What Are The Advantages Of Bilingualism?

assert in their study that, while there is strong evidence in support of the positive cognitive effects of bilingualism in children, there is a lack of research to determine whether this effect persists into adulthood. The aim of their research is to pursue this line of investigation. Furthermore, if a positive effect is observed in adulthood, the authors also want to evaluate whether this advantage mitigates the cognitive decline observed in older adults. This study needs the reader to accept that the previous research which shows that bilingual children possess a cognitive advantage over monolingual children is valid. Based on this observed advantage in children, they hypothesize that the advantage would be seen in younger adults as well as older

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.

Children, after a year of learning a second language, will experience increased neural activity when exposed to an unfamiliar language compared with monolingual children. That is, their brains are effortlessly

Bilingualism is known to have a negative and a positive outcome on individuals who are multilingual or bilingual. Around the 21st century at least half of the world’s population are now bilingual .The article The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual discussed the different aspect of bilingualism and how it affects the way our brain process information. Researchers have studied the brain that showed that being multilingual and bilingual “have a better attention and task-switching capacities than monolingual brain” function.

Being bilingual is a great goal that a person could have. Many studies suggest that bilingual children maybe have increased cognitive abilities. For example, “research shows that children who speak more than one language are multiply advantaged over their monolingual playmates – in communication, cognition and social interaction. The mental gymnastics needed to constantly manage two or more linguistic systems increases cognitive flexibility and makes learning easier, say

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).

Ellen Bialystok, Fergus I.M Craik, and Gigi Luk (2012) studied the impact of bilinguism in one’s life by explaining the effects of bilingualism on cognition and its mechanisms. Ellen et al. (2012) found that overall bilinguals exerted better executive control than monolinguals. One possibile mechanism of this difference was mainly due that bilinguals exerted usage of a joint activation. Meaning that, the bilinigual’s mind showed activation for both languageses and that there were an interaction between them, even when

These trends accurately depict positive results of bilingual education that have been proved by careful pragmatic research. According to Heidi Dulay and Marina Burt on these empirical findings done in 1976, “Although these were studies of bilingual programs in their first few years of implementation . . . the majority of the findings (58%) showed significantly positive effects of bilingual over monolingual education” (72). Albeit one might think that these results only applied to subjects not related to the nation’s primary language, English (such as Mathematics and the Sciences), he or she will be appalled to learn that these effective studies show that “in English . . . four out of the seven findings showed that children who learned to read in their native language did better than their counterparts taught in English only” (Burt 72). These findings, as well as many others related to the study of bilingual education, clearly demonstrate that the bilingual method of teaching is definitely worthwhile.

A lot of time ago the bilingualism was considered to be something negative. In the year 1928 the International Conference took place on the Bilingualism in Luxembourg (Vila I: 1983: 4). To her(it) there came a set of specialists that in those years it(he,she) was working on the matter. The questions that were done are the same that nowadays, ninety years later, we continue appearing: which are the effects of the bilingualism on the general intelligence, on the activity, the character? Which are the advantages and the disadvantages of the bilingual regime? What is the most favorable time to begin your learning? The answers were unanimous and the majority of those present expressed the influence refusal bilingualism exerted on the intellectual and personal development of the child. Why is concretised in 12 years the recommended age to start learning the L2. Fortunately nowadays public opinion

Author of this journal article, Judith F. Kroll, a distinguished psychologist who focuses on language acquisition, tries to refute many of the myths revolving around multilingualism within humans. The human brain is an incredible organ and has far more plasticity that we know, and Kroll states that “Contrary to the view that the brain evolved to speak one language only, the evidence suggests that two or more languages coexist in the same brain networks, each language activating the other even when only one of the languages is in use” (Kroll). Kroll is claiming that learning a foreign language helps one’s brain work harder and keeps it active for longer periods of time, disproving the claim of how more than one language can negatively impact your brain and speech. Kroll’s primary form of support in this article is in the form of logical appeal where he uses many studies about the difference between bilingual, and non-bilingual adults and how their cognitive decline occurs at different rates. The following quote states that learning a second language can be beneficial and help prevent cognitive decline such as

