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Effect of bilingualism on cognitive and academic development
Bilingualism and cognitive development
Effects of bilingualism on language learning
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1. Topic: To what extent does bilingualism affect working memory in the brain?
Hypothesis: Bilingual brains are better at temporarily storing and manipulating information in working memory in their first language, but varying in the second.
Working Title: Working toward better memory: will learning a second language help your working memory? Having heard that with each language one learns, the next becomes easier, I have always through that learning languages does something incredibly beneficial for the brain. Research on the subject seems to indicate that in fact there are plenty of benefits of multilingualism spawning the phrase “the bilingual advantage.” Music and math are both thought to incur various advantages to young learners,
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Working memory involves temporarily storing information as well as temporarily manipulating information. Thus, working memory is essential to learning a new language since it involves both temporarily remembering information as well as manipulating the information (as in producing the sounds just learned). Some languages have shorter phonemes, which may be the reason why it would be easier to remember some things in some languages rather than others. The average number of phonemes in English is 2 compared to 3 in Spanish. Thus, WM is crucial to learning languages, however “WM is not a unitary process and different subsystems can be distinguished; at least, (a) an executive frontal process, and (b) a memory storage process related to the left temporal lobe,” according to Ardila (“Working Memory” 2014, p. 229). As a result, different subsystems of WM may work differently depending on whether it is the first language learned (L1) or the second, L2. There is evidence that WM in L2 are significantly more difficult than in …show more content…
There have been many claims, but it seems that there are six principal areas where the bilingual brain benefits. Those are learning in general, complex thinking, creativity, mental flexibility, and interpersonal communication skills. And lets not forget the effect of delaying dementia and keeping the brain functioning effectively longer. The authors note that “although it is difficult to prove the existence of a direct causal link, it is likely that multilingualism produces a special advantage in utilizing a person 's brain capacity as creatively as possible” (Academy of Finland, p.1). Thus, it might require further and more careful study to be able to directly prove or disprove the real effects on
Mental flexibility is superior in bilingual children since learning two language forces their minds to process two language systems at one time. Bilingualism promotes divergent (a divergent thinker is someone who thinks of many possible solutions to a problem) and creative thinking (Baker, 144-145). This increase of creative thinking gives a wider variety of associations (Baker, 145-146). Bilingualism is also associated with increased meta-cognitive flexibility and better performance on certain perpetual tasks, such as recognizing a perpetual object “embedded” in a visual background or classification tasks (Marian, et al.,1). Their divergent thinking helps relevant aspects of a problem may become more salient to bilingual children since their experiences with two language systems and cultures enable them to incorporate different perspectives to the solution (Bialystok, 2001 pg. 204). Bilingualism promotes divergent thinking that is caused by greater cognitive flexibility.
The brain has always had an amazing ability to adapt to its circumstances, an evolutionary edge, coupled with humanities capacity for reason and logic has made for quite a versatile organ. Researching neuroplasticity and non-synaptic plasticity can lead to a better understanding of how the brain adapts as well as how a normal brain functions. Neuroplasticity has the potential to affect brain mechanism related to emotional, motivational and cognitive processes (Crocker, Heller, Warren, O'Hare, Infantolino & Miller, 2012). Another functional and extraordinary ability of the brain is language. Language can define so much about how we think and yet after a brief window of time we find it very difficult to learn new languages. It is certainly not impossible to learn a second or third language but, it seems to be the case that plasticity occurs more with children (Giannakopoulou, Uther & Ylinen, 2013). Perhaps because plasticity can occur during developmental stages when language development is taking place or younger brains are just have more plastic potential. Understanding how plasticity and bilingualism interrelate can give us a better picture of how the brain deals with language, how this stimuli causes neuroplasticity to occur and how that plasticity can effect language functions. Does developing bilingual skills cause brain plasticity?
Kopke, B., Nespoulous J. (2006). Working memory performance in expert and novice interpreters. Interpreting: International Journal of Research & Practice in Interpreting, 8(1), 1-23.
