Preview

The Benefits Of Being Bilingual

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
640 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Benefits Of Being Bilingual
In this modern era, majority of the world’s population is characterized as being bilingual. This is in most cases is manifested as a result of cross movement and interactions by people and societies which initiates the need to fit in and survive. The trend is seen as an important emerging perspective as it facilitates cross-cultural communication and positively affects cognitive abilities. Research shows that the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain. This is manifested due to its developed ability to contain one language while using another. Language is a very important aspect in communication as it helps us to express our thoughts and feelings, connect with others and identify with our culture and those of others and to understand the world around us. According to a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2006, 56 percent of respondents reported being able to speak in a language other than their mother tongue. Thus For many people, this rich linguistic environment will involve not just one language but two or more. In his book, “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,” the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” The words that we have at our disposal affect what we see- and the more words …show more content…
Being driven by bilingual experience helps a bilingual person to better process information in the environment which leads to a clearer signal for learning as their attention to details would be heightened. The bilingual language-learning advantage may be rooted in the ability to focus on information about the new language while reducing interference from the languages they already know(The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual By Viorica Marian, Ph.D., and Anthony Shook). This ability would allow bilingual people

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the article “My Two Minds”, Catherine De Lange details the differences between bilingualism and monolinguals. It was believed that starting back in the 19th century, bilingualism would confuse the capability of a child to fully understand either language properly. Later studies then shown that people who were bilingual may not have as a diverse vocabulary, but the overall cognitive ability to speak another language did not hinder the overall development.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    in the speech "The benefits of a bilingual brain”, speaker Mia Nacamullitalks about benefits of being bilingual and how it affects our brain. First of all, she compares bilingual and monolingual people. He describes language ability, which occurs two active part: speaking and writing and two passive part: listening and reading. Likewise, he categorizes the bilingual people who occur 3 general type.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A bilingual country, people or even ethnicity is a benefit to the citizens and society. A research in psychology proves that learning a second language increases reasoning and problem-solving abilities. Canadian children who are bilingual appreciate cultural differences and have the ability to communicate better.…

    • 603 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bilingualism helps to increase the academic and intellectual development of the brain. It is a great ability to assimilate. When in a situation, the brain goes through a workout to resolve an internal conflict. “The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be more basic: a heightened ability to monitor the environment”(Bhattacharjee, 2012). Bilingualism seems that if being bilingual is a simple life hack, then we would all be able to achieve the highest set goal. Being able to withhold more than one language is part of the brain’s executive function. Having to deal with any kind of puzzle even if it is from another country a bilingual has a better chance of solving it. It would be a better opportunity if it was learned at an earlier…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Disclosure about maintaining official bilingualism in Canada has been controversial issue among those interested including the government, companies, and individuals. The main approaches surrounding this issue can be summarized by economic and social reasons. To elaborate, various economic sectors, and particular certain companies, have to pay the cost when they produce their products by offering information based on bilingualism for customers. Moreover, not only companies but also the government has to pay for it. According to Fraser, around $2.4-billion has been paid for federal and provincial bilingual services (quoted in Baluja and Bradshaw). However, the cost that companies…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being bilingual has a positive effect on the brain’s executive control system, its responsibilities are high-level thinking, attention, and multitasking (Myler). For example, bilingual people are usually switching between two languages and this makes them more likely to switch between two tasks(Myler). In addition, the executive control system includes ignoring distractions, and solving problems. Studies also show that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in certain situations that require high monitoring demands and memory tasks (Myler). Bilingualism also slows down the aging process of the brain and prevents illnesses, such as Dementia and Alzheimer.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cafs Irp

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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.…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Individuals who are bilingual will benefit academically in many ways. Bilingual individuals will switch between languages constantly, making their brains more flexible. This helps them develop more flexible approaches to thinking through problems. Also the ability to think…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    persuasive memo

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Being bilingual carries over throughout life as it alters brain chemistry and starving off the onset of Alzheimer’s.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Benefits Of Bilingualism

