Bilingual Argumentative Essay

What do we know about the effects bilingualism has on cognitive development? Our world is becoming progressively bilingual; in the US 21% of school age children between the ages of 5-17 years old can speak other than English at home and this number is expected to increase in the coming years. On top of social reasons, the positive effects to the cognitive development of the brain when introduced to a second language are of many. The age of acquisition is vital due to the plasticity of the brain, which according to the critical period hypothesis, begins to level after five years of age. In addition to plasticity, bilingual speakers are more capable of focusing their attention to solve complex problems compared to monolingual speakers.

In many studies, bilingual learners' brain can have better attentiveness and the ability to switch tasks than a mono-lingual learner’s brain because of their cognitive ability to control to suppress one language while using another language or switch from one language to another language simultaneously. Bilingualism also positively affects learners' academic progress (Saer, D. J. 1923).

We learned in our text that the development of language is a complicated process that involves phonemes, morphemes, syntactic development among several other factors (Siegler, DeLoache, Eisenberg & Saffran, 2014, p. 218). Proper and effective development of these language skills has been shown to have a critical learning period that enables successful fluency of a language; this period usually occurs between the ages of 5 and puberty (Siegler et al., 2014, p. 220). I believe that this critical period is the backbone of the argument against bilingual education. Proponents of this argument believe that the sooner a child is immersed in the new language, the better off they will be with regards to mechanics and use of that language.

“Cognitive functions can be defined as cerebral activities that lead to knowledge, encompass reasoning, memory, attention, and language that leads directly to the attainment of information and, thus, knowledge” (What are cognitive functions). Many students at Doulos are unaware of the benefits of knowing two languages. Ironically students also don’t know that their own brain and its skills are improving because of their second language. Doulos teaches classes throughout the whole day in both English and Spanish. Students are regularly changing between languages and their brain is always active with both languages. “This constant practice strengthens the control mechanisms and changes the associated brain regions” (Marian, Viorica, and Anthony Shook). People who are bilingual are capable of switching between tasks more efficiently. “For example, when bilinguals have to switch from categorizing objects by color (red or green) to categorizing them by shape, they do so more rapidly than monolingual people, reflecting better cognitive control when changing strategies on the fly” (Marian, Viorica, and Anthony Shook). Students’ cognitive and sensory process skills are more developed due to being bilingual (Marian, Viorica, and Anthony Shook). These improvements allow students to better process and understand information in different environments, thus leading to better

The southeast was another group the Europeans had met. These people were north of the Gulf of Mexico and south of the northeast. It was humid, fertile region. Many of the natives were experts around small ceremonial and market villages known as hamlets. Just as the U.S had won its independence from Britain, they realized that the southeast area lost many native people to disease and from forcing them to move. In 1830, the federal Indian removal act compelled the relocation of what remained of the tribes so settlers could have their land. Officials forced nearly 100,000 Indians out of the southern states and into ‘Indian territory” west of the Mississippi. The Cherokee called this frequently deadly trek the trail of tears (History).

Bilingualism is a person’s ability to speak two or more languages fluently. Initially it was believed that bilingualism had negative effects on an individual’s intelligence and speech and it was thought that the knowledge of multiple languages would complicate one’s thought processing rather than improve its functioning. This theory

assert in their study that, while there is strong evidence in support of the positive cognitive effects of bilingualism in children, there is a lack of research to determine whether this effect persists into adulthood. The aim of their research is to pursue this line of investigation. Furthermore, if a positive effect is observed in adulthood, the authors also want to evaluate whether this advantage mitigates the cognitive decline observed in older adults. This study needs the reader to accept that the previous research which shows that bilingual children possess a cognitive advantage over monolingual children is valid. Based on this observed advantage in children, they hypothesize that the advantage would be seen in younger adults as well as older

