Being A Bilingual Child Essay

The ability to speak more than one language is always seen valuable among the adults; conversely, the importance of childhood bilingualism is often overlooked. Most people only see the significance of bilingualism in adulthood, for instance, at enhancing resume for job application. The truth is, there are many perks to being a bilingual child. One of the advantages is the cognitive ability a bilingual speaker benefits from since an early age. Research has shown that children who are exposed to two languages at home have a better concentration level compared to monolingual children. They are able to filter distractions which enable them to focus better on the important matters (Lauchlan 9). This is because the bilingual brain has a slightly different structure than the monolingual brain. Scientific research provides the difference in the brain of a bilingual speaker and that of a monolingual speaker: “brain scans of bilingual individuals found

Fraser Lauchlan, an educational psychologist who is also an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, UK, says, “It was the metalinguistic skills of the bilingual children that enabled them to perform better, namely their ability to self-correct, but also that they were ‘perhaps more confident in their approach to solving difficult problems’” (9). Lauchlan believes that being bilingual does not mean that they are more intelligent than their monolingual peers, but the way a bilingual brain works helps boosting their confidence level besides being able to notice their mistakes easily. Although bilingual children are more prone to develop a stammer which lower their self-esteem, their brain actually works in a wonderful way which allows them to be more confident with their decision-making. Therefore, parents should not be hesitant about letting their children to embrace