The Advantages Of A Monolingual And Bilingual Brain

This trend was also prevalent in the right hemisphere for bilinguals however not seen in monolinguals (x = 56, y = -53, z = 42; Z-score = 3.4; P<0.001). Voxel-based morphometry revealed that overall proficiency correlated negatively with age of acquisition (P<0.01; r=-0.855) and second-language proficiency correlated with grey-matter density in exactly the same left inferior parietal region previously identified by a different study (x = -48, y = -59, z = 46; Z-score = 4.1; P<0.05). (Mechelli, 2004)

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).

Despite these weaknesses in research methodology, research and understanding of how bilingual influences cognitive and neurological functions has improved. When considering the multidimensional effects of bilingualism on social, cognitive, educational, and linguistic aspects, the impact of bilingualism should be studied in the context of dynamic interaction systems. According to a 2006 European Commission survey, 56% of respondents said they could speak a language other than

Bilingualism is skill that is gained through life circumstances that does not require some innate skill (Bialystok, 2011). Some of these circumstances could include one’s family, immigration history, or birthplace. The ability to speak and understand more than one language is common among over half the world’s population (Bialystok et al., 2012). In the 1960s, many researchers warned against teaching children more than one language as it many cause confusion and it appeared to have negative effects on a child’s cognitive development (Bialystok, 1988). As research regarding bilingualism has progressed, the effects of bilingualism have been shown to be advantageous compared to monolingual counterparts. Recent studies have even found that bilingualism provides benefits all stages of life (Bialystok, 2011).

While some may think that this is not certain studies have proven otherwise. In The Power of a Bilingual Brain, Jeffery Kluger states that, “Research is increasingly showing that the brains of people who know two or more languages….. Multilingual people, studies show, are better at reasoning, at multitasking, at grasping and reconciling conflicting ideas.”(1) Clearly, a bilingual education places students a step ahead not only in their education careers but, as well as in their daily life’s outside school. Jeffery Kluger discusses how a bilingual brain is not necessarily smarter brain, but is a more flexible and practical brain. Evidently, demonstrating to us one of the many benefits of a bilingual

“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

Knowing more than one language has been shown to increase brain size and connectivity. Bilingual adults have denser grey matter, which is brain tissue that contains information processing nerve cells and fibers. The denser grey matter was most prominent in the left hemisphere where most language and communication skills are stored (The Bilingual Brain). In a Swedish study, conducted by researchers at Lund University, military recruits were taught a new language. Recruits at the

For language development, there is a popular debate on whether there is an advantage to being a bilingual individual. There is a large amount of evidence that supports both sides of the argument. In terms of bilingual advantage, various studies focus on how bilingual or multilingual individuals outperform individuals on executive control tasks that are either linguistic of non-linguistic in nature. The advantages stem from greater foundations of executive function, such as cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, in bilinguals than in non-bilinguals. Young and older bilingual individuals show a cognitive advantage because they outperform non-bilingual individuals during executive function tasks for enhanced attentional control, conflict

Lifelong bilingualism has been associated with enhanced cognition. Scientists suggest that the bilingual experience is closely related to neurological variations observed in brain anatomy and function of bilinguals versus monolinguals. For instance, research conducted by Olsen et al. (2015) investigated the structural brain differences of lifelong bilingualism. Given the importance of the frontal and temporal lobes in executive and language functions, they hypothesized that bilinguals would exhibit greater volume of these cortical areas. The researchers discovered that bilinguals had more white matter in frontal lobe regions, which emphasizes the importance of preserved white matter in executive function. Following immersion in a second language, young adults also demonstrated increases in grey matter in the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior temporal lobe (Stein et al., 2012). Not only have scientists examined white and grey

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

This investigation discusses the question of “Is the brain organized differently in bilingual individuals?”. This question was brought upon living in a bilingual community at school, with both Arabic and English speakers. This essay will demonstrate the brain imaging techniques used to differentiate the monolingual brain from a bilingual brain, research studies, and the positive and negative outcomes toward a bilingual brain. Language constructs our relationship with the world arounds us in the ways we express ourselves, therefore what does it mean to be bilingual and monolingual? Bilingualism refers to an individual’s ability to speak two or more languages fluently even if one language is learned later on in life. However, monolinguals are

Possessing adequate knowledge of Spanish is not only important for job applications or business procedures. Studying a foreign language broadens one's horizons in many other ways and offers a plethora of benefits. For example, “research indicates that knowing and using two languages reduces your chances of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease” (“Top Ten”). This is because being bilingual facilitates a healthier brain and creates stronger pathways for memory retention and increased concentration. Moreover, this increase in cognitive function may be due to elevated levels of “blood and oxygen [flowing] to the brain” (Perry).

intend to expose in their studies how Educational Neuroscience can reshape educational policies and practices in teaching and learning the core content areas, especially in timing and sequencing content exposure. One approach was to study whether exposing a young child to two languages caused delay in language development and language confusion. Studies revealed that the optimal age for dual language development was before age five. Children were not delayed in phonetic contrasts acquisition. Imaging brains of monolingual and bilingual infants revealed that both groups presented similar neural activation. Regarding reading in bilingual children studies showed that children experiencing bilingual education in primary grades outperformed

Bilingualism is becoming more and more common as countries like the United States and Canada attract large amounts of immigration. In the 2011 Census, it indicated that 21% of the U.S. population aged 5 and over were speaking a language other than English. Our brain is constantly reorganizing itself as we experience stimuli from our environment, one may also expect neural plasticity when exposed to variations in language. To obtain a more in depth look at how the cognitive process language can affect the structure of our brain, this paper will address the research question: To what extent does bilingualism affect brain structure.

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