ADVANTAGES BILINGUALISM TODDLERS

For Outline, Please see Appendix

The Cognitive Advantages of Bilingualism (Spanish and English) in Toddlers

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Research Question1

Normal concerns with bilingual children2

Repercussions on nonlinguistic cognitive abilities2

Enhanced ability3

Perception of Bilingualism4

Observation5

Inhibition of certain stimuli6

Advantages or Disadvantages of Bilingualism6

Research finding7

Increased attention9

Multicultural and interdisciplinary considerations and perspectives10

The two research advantages11

Conclusion11

References13

Appendix15

The Cognitive Advantages of Bilingualism (Spanish and English) in Toddlers

Introduction

The ability to speak, understand, perceive, use or promote the use of more than one language is referred as multilingualism or Bilingualism. It is not strange to see that monolingual speakers are outnumbered in the global population in comparison to bilinguals. Cultural openness and globalization are the needs that govern Multilingualism in becoming a social phenomenon. Enhanced executive function are reported in Bilinguals who are highly proficient in two or more languages and are better at some aspects of language learning compared to monolinguals.

In contrast, semi-lingualism or distractive bilingualism is a phenomenon which sometimes happens with immigrant children and toddlers, when acquisition of the first language is interrupted and insufficient or unstructured language input follows from the second language. This usually happens when the speaker ends up with two languages both mastered below the monolingual standard.

Bilingualism is a complex issue considering the increasing number of individuals speaking English and Spanish in the US, and the effect of these languages that can happen on the lives of the individuals. It is important to research and know the advantages or disadvantages these individuals may have as compared to monolinguals.

Research Question

Is Bilingualism advantageous to toddlers?

Normal concerns with bilingual children

According to research, toddlers occasionally mix the odd word in both languages, but such cases are normal at first, especially when the languages have basic words. However, these small errors usually disappear with time. When two languages are well balanced, the bilingual children have an advantage over monolingual children thinking, which means that bilingualism has positive effects on intelligence and other aspects of the child's life. The experts agree that it is better to teach the language to encourage early learning, and allow toddlers to practice two languages from birth, allowing the complete mastery of both languages contrary to what happens if the teaching of the second language takes place from the three years of age. Some experts argue that toddlers exposed to several languages are more creative and develop better problem solving skills. Speaking a second language, if only during the first years of the child, will help program the brain circuits to make it easier to learn additional languages in the future. The important thing at first is that the child will always listen and become familiar with it gradually, without haste or obligation (Adesope, 2011).

Repercussions on nonlinguistic cognitive abilities

One of the most intriguing questions about bilingualism is whether the continuous experience of handling two languages, and the mechanisms that bilinguals develop to control the two language systems, have any repercussions on nonlinguistic cognitive abilities. At least one model developed to account for the bilingual speaker's control over two simultaneously activated systems- inhibitory control model-predicts ...