In addition to time saved due to multitasking, time can be saved in other areas because of bilingualism. Through the numerous studies of multilingualism conducted; one interesting side effect rose to the surface: bilingualism affects areas not normally associated with language. It is a contradicting concept that becoming fluent in another language also improves one’s primary language; however, with the plentiful number of scientists, nonetheless, their studies that support this, it is hard to be dubious of the obvious effects of languages. A Swedish student’s Degree Project analyzes English and how it’s learned (Trivat). The author, Sandra Trivat, references some study where elementary level students were required to learn a secondary language. The main hypothesis of the study was that “... children being frequently exposed to high-interest books in the target language [language the students are learning] would more readily acquire the language,”

In the past, the integrative function of education was most obvious in its emphasis on promoting a common language--English-- and an equal educational opportunity for children of various backgrounds and beliefs. Immigrant children were required to learn and speak English, and in some instances, they were even forbidden to speak their native language on school grounds, so they can easily adapt to a new-born country -- the United States of America(Schaefer, 2013). However, as we advanced in our educational development and knowledge, the bilingual education became a commonplace. More recently, it has been widely promoted for its possible benefits, such as an encouragement of cultural diversity, development of the native language, and the acquisition

Many people do not believe in bilingual education because they think that the student would confuse the two languages and in the end speak neither one correctly. A closer look at when the two language mixes reveals that most of them master one of the languages to the same degree as a monolingual speaker (Korth 3). Through their bilingualism, they can use linguistic means creatively in accordance with the demands of the situation. This flexibility is a cognitive ability, which monolingual speakers can achieve only through effortful learning and training. Switching from one language to the other can be interpreted as an indication of the speaker’s fluency (Korth 3). In some cases, the languages are only spoken in specific places. If a child speaks

Being part of an ESL class wasn’t easy, in fact it was harder than taking a class in just English. Richard Rothstein said that bilingual education aims to teach academic subjects to immigrant children in their native languages (most Spanish), while slowly and simultaneously adding English instruction. This was my case, only that the teachers didn’t want to teach in Spanish. From the beginning they would say something like “You’re here to learn English, so there is no Spanish in this class” and they tried to rush my learning process. I understand that they wanted us to learn but here is where the statement from Rothstein takes place; bilingual education aims to teach based on children’s native language, but I didn’t have that or any other children

Bilingualism is similar to juggling and playing video games in which it is intense and can be sustained over a long period of time like driving taxis. However, individuals who are bilingual were forced to be bilingual because of life circumstances and not because of interest. Studies have shown that the effect of bilingual education on cognition is mainly through the executive control. Bilingual individuals have an enhanced executive control and it can be seen throughout their life. Studies on this executive control has shown that bilingual individuals outperform the monolingual individuals. Behavioral studies and imaging studies have found that bilingual individuals have both languages active at all times.

It's scientifically comproved that kids whose parents expose them to speak two different languages during childhood, tend to show better response to brain activities diverging from monolingual kids. One article written by one of the most recognized colleges in the United states said that it happens due to the fact that kids' right brain side is more receptive to new information in a period that goes from the age of 6 months to 5 years. Kids that are stimulated to speak two different languages since a very early age have more precise mental skills due to the fact that their brains is constantly working to deal with all the information received all the time. One interesting fact about bilingual kids is called " code switch" which is a natural

Bilingualism, or the ability to understand and produce two or more languages, is an increasingly common ability in our increasingly diverse world. In the United States alone, there has been a 6% increase in the number of bilingual people in the country from 1990 to 2010, as observed by Hyon Shin and Robert Kaminski (2010). Opinions on the cognitive effects of being bi- or multilingual have changed drastically over the past several decades as well. Not very long ago, it was thought that speaking multiple languages would detract from an individual's cognitive abilities, as well as limiting their vocabularies and competence in either language. Particularly in the case of children, some people tried not to expose their children to more than one language because they thought it would result in language impairments and deficits, leading to poor results in school. However, today there is a growing branch of thought that there are in fact great cognitive benefits to bilingualism, particularly in the area of executive functions.

Being bilingual is a great goal that a person could have. Many studies suggest that bilingual children maybe have increased cognitive abilities. For example, “research shows that children who speak more than one language are multiply advantaged over their monolingual playmates – in communication, cognition and social interaction. The mental gymnastics needed to constantly manage two or more linguistic systems increases cognitive flexibility and makes learning easier, say