Benefits Of Bilingualism Research Articles

The Relationship Between Cognitive Control Capacity and Language Dominance Among Malay Bilinguals

A growing number of research has suggested that bilingualism could be related to enhanced cognitive control functions (Bellegarda & Macizo, 2021), because of frequent interference suppression of the first language when a bilingual speaker chooses to speak in the second language and vice versa. Nevertheless, the relationship was not shown in some studies, which raises various questions regarding previous findings. Hence, more studies are done to explore other facets of bilingual speaker’s experience that could modulate the cognitive control functions. Accordingly, the bilingualism threshold is examined to investigate the bilingual benefits. It is suggested that bilingual benefits are not just about knowing two languages, but more so into the usage of the languages possessed. Hence, some studies claimed that balanced language dominance would have better cognitive control capacity. This is a result of the continuous practice of suppressing one language over the targeted language. Therefore, there is a need to look at how language dominance could be related to cognitive control capacity as language dominance may impact the frequency of switching as well as activation of the two languages. This study reports the findings of the relationship between cognitive control capacity and language dominance of Malay bilinguals. The participants of this study were 69 balanced bilinguals and 74 Malay-dominant bilinguals. The Bilingual Language Profile was adopted to measure the language dominance of the participants of this study. Cognitive control capacity of the participants was measured with the Stroop Task. Through a Pearson-correlation analysis, it was found that there is a significant relationship between language dominance and cognitive control capacity. Thus, the findings of this research as in line with previous literatures where language dominance of a bilingual is related to enhanced cognitive control functions.

Exploring The Benefits Bilingualism: In Group Disscussion

Bilingualism in the 21st century is becoming increasingly relevant and important in the context of increasing globalization, technology, and social mobility. Like the word psychology, which just joined the world of education in the 20th century. The development of psychology is psycholinguistic. Bilingualism in group discussions provides many advantages in both academic and professional settings. Besides, bilingualism can be used in everyday life and acts as a communication bridge for interlocutors who are in the neighborhood of a variety of areas. This research is qualitative, with a qualitatively descriptive approach. The data came from a group of English-language education students and was obtained through observational research instruments and interviews. The data referred to in this study covers some of the benefits of bilingualism in group discussions. It can be concluded that this study found some benefits of bilingualism for group discussion by FKIP University Subang English Education Students through interviews with several students. The findings of the study yielded significant benefits to the students: improved communication skills, facilitated interaction with members, increased confidence, and added new vocabulary.

Influence of Bilingualism on Cognitive Abilities in Children in China

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of bilingualism on cognitive abilities in children in China. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Research on bilingualism and cognitive abilities in children in China has indicated several significant findings. Studies suggest that bilingualism can enhance executive functioning skills, such as cognitive flexibility and attention control, leading to improved problem-solving abilities. Additionally, bilingual children often demonstrate advanced metalinguistic awareness and language development, with proficiency in both their native language and a second language. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Bilingual advantage hypothesis, socio-cultural theory & neuroplasticity theory may be used to anchor future studies on influence of bilingualism on cognitive abilities in children in China. Implement evidence-based instructional strategies educators should incorporate evidence-based instructional strategies that capitalize on the cognitive benefits of bilingualism. Advocate for bilingual education policies. Policymakers should advocate for the implementation of bilingual education policies that support language minority students' cognitive development.

Changing attitudes toward heritage language education: a longitudinal study of marriage-migrant mothers in South Korea

ABSTRACT This study explores Vietnamese marriage-migrant mothers’ changing attitudes toward heritage language (HL) education in South Korea through narratives collected in an interview setting over a period of four years. The findings show that while the mothers placed some value on HL education, they initially prioritized Korean at home because they viewed it as key to their children’s academic success in Korea. However, the mothers’ perceptions of the value of their native language changed over time, influenced by their increasing awareness of the benefits of bilingualism, their imagined bilingual communities, Korea’s increasingly competitive job market, and their children’s social and academic experiences in school. Over time, the mothers came to view their minority language as an asset rather than a deficit and thus chose to invest in developing their children’s HL skills to position them as potentially valuable bilingual workers in both Korean and transnational contexts. The participants’ narratives reflect their view of the minority HL as primarily a socioeconomic resource rather than an identity resource, while the longitudinal study highlights the dynamism and changing nature of language ideologies in relation to HL maintenance.

