The Importance Of Bilingualism

Being bilingual is a tool that can enhance someone’s life tremendously. The development of this tool can happen either simultaneously or successively.

A common joke says “What do you call someone who speaks two languages?” in which the person being asked the question would usually respond with “bilingual.” It goes on to ask about those who speak three or four languages, but then there is a kicker. “What does one call someone who only speaks one language?” to which the punch line is “an American.” According to the 2006 General Social Survey, only 25 percent of American adults are fluent in a foreign language, while only 7 percent cite the source of this education to formal schooling (Devlin 1). Large amounts of evidence point to the benefits of being multilingual. Although the United States has a few laws that help immigrants assimilate through dual language programs, there is little to be

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.

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.

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

As the title suggests, “Speaking in Tongues: The Many Benefits of Bilingualism” is an article that examines the advantages of bilingualism. Due to the nature of the world, a great number of people have acquired the ability to speak more than one language. The author explores the benefits such an ability offers, arguing that bilingual children develop social, linguistic and cognitive skillsets that not only provides a chance to explore different cultures, but raises a child’s awareness of how language functions. The author also weighs on the cognitive aspect; applying the works of Ellen Bialystok to their ( the author’s ) argument. In the author’s view, bilingual children are better at dealing with conflicting cues and assessing information.

Would you like to have the skill of being able to talk and read in two different languages? Do you want your world to be widened into many more places you would be able to travel to? When schools teach with bilingual education, these skills are given to the student. They will obtain many skills and advantages when learning with bilingual education. These skills will last all throughout their lives. These skills will be very useful in many aspects of everyday life. Schools should teach with bilingual education because schools are becoming more diverse, to give students social advantages, to widen a person's’ job opportunities in the future, and because being bilingual strengthens the brain.

One theme that emerges from recent research about bilingualism is that it promotes a flexible mind. Cristoffels, Hann, Steenberg, Van den Wildenberg, and Colzato (2014) explain that people who are bilingual can develop a flexible mindset because switching between languages can benefit cognitive control, which is the

Bilingual students have the ability to think cognitively in both their first language and their second language. What they lack is the spoken or written language in

To start off, what does bilingual actually mean? The definition says that bilingual is a word that refers to a person who can speak two languages with the fluency of a native and a polyglot or multilingual referes to a person who can speak or write in many languages.

While some bilingual individuals perceive English as a language they had to learn out of necessity, there were some other individuals who see their ability to speak English as their strengths to connect with various people from different cultures. Some individuals also expressed that English affects “the way one sees the world, how one connects with people and possibilities one’s future holds” (Aguayo 2017:5).

For this investigative assignment, I interviewed three of my closest friends about their perspectives on bilingual education in the United States. One of my friends, who I will call “A,” said that bilingual education is important for students because it helps them broaden their perspectives on the world. Students are exposed to learn different cultures and respect them, promoting multiculturalism in our country. “A” said that if students were only exposed to English-only classroom setting, they would most likely be ignorant of other cultures. She also told me about her experience when she was in an ESL program during her middle school year. She described the program as useless because she and her classmates learned broken English from each other. She somehow managed to get out of the program and put herself into the mainstream English class. My other friend, who I will call “B,” stated that bilingual education is helpful in developing a wider cultural perspective and cultivating a person suitable for the globalized world. As a foreign-born American and working as an international student coordinator, she emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and respecting different cultures. She believes that bilingual education can help students to achieve better knowledge on growing multiculturalism in our country. My last interviewee, who I will call “C,” also believes that bilingual education is important to cultivate young minds by helping them to respect not only their own but

The term Bilingualism refers to an individual that has the ability to understand and use two languages. Bilingual children despite having twice as much to learn language-wise, demonstrate minimal confusion and delay (Siegler, DeLoache, Eisenberg, Saffran, 2014). Adult, children, and infant bilinguals are better than monolinguals in executive-control tasks, choosing pertinent and important information, and editing responses in a changing environment (Sebastian-Galles, Albareda-Castellot, Weikum, Werker, 2011).

The problem that „Bilinguals have, is that they need to switch languages quite often when they talk to their father in one language and to their mother in another language“, says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. “It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.” In a study comparing German-Italian bilinguals with Italian monolinguals on monitoring tasks, Mr. Costa and his colleagues found that the bilingual subjects not only performed better, but they also did so with less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, indicating that they were more efficient at