11.09.2008 Bilingual children stutter more

Researchers at University College London have found that children who started speaking two languages from a young age, were more likely to stutter at the age of eight to ten years than children who spoke only one language or children who started learning a second language later on in life.

The study also indicates that it is harder for bilingual children to overcome the speech impediment, with only 25% of this group no longer stuttering at the age of 12. In the monolingual group over half of the children had stopped stuttering by the age of 12.

A small percentage (5%) of the bilingual children stuttered in only a single language. For the full article (in English), click here.