Лингвопрагматические характеристики двуязычия в акадийском медиадискурсе

The aim of the study is to identify the peculiarities of the implementation of pragmatic attitudes of the Acadian linguistic personality regarding bilingualism (goals pursued when covering bilingualism, values associated with bilingualism, etc.) in the media discourse of the province. The paper presents the results of analysing 100 newspaper articles covering various aspects of bilingualism in the region – the main themes and subthemes associated with bilingualism are identified and both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data are conducted. The study is novel in that it presents the first characterization of the coverage of bilingualism in the Acadian press. As a result, the study reveals that regarding the coverage of bilingualism, the New Brunswick press primarily focuses on internal provincial affairs – the representation of bilingualism at the national level is barely reflected; failures and problems related to the implementation of bilingualism in the province are covered more extensively than the successes and achievements of implementing the institutional bilingualism policy. There is explicit criticism of the implementation of the language policy by the regional authorities – their actions and inactions; the articles note violations of Francophones’ rights and numerous difficulties in implementing bilingualism, including those arising from the entrenched conflict between Anglophones and Francophones in the province. However, measures to develop real bilingualism in various spheres of public life undertaken by the government, organizations, and ordinary citizens of the region are also highlighted; the authors of the articles and interviewees postulate ideas about the economic benefits of bilingualism and its value as part of the Acadian identity.

Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism across the Lifespan

Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism across the Lifespan

Bilingualism in Brazil: An Examination of Its Effect on the Formation of Individual Identities

The 21st century has witnessed a substantial increase in research focused on the benefits of bilingualism for individuals. The aspects that have received the most attention have been executive functions. And communication skills. Less is known, however, about the noncognitive and nonlinguistic aspects of bilingualism. Personality psychologists claim that personality is the result of a combination of nature-related and nurture-related factors, but the latter have not been sufficiently addressed in studies on bilingualism. Thus, to bridge this gap, the present contribution pursues this line of inquiry by adopting a quantitative approach to the examination of the self-perceived mobility, employability, and intercultural competence of participants who studied in a bilingual education program. A total of 835 respondents living in Brazil completed an online questionnaire. Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon W tests showed higher scores for bilingual graduates than for their nonbilingual counterparts on the three subscales. Correlation analyses revealed moderate-to-high positive correlations between bilingual graduates’ perception of their way of being and their way of life on the one hand, and among their self-perceived mobility, employability, and intercultural competence on the other. Likewise, the analyses showed statistically significant positive correlations between being proficient in more than one foreign language and the dimension of mobility. Our findings illustrate the influence that bilingualism/multilingualism exerts on factors that determine everyday life and corroborate and expand the research conducted in this strand. Avenues for further related research are discussed.

The dynamic role of inhibitory control in language switching during number-word task performance in dominant and balanced bilinguals.

Language is one of the fascinating abilities of the human species. The beauty of language becomes intriguing when we examine language processing among bilinguals. This work attempted to study the effects of language dominance among native Hindi speakers who were either Hindi dominant, English dominant, or balanced bilingual in a language switching task. The task required the participants to read aloud the number-words that were presented singly on the computer screen. The findings support the inhibitory control model's predictions as the results were indicative of asymmetrical switch cost for both the Hindi and English dominant bilinguals. In both the language dominance condition, moving back to the dominant language from a non-dominant language required more time than vice versa. The results also indicated overall reduced reaction time in the reading task performance for balanced bilinguals, further demonstrating the benefits of balanced bilingualism.

A Review of Recommendations for Families Raising Multilingual Children With Autism With Implications for California and Other States

Purpose: This review article explores the relationship between diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and the recommendation to provide monolingual input. Method: A two-stage systematic search and review of the literature was performed. First, a computerized database search of EBSCO was conducted using terms: bilingualism AND autism. Next, the reference lists of each retained article were reviewed for consideration and inclusion. Included journal articles had been peer-reviewed; were published in English between 2012 and 2022; and used the search terms in the title, abstract, key words, or body. Articles were excluded if the primary focus was on developmental disabilities other than autism or on skills unrelated to communication and/or if studies were non-empirical in nature (however, articles cited within reference lists of included articles were considered). Results: Two themes were identified through review of the literature: (1) Articles explored biases regarding bilingualism (with two subthemes: (a) biases of parents and professionals and (b) the role of context), and (2) articles explored the effects of bilingualism (with three subthemes: (a) no detrimental effect to communication development, (b) benefits of bilingualism, and (c) negative effects of limiting bilingualism in obligatory contexts). Conclusions: In areas with probilingual policies, practitioners have been found to endorse bilingualism at higher rates. While states such as California, Massachusetts, Georgia, North Carolina, and Utah have undergone recent shifts in policy favoring bilingualism, no studies were found in the search of EBSCO that reported practitioner or parent perspectives since the adoption of these state policies. This is an area of unique need.

