Ece 315

Compared to other Countries, America stands less developed in bilingual abilities due to language requirements taught within our school systems curriculum. Being bilingual is an important skill to have in America, with multiple different prominent languages spoken within our country other than English, we are constantly surrounded by language. The problem that our country is dealing with now, is that we started with the idea that anyone that moved to America should adapt to our languages, instead of us Americans, taking the initiative to learn a new languages. In a report by Hyon Shin and Robert Kominski, showed the number of citizens in America that spoke a language other than English. The “data on speakers of languages other than English

The need for bilingual education is not directly related to the need for the student to have a more pleasant learning experience, but based more on the increasing need for these individuals to learn about their heritage, how they can present themselves to others in different scenarios, and being knowledgeable in both languages at a dual equivalence. The key

By expanding ourselves past the comfort of the native tongue, we are able to create connections with other people. When learning another language, we may start to understand not only the language itself, but also comprehend new cultures, ways of thinking, and other people. From the very beginning of deciding to become a teacher, I knew I wanted to expand my ways of thinking so I positively benefit students of all cultures and language. I believe language learning allows people to view the world in different ways by becoming positively influenced by other cultures, people, and different ways of thinking. However, after deciding to become an ESL teacher, I truly believe that bilingual education is needed to help students develop and maintain high levels of proficiency and literacy in both their L1 and L2, while learning in the content areas. This is why I personally believe it is better for children to be raised bilingual instead of learning a second language later in life. One reason for this is that even though I was born in America, my parents wanted me to learn their language, which was Polish. Now, I am fully appreciative of the fact that my parents taught me Polish and placed me in a Saturday school where I was being taught both English and Polish. If I was taught Polish later in life, I think I would not use it to this day because I would not have made personal connections with the languages, as I was able to by being raised bilingual. There are many benefits of being raised bilingual instead of learning a second language later in life. It is important to understand that it takes on average 4-7 years to become academically fluent in a language; by raising a child bilingually, the children are able to use both languages more efficiently earlier than those students who learn a second language later in life. Since the child has been bilingual for a longer time, there are educational benefits commonly found. Bilingual children tend to have a higher concentration and are better at working through distractions while doing their schoolwork. Bilingual children also perform higher on average on tests that involve multi-tasking, creative thinking, or problem solving (Marian & Shook, 2012).

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.

There are about 7,000 languages in the world today. In America, there are 350 languages alone. However, only about 25% of Americans can speak a language other than english. Despite the majority of Americans being monolingual, 43% of the nation believes it is important to learn a second language. Being bilingual has many benefits for the future. Knowledge of foreign languages can expand career potentials, help improve one's native language, and can aid opportunities to travel and experience new culture. Learning a foreign language is one of the most beneficial experiences for people in the future.

In my opinion bilingualism plays a major role in the educational development of children. This is because research has shown that children who are fluent in their home language are more successful in learning a second language. Furthermore, being bilingual offers greater sensitivity to language, more flexibility in thinking and better ear for listening. It also improves a child’s understanding for the native language. Moreover, knowledge of other languages increases a career of opportunities offering several job options.

Having the ability to speak more than one language influences one’ life deeply. Speaking two or more languages can affect someone from being infants to old age. Bhattacharjee continues with, “The bilingual experience appears to influence the brain from infancy to old age (and there

The increase of immigration in the United States and the influence the Hispanic population on language and traditions are immense. There has been debate for and against English-only language or bilingualism. The issue with language goes beyond immigration issue. The reality is that language discrimination in the work place or even in society have affected the dominant and minority group. In addition, the influence on the cultural traditions and celebrations have impacted both groups in several ways. The issue of language and cultural traditions have created controversy for the usage of English only language or the usage of bilingual language in the United States. The argument of the pro side of bilingualism (English-Spanish) is that society can expand their knowledge and develop better communication skills with other groups that reside in this country. Moreover, living in a globalized world, will help our society to develop relations and create contacts thorough the world. The benefits of speaking two languages also benefit the individual’s economy. Speaking two languages makes an individual a better qualified candidate for a job position and the economy also increase by a significant amount in comparison to English-only speaking individuals. According to the author “They argued that the research of the impact of English-only initiatives showed that the result in negative consequences for psychological development, intergroup relations, academic achievement, and health

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.

(2006)). In his article Kluger (2013) suggests that a person who learns two languages as a child might have a cognitive advantage. According to him, a bilingual brain may not be more intelligent, but it is more adaptable. He says people start learning languages earlier than delivery. The baby can hear her/his mother’s voice before birth, and when they are born they are already familiar with the language. He mentions that one study found that if a baby’s mother is monolingual, the baby only sucked his pacifier more vigorously when he heard English, while the baby with a bilingual mother sucked harder when they heard either language spoken by the parent. Vigorous sucking indicates the child is stimulated. These findings show that babies can figure out they are hearing different languages. Also, when they hear these languages their responses are different.

This nation is a place where different cultures come together and learn to coexist. From native America, Latinos, Asians and probably other nations that are not well known; they all have something in common which they all are bilinguals. Authors Cisneros, Agosin, Dumas and Tan clearly illustrate that being bilingual has both advantages and disadvantages.

There are many factors that influence a bilingual’s position. One of the most important factors in determining fluency is the age. Scholars state that the best time to learn a language is after the age of one and before puberty. During this time, children will become fluent without requiring any extra instruction. However, “the child gets to adolescence, the harder it becomes for this ease of fluency to be accomplished” (Hagen 45). The most famous study to demonstrate the importance of age in learning multiple languages was done by Eric Lenneberg. He discovered that children who developed aphasia under the age of eight almost always made a full recovery and were able to speak fluently and continue

There has been a long debate about whether a critical period for language acquisition truly exists in humans. It may be true that children have an easier time obtaining fluency when it comes to acquiring a new language, but this does not mean that it is impossible for adults to also acquire a new language with the same level of control even in late adulthood(Snow). So can it really be said that there is a critical period through which children have an easier time to learn a language? And if so, is there a limit to how many languages that a child can learn before this critical period is over?

It has been shown that learning a second language from primary school has cognitive and academic benefits. When a child becomes bilingual it helps to develop stronger communication skills in their native language and learn additional new languages at a faster rate. Majority language students who learn score significantly higher on the IOWA, SAT and ACT tests than minority language students. Being a bilingual child enhance ability to adapt to changing situations and engage in high level cognitive thinking. When bilingual child grow they are more employable and they get more carrier opportunities than monolingual person. So there is reason enough to learn second language and to keep learning them as we are able. The bilingualism advantages may not appear in the child’s primary age. But bilingualism’s real benefits could be far more important. A good bilingual primary program is a great way to support the development of children in their native language and also a good start to them toward a future of fully bilingual professional

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.