Cognitive benefits in executive control for bilinguals is highly researched; there is a plethora of experiments conducted showing bilinguals outscoring their monolingual counterparts for executive function. Fortunately, Gregory and Van Hell performed a Simon task Experiment with monolinguals, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Gregory and Van Hell are able to compare across all three groups and conclude, for the Simon effect, that monolinguals did the worst. Essentially, bilinguals did better than monolinguals, and trilinguals did better than bilinguals, although, only by a limited amount. Trilinguals did the best because they regularly practice their language control processes, especially compared to monolinguals, and

We always hear that knowing two languages is better than one, it will take you farther in future. People who speak at least two languages are bilinguals. A study conducted by Blom et. al (2017) compare bilinguals and monolinguals and their memory ability (p. 3). Bilinguals have outperformed monolinguals in memory experiment (Blom et. al, 2017, p. 1). According to Blom et. al (2017) bilinguals pick up cues to know remember and answer correctly (p. 2). If a bilingual knows both languages really well than their cognitive ability is much higher than a monolingual (Blom et. al, 2017, p. 2). The study had 176 children from age six or seven participating in the study, all participants’ Socioeconomic status, age, and intelligence matched (Blom et al, 2017, p. 4). The researchers used different tasks to test participants’

The human brain is capable of the most remarkable abilities. It doesn't just manage the human body, but it also allows us to communicate by processing, interpreting, and understanding language. Human beings use language as the main source of communication, it allows an individual to express her/himself with greater precision. Each country has their own language, and with language comes different accents and dialects. Speaking one language alone is enough for the brain to develop, as that language is being constantly used. When it comes to speaking two languages, that's when the brain is strengthened, the individual is more intelligent and is able to acquire knowledge more easily. The use of two languages is described by the phenomenon of bilingualism.The effects of bilingualism are linked to the functional neuroplasticity — the ability of the brain to modify its structure and function with experience. This neuroplastic effect leads to changes in personality in which a bilinguist is capable of not just switching languages but switching personalities as well. One can argue that it takes more than being bilingual to change brain activity and function, but most would agree that the benefits of bilingualism outweigh the drawbacks. Advanced technology has shown that bilingualism has improved cognitive control, changed brain activity over time to strengthen its neurons, and protect against age-related diseases. A major recent discovery over the effects of bilingualism is a

In today’s day and age, English has become the go-to language above all others as the preferred form of communication around the world. As a second generation American, growing up with a primarily Anglophone population and peer group, I was not able to practice my second language as much as my parents would have liked. Since English was all I used in school for reading, writing, and communicating, my knowledge of the Spanish language began to wither throughout my school career. Unfortunately, the school systems in the United States prioritize “core” classes (such as math and sciences) over foreign language classes—they’re not seen as essential, but certainly nice to have around. According to current research, students are being taught foreign languages at the wrong time, if at all, by schools in the United States. This causes students to not reap in the benefits of knowing a second language earlier in life that extend beyond communication itself. Being bilingual is associated with numerous advantages and immeasurable benefits that affect all aspects of life, including: improved cognitive function, tolerance, open-mindedness, etc., which proves that acquiring a second language through learning should be implemented earlier on in life, when learning is at its peak due to brain plasticity.

Given the appropriate environment, people tend to pick up a new language easily at a young age. Multilingualism doesn’t require complete fluency in another language, or the ability to speak two unrelated languages. The benefits of multilingualism are so stupendous that they extend outside the area of language. Children and elders learning a foreign language have been demonstrated to be consistently better able to deal with distractions, like holding two languages concurrently without allowing words and grammar slip from one to another (Bialystok). Multilingual speakers also develop a greater vocabulary size over time (Kosmidis), a markedly better language proficiency in, sensitivity to, and understanding of their mother tongue (Johnson), and have a better ear for listening and sharper memories (Lapkin, Ratte). Furthermore, evidence has shown that skill in several languages fosters creativity and innovation: multilingual people are aware that problems can be tackled in different ways according to different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (European Commission). They can use this ability to find new solutions.