Benefits of English for Preschool Children. The Case Study of a Bilingual School in Italy

The research aims at investigating the communicative abilities of Italian children in a bilingual (English-Italian) preschool, focusing on the benefits of bilingualism in children’s cognitive, social, and cultural growth. After an introduction on the role of bilingual education in early childhood in promoting a child’s life-long love of language and bilingual proficiency, through the support of some European documents and key studies in the field, the research design is presented. A variety of instruments were used, such as video recorded class observations, field notes and observation sheets, semi-structured interviews with L1 and L2 teachers and structured interviews with children, questionnaires for parents, as well as language knowledge tests for children and teachers. Children’s lexicon development was taken into consideration, especially the frequency of use of English language, thus showing a significant growth of the perceptive and productive lexicon for the investigated age range. This provided evidence that the children in this study were still at the sensitive age for lexicon acquisition. The linguistic phenomena that, among the preschool children, were practised the most were: code-switching and code-mixing. This study provided new findings on the early acquisition of English language in bilingual children with the home language Italian. This language experience usually takes place along five dimensions: the materiality of language and its use, children’s perceptions about them, beliefs about self and others in the speech community, emotional responses about language and about language users.

Bilingualism in the Classroom: Exploring Teachers' Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices

Bilingualism in the classroom is a complex and nuanced topic that has gained increasing attention in recent years. This research paper seeks to explore teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practices towards bilingualism in the classroom. Through a comprehensive literature review and qualitative research, this paper seeks to answer the following research questions: What are teachers' beliefs and attitudes towards bilingualism in the classroom? How do these beliefs and attitudes impact their practices? What are the benefits and challenges of bilingualism in the classroom from teachers' perspectives? The findings suggest that teachers' beliefs and attitudes towards bilingualism vary depending on their educational background, linguistic abilities, and cultural experiences. These beliefs and attitudes affect their practices and can either promote or hinder bilingualism in the classroom. The benefits of bilingualism in the classroom include increased academic achievement, improved cognitive skills, and enhanced cultural understanding, while the challenges include lack of resources, linguistic barriers, and cultural differences. Based on the findings, this paper provides recommendations for future research and practical implications for teachers, policymakers, and educators.

Parental Survey on Spanish-English Bilingualism in Neurotypical Development and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in the United States

ObjectivesThe cognitive and social benefits of bilingualism for children, including those with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs), have been documented. The present study was designed to characterize and compare English and Spanish use in Hispanic families with and without NDDs residing in the U.S. as well as to understand parental perceptions of their child’s bilingualism and of community and professional support.MethodsWe conducted an online survey of 84 Spanish-speaking parents of 4- to 24-year-olds with (n = 44) and without NDDs (n = 40) who were born in and living in the U.S.ResultsWe found that bilingualism was a desired goal for 95% of our families. We also found, however, that 17.1% of parents of children with NDDs have raised them as monolinguals English-speakers, as they thought there were reasons for that, while all families from the NT group raised their children in both languages. In addition, nearly 40% of the NDD children only speak English, compared to a 5% in the NT group. Finally, parents of children with NDDs cite a lack of support for bilingualism in the community (47.6% do not feel supported, compared to a 7.9% in the NT group) and recommendation from professionals as major factors for not raising their children as bilingual.ConclusionsThe results suggest a need to educate professionals from many disciplines about the benefits of bilingualism for children with NDDs and for implementation of inclusion policies that provide access to dual-language programs.