There are more than 6,500 languages around the world. We can't control where we are born nor what will be our native language. Although, we can choose which we are going to speak as a second language. Speaking more than one language has obvious benefits in today's internationally growing world, and it has become common to know more than one. Being bilingual is a benefit, that one is never too old nor too ahead to experience and learn from
Learning multiple languages opens doors for people not only in their local communities, but on a global scale. It has also been proven to advance cognition by improving conflict management, executive controls, and sound recognition. Students who are bilingual have two active languages in their minds and create flexible minds by constantly processing and translating in both languages. These mental activities are displayed to be beneficial through impressive academics. For these reasons, bilingual education in the United States is critical. Language is the single most important asset in human civilization. Prior to it, cave men communicated through grunts and images. Not only does language tie people together, but it also has an impact on one’s mentality and personal
In order to understand how the capacity of working memory might be improved it is necessary first to define what is meant by working memory. According to the definition by Baddeley and Hitch (1976) working memory is a limited capacity system that actively holds information in mind in which these can be manipulated. It consists of four subsystems: a phonological loop, a visuospatial sketchpad, an episodic buffer and a central executive. The phonological loop has two components: the phonological store in which sounds are stored; and the articulatory control process which automatically refreshes these sounds in a 2-second cycle (Revlin, 2012). Because of this 2-second limitation the following rule applies: the more information to process, the more will be lost from working memory.
Understanding more than one language has positive effects on the brain’s ability to think. In comparison to multilingual individuals, monolingual English speakers are at a considerable disadvantage when it comes to learning, cultural awareness, and effectiveness in global affairs.
Being bilingual always made my life differ as if I lived two lives, speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere outside of home. On the daily basis at my house, my family speaks Spanish. When we communicate we speak very fast, at times we can not even understand one another. After this occurs we all burst out in laughter super loud, no boundaries are enforced in our lexicon. The enforcement changes when entering a different discourse community.
Many of you reading this already are on to the fact that being bilingual is no longer an option, it is a necessity. As a mom of three children, all of whom are bilingual to varying degrees, and as an educator of thousands of young children over the past twenty years, I have watched first hand the growing demand from our society to prepare our young children for a global economy. No longer is it enough to give them a few colors and shapes in preschool, hope that their elementary school might incorporate a few days of the week spoken in two languages here or months there, and then trust that, come middle school, they will eagerly and easily catch on to second language learning. We know that is not how it works. We have all witnessed the lack
In today's interconnected culture, the mastery of a language other than the typical English is required to effectively and openly communicate with the world as well as anything on a smaller scale. If you are monolingual you are at a disadvantage because of the reason that inability to relate information limits your options. Knowledge of other languages may be important but it also brings many benefits for those who are multilingual. As they process information more complexly because of different interpretations, they are shown to "'continuously display enhanced cognitive abilities relative to their... peers'" (source D). The brain is constantly tasked and activated which may, "'make the brain more flexible and incite... new patterns"(source D).
The ability of speech itself has always been something profoundly valuable for me and my family, from living every day with a sibling who’s autism prevents him from speaking out his thoughts and feelings, but rather communicate through sounds, expressions, and gestures, we've hence developed a deep emotional and physiological stance towards verbal communication. Coming from a small Hispanic family, there’s my mom, and my two younger brothers. My mother, a hard-working woman, has always stressed to us the importance of being bilingual and biliterate. She’s told us of her experiences when she arrived to the United States and of how much she struggled to communicate with others, yet also of the discrimination and judgments, she had to bare to learn to speak English. Because of this I personally believe I'm incredibly lucky to have been born with the privilege of growing up with a Spanish speaking mother while being educated to learn English as well; it highlighted how knowing how to interact, relate, and connect with others is a universal life skill.
BILINGUALISM have both Positive and Negative effects on the Child’s linguistic, Cognitive and Educational Development.
The development of the brain of a bilingual individual is better than a monolingual individual. Few years ago, researchers from the University of Washington (as cited in Klass, 2011, para 4.) found that the brains of bilingual infants (from families where two languages were spoken) are able to discriminate the different of the phonetic sound of the languages they usually heard when they grew up than monolingual infants in where their brains were adapted to only identify their mother tongue only. Dr. Patricia Kuhl, one of the members of this research team thus believe that bilingual education can shape infants’ brains and keep them ready for future challenges. Concurrently, a renowned psychologist, Dr. Ellen...
Being bilingual implies a process in which everything looks so difficult at the beginning, but at the same time it is easier than what it looks like.
As time goes by and as the global community develops, the world grows more and more international, making second or third language acquisition become necessary to the majority. With the growing importance of multiple language ability, more and more parents think of bilingual or multilingual education, which means acquisitions of two or more languages, for their kids. In fact, we do have many reasons showing why multilingual education is important and beneficial, such as aspects of interpersonal relationship, employment, brain health, and so on.