Language Experiences Overview (LEO)

In Singapore, more than 90% of adults are literate in at least 2 languages (Singapore Census, 2010). Singaporean families often involve grandparents in the care of young children, and one in five families employ a live-in foreign worker for domestic help (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2020). Infants in Singapore typically hear two or more languages from each parent, two-to-three languages from their grandparents (Woon, 2018), and possibly more from a domestic helper. Given this complexity, existing models of balanced/unbalanced or dominant/non-dominant bilingualism are insufficient for describing the rich tapestry of multilingual experiences. In order to capture this variety, we created a flexible multilingual tool, the Language Experience Overview (LEO). This multivariate multilingual tool combines estimates of care time and language-use ratios with language profiles of each caregiver. Importantly, the LEO Report visualises the results in parent-friendly feedback. Woon, Fei Ting; Le, Tuan Anh; binte Amran, Shaza; Ang, Wen Xin & Styles, Suzy J