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Bilingual children were shown to have advantage in the more difficult conditions that related to executive function components. Therefore the fact that bilinguals perform better on working memory tasks can be contributed to the task’s demands for executive function. This task provided a connection to bilingualism on a child's working memory by minimizing the possibility of linguistic difficulties to alter the results in favor of monolingual children. These studies used tasks that consisted of visual and visual spatial requirements thus minimizing verbal requirements. According to the author, the findings of the tests suggest that bilingual advantages may be the result of other executive functioning components in addition to working memory are impacted by bilingualism. Instead it is possible that bilingualism impacts many different abilities that ultimately heighten cognitively demanding tasks. Working memory is important for cognitive development, and it is definitely advanced in bilingual children. Bilingual children constantly use both languages and the experience of both languages leads to their enhanced working memory. Unlike other tasks that have been shown to increase a child’s working memory, bilingualism is unique in that it is the result of the child’s family, and not their ability for learning…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a result, parents and teachers were instructed against teaching children a second language because it was bad for their brain development (Yang, Yang & Lust, 2011). It was only through studies that were contacted in recent times that individuals discovered that contradictory assertions that were relayed by some critics in the past were not true. Currently, researchers have discovered that when individuals learned an additional language they developed cognitive advantages that enhanced their levels of self-control, ability to tackle conflicting information and individuals’ level of attention to the events that went on in their surroundings.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bilingualism In America

    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The United States should become more open and globalized upon its international status. Because it is a unique country that has various languages and cultures, there are some people who believe on the notion of “one nation one language”, while some believe bilingualism is better for the United States. In the article “A Nation divided by one language”, the author James Crawford provides many research statistics that prove bilinguals are generally smarter than monolinguals. He believes that the media misleads people into believing bilingual education is bad. Crawford states that if one only receives information from the media, one would have the same thoughts that most Americans have (Crawford…

    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are three main areas where a student can excel by knowing a second language. The first is mentally. According to Viorica Marian, being bilingual can help a student “to better process information in the environment, leading to a clearer signal for learning,” (“The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual” Marian). Cognitive and sensory processes can improve as well. Because of this, bilingual students have been known to have an easier time accessing newly learned words, giving them a more extensive vocabulary than monolingual students. Not only does knowing a second language help a person cognitively, but also socially. A bilingual person has an easier time connecting with people from other cultures; accordingly, they have a better understanding of culture and how others differ from their own. This is especially important because immigration rates in the United States are growing rapidly. Also, being proficient in a language before interacting with a foreign speaker can help break an initial language barrier, allowing the two people to connect on a deeper level. A third benefit of being multilingual is having a greater advantage career wise. The world is becoming more advanced in technology, allowing for an expansion to foreign countries for a business. This creates a higher demand for multilingual people to translate documents, conduct…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bilingual students receive additional benefits outside of simply knowing another language. Bilinguals, superior to their monolingual peers, are better at critical thinking, pattern recognition, divergent thinking, and creativity ("Foreign Language A Must..."). These advanced cognitive abilities are shown on tests as after 3-4 years of taking a language students show improved standardized test scores (Porter). This means that students will have better math and English test scores without even taking the classes.…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Becoming bilingual allows students to experience the world from a different perspective, and communicate with an entirely new community of the population. When comparing bilinguals’ and monolinguals’ performance on several different mathematical tasks designed to assess creativity, indeed the bilinguals not only solved arithmetic problems more successfully, but also did so more creatively (BBC Glasgow & Scotland). Students enhance their brain flexibility not only in the areas of mathematics, but in logic, reasoning, and problem solving (Benson). Although it may take several years to acquire academic English, if a student is not taught in a type of bilingual education they are more prone to miss critical instruction from their inability to process content presented in English; thus it is crucial for their educational advancement (Benson). These benefits improve students’ future lives by equipping them and making them candidates who stand out against prospective employers in many international companies…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays