Productions.
Karolina Muszyńska
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Poland
Her research focuses on vocabulary acquisition in children, including: bilingual vs. monolingual trajectories in early language development, relation between lexical and grammatical development, and ways of measuring vocabulary knowledge in young children, e.g. via parental reports, including online tools such mobile apps and questionnaires employing Computerized Adaptive Testing.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes
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