Bilingualism/Multilingualism: Cognitive Advantages of Bilingualism

Have you ever heard that learning another language is good for your brain? Well, it’s true! Studies have shown that learning another language has positive effects on your brain. It is claimed that cognitive advantages of bilinguals occur when a certain level of proficiency is obtained. Research that has been done on bilinguals has mostly focused on balanced bilinguals or bilinguals whose two languages are well developed. Recent research has shown that balanced bilinguals have cognitive advantages that monolinguals do not have. Studies have concluded that the more a child is proficient in both languages, the greater the probability of cognitive advantages.

Research has shown that bilinguals are more divergent thinkers. Divergent thinkers are more creative, flexible in thinking, and imaginative. They are also more original and elaborate with their thinking. For example, if you asked a bilingual, “How can I use a piece of wood?”,convergent thinkers would give you typical answers that you would expect such as building a house or building a wall. Divergent thinkers may give you answers such as for propping up a wobbly table, blocking a hole, or breaking a window.

Transferring Knowledge and Skills:

Studies have shown that bilinguals have increased metalinguistic awareness than monolinguals. If ESL students, or emergent bilinguals, have reading skills in their first language, then gaining reading skills in their second language will be easier. ESL students already have the knowledge of concepts of print and phonological awareness in their first language (metalinguistic skills), so they can transfer their reading knowledge and skills to reading in their second language. This may be especially true for languages that share the same writing system. The same is true for academic vocabulary. The more developed a child’s vocabulary is in their first language, the easier it will be for this child to transfer their vocabulary knowledge to their second language.  This is called the Developmental Interdependence theory.  The more proficient a child is in their first language, the easier and faster it will be for the child to acquire their second language.

Aging:

Learning another language helps decrease some of the negative cognitive effects of aging. Bilinguals who know and speak two or more languages throughout their lives show a decrease in cognitive decline as they age, especially with memory. Research has shown that signs of dementia or Alzheimer disease are delayed with aging bilinguals compared to monolinguals.

Socioeconomic Factors:

An important question to ask is if all children benefit from bilingualism. Do children from all socioeconomic backgrounds share in the cognitive advantages of being bilingual?Have studies only focused on children from middle or higher socioeconomic status or have children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds been included in research as well? Do balanced bilinguals come from families who encourage creative thinking and nurture metalinguistic skills? Does this factor contribute to the cognitive advantages of bilinguals? What about children who come from families who do not foster creative thinking and metalinguistic skills?

Limitations of Test Findings:

It is important to note that test findings have limitations. For example, how are intelligence and creativity measured? As asked above, which populations of bilinguals were included in bilingual research?

The Benefits of Bilingualism

If I had to choose the number one misconception among my colleagues in regard to ESL students, it would be that ESL students must speak English at home in order to increase their language skills.  Speaking English at home will not increase ESL students’ language skills and in fact, it may be a determent to their language learning!

English as a second language is an additional language, not a substitution.  English should not replace the student’s first language, but should be an additional language that the student knows and uses. 

The following reasons explain the benefits of knowing and using two or more languages as well as reasons why a bilingual child cannot be expected to speak only English at home:

1. If the child’s first language is replaced by English, the child not only loses their native language, but their culture and identity as well. Language is a powerful part of who you are. It is not just words and grammar, but a way of thinking, being, and behaving. Language also contributes to how one understands, views, describes, and values the world around them. The English language is an asset to the child and can create many opportunities for him/her.  Most children who are bilingual are also bicultural. He/she is able to learn two cultures, broadening their perspective about the world around them. Being bilingual and bicultural can open up economic and employment opportunities for bilingual children.

2. Another benefit for being bilingual is that traveling is easier and cheaper if you know the language of the country you are visiting.

3. Being bilingual can also create social opportunities and connections.  Practically speaking, the child may be unable to speak English at home because their family either does not know English or speaks English incorrectly.  If the family knows English, but their English has errors, then the child learns English that is incorrect.  As an ESL teacher, it is much more problematic and difficult to correct the child’s language errors than if the child does not speak any English at all.  This is due to the child's errors being fossilized, or becoming a habit.  These language errors cannot be easily corrected and can be one of the biggest frustrations for English language teachers. Teaching beginners who know no English is easier because you begin with a blank slate and you fill this blank slate with correct English.

4. If the child's native language is replaced by English, then most likely this child will be unable to communicatewith some to most of their family members.  The child’s relatives such as grandparents or extended family members may have remained in their native country or do not know English even if they are residing in an English speaking country.  How will the child be able to communicate with their extended family if they lose their native language? It is a huge disservice to sever this important connection between the child and family member, especially for cultures where family is valued.

5. Theoretically speaking, you need both languages to learn English. The theory that supports this view is called the Developmental Interdependencetheory.  This theory suggests that the more proficient the child is in their first language, the easier and faster the child will acquire English, their second language. The child transfers their knowledge from their first language to their second language.  He/she learns language only and not the concept(s) because the child already understands the concepts in their first language.  Therefore, the student’s first language needs to remain strong while the weaker of the two languages, their second language, is being learned. It is believed that the student’s second language will gradually become stronger and will eventually catch up to the their first language (or come close), so that the student is equally proficient in both languages (balanced bilingual).

6. Students are receiving English language immersion for at least six hours per day in school. This is A LOT of English language instruction!  The student should not be expected to speak English only at home because it is perceived that they are not receiving enough English language instruction in school.

7. No one can force parents to speak English only at home even if the parents are fluent. It is ultimately their choice whether or not their child speaks English in the home. Parents may find value and usefulness in maintaining their native language. 

8. For those of you living in a country where English is the majority language, remember that half to two-thirds of the people in the world are bilingual.  It is often considered the norm to know and use two languages.

9. Numerous studies have found that bilinguals have cognitive advantages that monolinguals do not have.  An interesting observation I have made in the United States is that many students are required to learn a foreign language in middle or high school because it is believed that knowing another language is beneficial.It does not make sense to replace an ESL student’s first language with English in the elementary grades and then later tell these students that knowing two languages will benefit them in the future.