Is There a Bilingual Advantage in Executive Functions in Healthy Adults? A Systematic Review

Research on the benefits of bilingualism for executive functions has produced conflicting findings. This review systematically summarizes the findings of 27 studies from 23 articles on this topic from the last decade, with participants’ ages ranging from 18 to 60. We extracted data on participants’ backgrounds and the results of different task paradigms. We found no significant bilingual advantage in executive functions in healthy adults between 18 and 60 years of age, although the conflicting results make it challenging to draw a decisive conclusion.

Parental perceptions of bilingualism and home language vocabulary: Young bilingual children from low-income immigrant Mexican American and Chinese American families.

Dual language learners (DLLs), especially those from immigrant families in the United States, risk losing their home language as they gradually shift to speaking English as they grow up. Given the potential benefits of bilingualism on children's cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional development, it is crucial to maintain children's home language to foster bilingual development. The current literature suggests that parental beliefs toward bilingualism and the language and literacy environment are linked to children's language development. With the growing number of DLLs living in the United States, little is known about what parental beliefs about bilingualism of their children are integrated into these bilingual households and parents' role in home language maintenance. The present study addresses the gap in the literature by investigating low-income immigrant families, specifically Chinese American and Mexican American families, and exploring the parental perceptions of children's bilingual language learning. Further, the present study examines the relations among parental perceptions of bilingualism, home language and literacy practices, and home language oral proficiency. Data were collected from a total of 41 Mexican American and 91 Chinese American low-income immigrant families with DLLs ages 50-88 months who had been recruited from Head Start programs and state-funded preschools in Northern California when the children were 3-4 years old. Information about shared reading frequency, home language exposure and usage, and parental perceptions of bilingualism was collected through parental interviews, and DLLs' home language oral proficiency was individually assessed. No significant difference in home language oral proficiency was observed between the two groups. Principal Components Analysis on the parental perceptions of bilingualism measure revealed two components, "Importance of Being Bilingual" and "English over Bilingualism." Stepwise regression analysis results show that "Importance of Being Bilingual" was associated with children's home language oral proficiency after controlling for culture, child age, the frequency of home language shared book reading, and child home language exposure and use. The results show that parents' positive beliefs toward bilingualism are related to the children's use of that language and their children's language outcomes. Implications and suggestions for home language and literacy support for DLLs are discussed.

Language Fluency for Bilingual Students: The Saudi Context

As the number of bilingual students in Saudi Arabia continues to grow, it is important to determine how this could impact language fluency. This study explored bilingualism and language fluency among Saudi Arabian students. Specifically, it aimed to determine the impact of bilingualism on language fluency. In doing so, it explored some of the strategies that could be used to enhance fluency as more students continue to learn a second or even third language. Qualitative research methodology was used because it is generally applied to collect data that is descriptive of people's experiences to understand meaning from the perspective of the participants. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. For this study, a total of 15 teachers who educate elementary students in Saudi Arabia were selected randomly from a pool of a purposively selected population. The coding process revealed three major themes: the impact of bilingualism on language fluency, the main benefits of bilingualism among students, and the major factors that affect language fluency. The conclusion highlights steps that can be taken to enhance language fluency as the number of bilingual (and multilingual) students continues to rise. KEYWORDS Bilingualism, monolingual, fluency, cognitive development, learning skills, ability of students, thematic analysis, bilingual students

Language of Early Reading Instruction: A Correlate of Print Exposure

The Matthew effects suggest that children who struggle when learning to read are less likely to read for pleasure later in life compared to children who ease into reading quickly. One aspect of early literacy instruction that might hamper reading progress is learning to read simultaneously in two languages. Despite the long-lasting and widespread benefits of bilingualism, early setbacks in reading development might carry lasting effects for later reading habits. We investigated whether present-day print exposure of adults who learned to read in their first language were different from those who learned to read in two languages. Adults completed: Bilingual Author Recognition, Viewing Recognition, and English and French Word Recognition Tests. Participants who reported that reading instruction took place in their first language recognized more authors than those who learned to read in two languages. These first-language learners were also better at identifying real English words. Bilingual learners were superior at identifying real French words on the corresponding task. Lastly, both groups demonstrated similar viewing habits. The findings from this retrospective study align with the Matthew effects and suggest that a focus on first language reading instruction in Grades 1 and 2 remains correlated with print exposure 25 years later.

"The Languages That You Know Draw the Boundary of Your World": A Thematic Analysis of the Experiences of Autistic Bilingual Adults Living in the United Kingdom.

