14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge say that children who learn to speak two or more languages benefit from more advantages over their peers who only know their mother tongue.
Data used for this investigation were collected by the Bilingualism Information Network in Cambridge (BIN-C), which was founded by the same experts who led the new study – Dr. Dora Alexopoulou, Dr. Napoleon Katsos and Dr. Teresa Parodi, all at the DTAL.
What the new study suggests is that teachers and parents who believe learning a second language is stifling educational development are very wrong. Kids actually have a lot to gain from learning to speak in another language.
The investigations team has determined that children who are learning new languages, or who already know an extra one, tend to be a lot more capable of paying attention to complex tasks than their monolingual peers.
“Studies show that a bilingual child is better able to cope with tasks that involve attention, memory and concentration. The mental gymnastics needed to constantly manage two or more linguistic systems increases cognitive flexibility and makes learning easier,” Alexopoulou explains.
Bilingualism could also help teachers discover children who suffer from learning disabilities. Thus far, identifying them has been a challenge that, even if successful, led to many false-positive results.
“Moreover, lack of awareness about bilingualism may lead to schools incorrectly diagnosing, or failing to diagnose actual learning difficulties if a phase of linguistic difficulty is observed,” Dr. Parodi says.
“Typically, if the problem shows in both languages this will point to a learning difficulty, but not if it only shows in one of them,” she goes on to say. In many cases, kids simply experience a delay in catching up with what they have to learn, and are not mentally impaired in any way.
However, having children learn a variety of languages is not something that can be decided without involving parents and teachers as well. This is why their commitment is absolutely viral. Ultimately, it is for their kids' own benefit, the researchers say.
Interestingly, bilingualism has also been proven to be helpful in old age. Seniors who can speak more than one language experience a large delay in the onset of various forms of dementia, such as for example Alzheimer's disease.