Cognitive Implications Of Bilingualism

Bilingualism itself can be held responsible for increased levels of executive control and higher brain plasticity. In order to maintain a balance between two languages, the bilingual brain depends on executive functions, a monitoring system of general cognitive abilities that includes processes such as attention and inhibition. Laurent et. al 2010 aimed to determine bilingual experience enhances the development of phonological awareness. Children were exposed to early learning of a second language between the school grades 3-5 in primary school, ages ranging from 8 to 10 years old. The goal of this study was to promote the concept of “bilingual advantage” (Laurent, 2010) as researchers measured exactly how long children required second language exposure in order to influence phonological awareness. These researchers expected that after 4 years

In Being bilingual pushes back dementia by nearly 5 years: study Tracy Miller states that, “People who were bilingual or multilingual developed dementia an average of 4.5 years later than those who spoke only one language, researchers wrote in the journal Neurology.” Yet another reason bilingual education is important, and another point to prove to the critics of the far reach that the correct education can have.

Valian believes that while bilingualism is only one of the factors that may boost cognitive functioning and that data from children and young adults are currently inconclusive, a bilingual advantage seems to be present among older people. Indeed, as Valian (2014a) suggests, studying younger individuals is difficult per se because they are exposed to so many other activities that may enhance executive function. There are currently very few studies on bilingualism in the aging

Since the early 20th century numerous studies, in psychology as well as linguistics, have been conducted on the effects of bilingualism on cognitive abilities (Saer, 1923; Smith, 1923; Gowan & Torrance, 1965). Until the 1960s there was some consensus among experts about the detrimental effect of bilingualism on cognitive development. However, after the publication of Peal and Lambert’s article on the relation of bilingualism to intelligence, most of these theories were discredited due to methodological flaws (Peal & Lambert, 1962). A majority of the studies conducted before this period did not take into consideration the differences in age, gender, culture, second language proficiency and socio-economic status between the monolingual and bilingual participants. Research conducted thereafter has found largely positive effects of bilingualism on cognitive functions (Landry, 1974; Holtzman, 1980). Recent research in the field has focused on understanding the relationship between bilingualism and specific aspects of cognition, such as inhibitory control, creativity and metalinguistic awareness, as opposed to the earlier studies which tried to associate bilingualism with intelligence. Even though, most studies have found a positive correlation between bilingual proficiency and cognitive benefits, there is still much debate in this area of research (Leikin, 2012). In 1992, Ricciardelli

By the emerge of globalization, being a bilingual is no longer a novelty experience any more. It is quiet normal in nowadays that people encounter bilinguals in their daily bases. There is a common sense that bilinguals should have certain abilities prior to monolinguals. Bialystok (2001) suggested that “the constant managing 2 competing languages enhance the executive function”. Moreover, her another study(Bialystok, 2004) indicated that bilingual participants also responded more rapidly to conditions that placed greater demands on working memory. In all cases the bilingual advantage was greater for older participants. These two findings imply that bilingualism have beneficial effects on the executive function and working memory.

A Spain University of Pompeu Fabra made a study that shows bilingual speakers are better at observing their surroundings. They are more capable of focusing on things around them and on the relative information rather than the irrelevant one ( Anne Merritt 2013).According to another study at the University of Chicago bilingual individuals make more rational decisions.Bilingual people are more confident in their choices after thinking it over in the second language and trying to see if the conclusion will still remain the same. (Anne Marritt 2013).

Bilingualism can also receive cognitive benefit. There are researches have shown that bilingualism is associated with cognitive advantages (Bialystok, 2007; Kovacs & Mehler, 2009). Bilingual children are more advance to meta-linguistic awareness, which is the ability to understand the structure and nature of language (Peterson, 2015). Studies have revealed that expose in bilingual environment and hearing a language from multiple speakers are beneficial

A growing body of research supports the idea that speaking multiple languages results in several benefits. Bilingualism has been shown to enhance mental flexibility, generally understood as “the

Learning a second language at a young age has long-term benefits that can be felt even in old age. As human’s age their brains atrophy, but bilingual people can delay the consequences of this damage. These individuals are constantly experiencing the world using two languages so, while a monolingual person remembers how to ride a bike in one language, a bilingual person stores that memory twice, once in their first language a once in their second. This allows bilingual

Bialystok, Craik, and Luk (2012) investigated the growing body of evidence examining the presence of a bilingual advantage in terms of enhanced executive control: the group of cognitive skills involved in language switching, working memory and inhibition. Furthermore, the researchers examined evidence supporting the notion that differences in brain structure and function helped to explain the bilingual advantage (Bialystok et al., 2012). In regards to joint activation in bilinguals, researchers found that both languages are always activated to some degree (Bialystok et al., 2012) Though this may cause language interference errors, bilinguals can select their target language with remarkable accuracy (Bialystok et al., 2012).

Even though one can deviate from the main language spoken, bilingualism does improve brain functioning, because your brain has to work harder to understand two languages simultaneously. This keeps the mind fresh, it requires the ability to switch from one language to another without losing detail of what topic is being spoken about, and it forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, which in turn works out the brain and strengthens its cognitive muscles.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a pervasive problem in the United States, and is likely to become even more problematic as the population of older Americans grows in the coming years. In addition to the many genetic factors that contribute to AD, it has been suggested that cognitive reserve (CR) plays a role. CR is thought to mediate the relationship between language experience (LE) and later onset of AD in bilinguals compared to monolinguals. However, the literature on the proposed protective qualities of bilingualism is not conclusive. To help address questions about the relationship between bilingualism and later onset and/or lower incidence of AD, I proposed a large, prospective, longitudinal study of Americans. The collection of data on predictive variables, LE, and AD (if and when onset occurs) will be facilitated through collaboration among many US research institutions. These data will lend themselves to multiple-regression analyses. The results of this study will have important implications for Americans’ quality of life, as well as for the economy.

The term ‘bilingualism’ is generally defined as an individual’s ability to use two languages (ASHA, 2004; European

1). Despite the dictionary definition, the definition of bilingualism was identified as ambiguous and lacked an operational definition (Baker, 2001; Cummins, 1976; Macnamara, 1967). Consequently, defining who is or is not bilingual remained disputable between linguists and researchers. However, several hypotheses were proposed.

Researchers are continuously investigating methods of advancing human development. Many studies have explored the world of bilingualism and found a few surprising results. The skill of knowing two or more languages has been linked to a variety of cognitive benefits. Knowing more than one language has been proven to impact more than just the linguistic system of cognitive development. This essay will review the positive effects bilinguals experience through early and middle childhood along with adulthood. In addition, with a few of my personal believes and experiences.