MLU for 27 month old Mixed Billingual

by Julieta Stoyanova
(Toluca Lake CA)

Hi there,

My son is 27 months,and we try to teach him English so that he doesn't fall behind once he enters preschool.

At the same time, we speak another language at home. So he does hear simple sentences in English, like 2 or 3 word sentences, but his connected speech exposure is on the other language. Unfortunately, sometimes we also mix the languages, by error.

We have noticed that his MLU length is shorter than expected for age. He does have quite a few 2-word sentences ranging from more chips, red apple, kick ball, grandma no no, do help, wash hands; occasional 3 word sentence like "I say No", but also still uses single words like "No", "hot, "mess". I would say that his MLU would be around 1.7 - 1.8


He understands two step commands in English, and he can respond with Yes or No to questions. No conversations yet.

In your experience, can you tell me approximately how behind would he be for his age, and could bilingualism be his contributing factor?