Is Bilingualism Harmful

It offers a different job in various areas such as teaching, lawyer, hospital and transport…. Etc. Moreover, learning a second language improve to find a job with salary increases and ability to work across cultures. It provides opportunities to how know two languages than one language. Bilingual person let to communicate with other people’s and understand everything of another culture such as explore different hobbies, traditional and costumes. This means some people have to make friends. For example, some Iraqi immigrants are able to work in an elementary school as an interpreter between the teachers and parents. Those people who know two languages will have more opportunities and to find a job and friend than people who only know one

Rodriguez offers a different standpoint on bilingualism, and an argument he presents is that one must be willing to give up part of their native ways when learning a language to fit into the public. Rodriguez considered Spanish a private language and English a public one. This perception made him reluctant to learn English, but at the same time, it motivated him to become a part of the public by learning its language. Rodriguez uses his family life as an example of his native identity. He was not an English speaker when he was young, but upon learning the language, he drifted away from his family, and describes it rather frankly: “I was an American citizen. But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. . . . No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness . . . . When I arrived home there would often be

In America, there is a predominant growth in multiple ethnicities and cultural backgrounds; leading to the usage of multiple languages in the American culture. There is a growing need for many people to learn and utilize multiple languages within the workplace and within one 's own personal life. The importance of bilingualism and the knowledge of multiple languages is ever increasing, and therefore becoming more important for the younger generations. The push for knowing multiple languages and becoming bilingual has many potential negative and positive effects.

Cisneros describe the advantage of being bilingual as if it were a superpower, a gift to humanity. From her reading “Bien Pretty”, she describes an intimate situation such a the act of made love in Spanish, and guide the reader with a clear picture of how Spanish speakers feel love. When Cisneros compare how her lover would whisper things into her ears using a language that was used to crooned babies, that language murmured by grandmothers, those words that smelled like home, like flour tortillas, and the inside of ones daddy’s hat, like everyone talking in the kitchen at the same time, or

Language is used every day in our everyday lives all over the world. Marian and Shook state that “language is used to communicate our thoughts and feelings, connect with others, identify culture, and understand the world around us” (Marian & Shook ,2012,para.1) There are many languages all over the world and some people understand more than one language such as understanding both English and Spanish. People that are Bilingual are exceptional in a way that they are intelligent, helpful, and have advantage openers.

“Fob,” “Speak English!” and “Do you understand?” were questions and statements I received constantly as a child. I was born a legal citizen in America, but the discrimination I got for being Vietnamese lingered upon me for the first six years of my life. I grew up in a predominant Asian household due to my grandma’s inability to speak English; therefore, English was rarely spoken. The fear of being made fun of or laughed at prevented me from leaving my house. Beginning grade school, my teachers would have to slow down their lessons in order to keep me caught up. As I started school and was forced to learn English, I gained self confidence and a sense of belonging with the community. Being able to speak two different languages and celebrate both cultures allowed me to step out into the world and be myself. However, Richard Rodriguez grew up completely different from me. Although we both have two immigrant parents, his bilingualism separated him from the outside world and caused a division between his public and private languages. Whereas Martin Espada, who grew up in America, considers bilingualism as an identification of who people are and fights for bilingual education with his heart.

This paper will touch upon the positive benefits of bilingualism and how it affects children, during their childhood and well into adulthood. In addition this paper will look into the scientific and general advantages of bilingualism through scientific studies on the subject. This paper will also identify some of the pros and cons of growing up bilingual. Specifically to be cognitive flexibility, metalinguistic awareness, communicative sensitivity, attentiveness and combatting dementia. A new research era began into bilingualism after the research of Peal and Lambert in 1962, this was a break through in research, which proved that kids who were bilingual did better at the tasks than those who were monolingual. Prior to this, bilingualism had been thought to cause negative set backs among children. These setbacks include retardation in children and increased confusion in separating both languages at an early stage. Although this theory has been outdated, bilingualism is still known to cause confusion for a short period of time throughout childhood lifespan. Although bilingualism has its pros and cons, there are more pros than cons. Kids who grow up in a bilingual household are known to experience some confusion separating two languages or infants are known to go through a silent stage. In simple tasks as the “Simon task”, bilingual participants are known to perform better and have faster reaction times. Simon tasks test the individual’s attentive control as well as reaction

In the article entitled “The Benefits of Being Bilingual‏”, Dr. Mercola discusses the gained brain benefits from being bilingual and other factors that can improve your neurological system. She started by showing the fact that although the majority of people in the States are monolingual, most people worldwide are bilingual, then she states the apparent advantages of bilingualism. Nevertheless, Mercola highlights on the brain perks of bilingualism. People believed that being bilingual or multilingual was a drawback, conversely studies have shown that bilingualism is considered as a mental exercise which leads to a more proficient working brain throughout aging. She displays that studies comparing bilinguals to monolinguals have shown that bilinguals enjoy more mental flexibility with enhanced cognitive abilities, as well as better

Communication is a powerful tool in every setting that involves human interaction. The importance of bilingualism is felt when there are communication barriers orchestrated by multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism. The effect of communication barrier is more profound in the learning environment. This is reflected in the way it incapacitates understanding of the course contents.

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.

What I experienced in speaking 7 different languages is that there are certain things that are just untranslatable between languages. In order to convey the same thought or message in different languages, I can’t directly translate word to word instead I have to use words that are appropriate in

Not so long ago bilingualism was thought to be bad for your brain. But it looks more and more like speaking more than one language could help save you from Alzheimer's disease.

In 2010, psychologist Lera Borodistsky wrote “Lost in Translation’. This article focuses on doing research to find out whether or not the language we speak set a foundation to the way we think. For a very long time it was questionable if languages could be studied and to what affects they have on people lives and their way of thinking. Through research, it has now proven that language can have a major impact on how people see the world. I agree with the findings in this article, I believe that language plays a major role in how people see and react to different parts of the world (Podolefsky & Brown, 2012).

A large number of studies suggest that bilingualism offers many benefits to cognitive skills, (Marian & Shook, 2012; Sternberg, 2009). For instance to maintain a balance between two languages, bilinguals has to rely more on brain executive functions such as attention and inhibition (the capacity to ignore competing perceived information on the environment and focus on important aspects of input). Additionally, people who are bilingual tend to have better conflict management skills. Researchers have found that compared to monolinguals,

Scholars assert that data suggests progressively beneficial effects of bilingualism throughout the lifespan. It has been found that bilingualism could prevent age-associated cognitive deficits1.