Although being bilingual (knowing two or more languages) is becoming a more common experience globally, little is known about the combined experience of bilingualism and autism. Research currently available focuses on quantifying language and cognitive development, and the only two qualitative accounts of first-hand experiences are from either bilingual children or highly multilingual adults (with four languages or more), which may not represent the wider autistic bilingual population. All other accounts focus on parents or practitioners. This qualitative study reports the experiences of autistic bi- and multilingual adults, focusing on barriers and enablers to language learning and the reported benefits of bilingualism. Thirty-nine U.K.-based autistic bilingual adults (41% female, mean age = 33.2 years, range = 16-61) with knowledge of two to seven languages (mean = 3.6, standard deviation = 1.4) completed an online Demographic and Language Questionnaire, including three open-ended questions about the interplay between autism and bilingualism. A thematic analysis was conducted on the responses to these open-ended questions. Participants perceived many opportunities and benefits brought by bilingualism, in terms of relationships, hobbies, mobility, employment, education, and cultural insight. Respondents reported social communication as being a major benefit of being bilingual, and discussed how bilingualism had broadened their mindset, while identifying factors that had enabled or challenged their language learning journey. This study builds upon the few reports available to highlight the experiences that are shared by autistic bilingual people regardless of the number of languages they know. It is the first study to report the perspectives of U.K.-based autistic bilingual adults who, in most cases, grew up in a bilingual environment. Accounts of the factors that can facilitate or hinder language learning will inform the development of strategies to better support autistic people. These findings have implications for bilingual families and practitioners supporting autistic bilingual people.

Elementary Translanguaging Writing Pedagogy: A Literature Review

While a wealth of research shows the social and academic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism, the education of bi/multilingual learners often focuses on transitioning students to English. Based on this fact, the first aim of this article is to highlight translanguaging as a model that challenges monoglossic language ideologies. The second aim is to present a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies (2000–2020, 47 studies) that highlight translanguaging as a pedagogy for elementary bi/multilingual students’ writing development. Due to the historical scholarly focus on reading over writing, especially at the elementary level, this study focuses on translanguaging pedagogy in the context of elementary writing. Findings showed four themes: (a) audience awareness and authentic products, (b) collaborative learning and composition, (c) multimodal composition, and (d) simultaneous literacy instruction. I argue for further engagement with students’ families, communities, and identities in the writing process and an exploration of the transformative potential of translanguaging writing pedagogy.

Benefits of Visual Language: How Acquisition of Signed Language Complements Spoken Language Development

Purpose: This article provides evidence to refute an assumption often made regarding speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') role in developing language skills in children who are deaf. SLPs are experts in both speech and language development and disorders. When working with children who are deaf, their primary focus is often on developing speech and listening skills with the assumption that this will transfer to overall language development. The intent of this article is to provide evidence that language is dissociable from both speech and listening and that its development can be bolstered through exposure to robust linguistic input in both the oral and signed modalities. Encouraging the use of a signed language alongside a spoken language during the period of language acquisition can be highly beneficial for a child who is deaf for a multitude of reasons. Because these children may not fully access the ambient spoken language in their environment despite the consistent use of listening devices, providing an accessible signed language can help them attain language fluency in at least one language. Conclusion: The author suggests that SLPs should be educating parents of children who are deaf on the benefits of bimodal bilingualism and the complementary nature of simultaneous signed and spoken language acquisition.

Spoken word recognition by bilingual and monolingual children

Previous research has demonstrated a bilingual advantage in the domains of executive function and social processing, including a type of social processing tied to speech perception—listening to differences between speakers’ voices. Despite numerous studies showing an advantage, the existence of such an advantage has also been widely challenged. In the current study, we test whether monolingual and bilingual children differ in spoken word recognition for speech produced by foreign-accented speakers, as it may be the case that bilingual children have more experience with foreign-accented speech. Children completed a spoken word recognition task in which they heard high and low familiarity words (e.g., “hair” vs “loom”) mixed with noise. Logistic mixed-effects models revealed the expected effects of word familiarity (high > low) and of age (older > younger). No effect of bilingual status or of language ability were found. Although the findings do not demonstrate a benefit of bilingualism, we argue that it is important to report these findings given the controversy surrounding other bilingual advantage studies. [Work supported by NIDCD 1R03DC009851.]