advantage – My Content Resources

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter

Posted on 30 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

This New York Times Article “Why bilinguals are smarter” is written by Yudhuit Bhattacharjee on March 17, 2012. The article starts talking about how being bilingual is more than just talking to a diverse group of people, it also makes you smarter by improving cognitive skills and can slow down dementia in older adults. While there is proof that both language systems are active in the brain when using one language, it makes the brain learn how to resolve internal conflict which in turn makes its cognitive muscles stronger. Thus, bilinguals can solve mental puzzles better than monolinguals. In a study conducted in 2004, preschoolers where asked to sort blue circles in a bin with a blue square and red squares in a bin with a red circle. Both bilinguals and monolinguals conducted this fine as they associated the colors into its correct bin. After, the children where asked to sort by the images which conflicted with the color. Bilinguals were faster in completing this task.

Research has shown that the experience of being bilingual improves executive function which include problem solving, planning and mentally demanding tasks. These include: ignoring distractions, switching attention and holding information. Researchers used to believe that the bilingual advantage came from being able to suppress one language system and that that caused bilinguals to ignore distractions. However, studies show that bilinguals are also able to perform better in tasks that do not need inhibition (when compared to monolinguals). Also, the main difference between bilinguals to monolinguals is the “heightened ability to monitor the environment… it requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.” Not only do bilinguals perform better, but there is less activity in the brain in the parts that have to do with monitoring, which makes them more efficient. Being bilingual affects the brain from infancy to old age. In a study conducted in 2009, 7 month old babies where tested by being presented an audio cue and screen with a puppet appearing on one side. Both bilinguals and monolinguals anticipated the puppet. After many times of doing this, the puppet appeared on the other side of the screen. After that, bilingual babies quickly anticipated the puppet in the new location while others did not. Bilingualism not only affects children, but also elderly. 44 Spanish-English speakers were studied were more resistant to dementia and symptoms of Alzheimer’s desease. ” the higher the degree of bilingualism, the later the age of onset.”

This research is essential for my guiding questions it expresses the advantages of the bilingual brain compared to those who are monolingual. Bilinguals can not only speak to various people with their two languages, but can also perform better in problem solving . Also, bilingualism has been attributed help with prolonging dementia.

Website Source:
Bhattacharjee, Y. (2012, March 17). Why bilinguals are smarter. Retrieved June 25, 2019, from The New York Times website: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html

Website

Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster

Posted on 29 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The article “Bilingual brains – Smarter & Faster” is written by Judy Willis on November 22, 2012. The article describes bilingualism is a gift that parents can give their children because being bilingual has shown advantages when compared to those who know one language. These advantages include an elevated level of thinking/ awareness such as an increased attentive focus and cognition. For example, “compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback.” Even in MRI scans, the prefrontal cortex networks of bilingual children demonstrated greater activity. These were specifically in the the brain networks called executive functions that are used for goal-oriented behavior. The brains of bilinguals are more complex since they need to figure out not only what a word means but what patterns of the sentence and grammar, and pronunciation that needs to be used for the language being spoken. For example: “these control networks make choices, such as which memory storage circuits are the language-correct ones to activate from which to select the correct word, syntax, and pronunciation. ”

Research has shown that parents who speak a different language than English should maintain the native language in the home even if there are social pressures to limit language learning. Parents feel that learning two languages will confuse the student in learning English and also making it difficult to transfer different schools. Also, children struggled to feel like they “fit in” due to having to translate for their parents and did not want their parents to sound “ignorant.” What these parents do not know is that learning two or more languages actually “strengthen their highest cognitive brain potentials.” Parents need to be informed about the research and keep the native language in the home. The brain is like a muscle that becomes stronger after we workout our body, that “build strength, speed, and efficiency in their executive function networks.” Now the research is done on how to expose children to bilingualism in early ages .

This is really important to for my research questions, as not only are the advantages of bilingualism being more commonly known, there is a visible growth in determining how to best achieve these advantages with our own children.

Images used in the website:

Website Source:
Willis, J., M.Ed. (2012, November 22). Bilingual brains - smarter & faster. Retrieved June 25, 2019, from Psychology Today website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster

Creative Work

L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole

Posted on 28 Jun 20198 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The song shown in the video “Nat King Cole L-O-V-E Multilingual Version w/ Lyrics and Translation” is one that uses English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. This song is about love and how each letter of the word “love” is has a phrase that he sings to show how he loves the person he is singing to. What is extraordinary about this song is that it is multilingual and shows international love. While he does not speak each language perfectly, he is spreading the love in various languages.

Song Lyrics:

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore

Toi qui ne m’avais rien repondu
Je sais que tu ne m’avais pas cru

Doch, seit ein paar Tagen,
Brauch’ ich nicht mehr nach zu schlagen,
Denn, ich lieb’ nur dich allein

Quiero que me expliques por favor
Lo que enciera la palabra amor

So che non ho nulla da desiderare ancora,
Perche per me tu sei la sola donna mondiale

Loveは世界の言葉
(Love wa sekai no kotoba)
Loveは二人の宝
(Love wa futari no takara)
愛し合えば明日も明るい
(Ai shi aeba ashita mo akarui)

Love, love you love, I love you.

I choose this song to answer my guiding question since not only does it use two languages, but comes to show how multiple languages can work together in smooth manner. I feel this is a representation of how the brain works in that it can take in multiple languages, and it comes to show that being able to have multiple languages allows to not only spread “love” but also any message we want to communicate. Communicating is a huge benefit of being bilingual or multilingual.

Video Source:
Relhots. (2012, June 9). Nat King Cole L-O-V-E Multilingual Version w/ Lyrics and Translation [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=39&v=kZZmhbZJwng

Lyrics Source:
Nat King Cole:L-O-V-E (multi-Lingual version) lyrics. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2019, from Fandom website: https://lyrics.fandom.com/wiki/Nat_King_Cole:L-O-V-E_(Multi-Lingual_Version)

Article

The Developing Bilingual Brain: What parents and teachers Should Know and Do

Posted on 28 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The research article ” The Developing Bilingual Brain: What parents and teachers Should Know and Do” is about the findings of about how the bilingual brain functions in order to improve dual-language development. What is interesting is that in Europe, the knowledge of the mother tongue plus two more languages is what is recommended in education. The belief is that the ages between 6 and 12 are the best ages to learn a new language and that it should be taught intensely. Traditional ways of teaching focused on learning one language at a time due to it being “confusing and a cause for learning delays; however, now there is an increase in dual-immersion programs and thus an expansion on bilingual research and how it is “associated with higher levels of cognitive control.” In the U. S. we use use the terms “bilingual” and “dual” which is unusual for other countries who are multilingual. Compound/ simultaneous bilinguals are those who learned two languages simultaneously while sequential /coordinate bilinguals learn one language at home and another at school. The term “emergent bilingual” is becoming more popular for students who speak a different language at home as the one at school. What is understood is that the strong the first language is, the better the language will support cross-linguistic transfer to the second language. “Meaning that elements of one are used in the other.” Newer neuroscientific studies show that early exposure to a language changes the physiology of the brain. ” According to Bialystok (2009), “bilingualism is one of the experiences capable of influencing cognitive function and, to some extent, cognitive structure.”

Another section of the article talks about the bilingual advantage. First it discusses how “the brains seem to process both languages in similar regions that are associated with language processing. ” Activity was shown in the left inferior frontal cortex and medial frontal gyrus. Advantages noted include: improved working memory and flexibility with using strategies in different situations. They can do better in conflicting options and ignore certain elements. Another important quote I found was: ” while discernible differences in neural activation is termed a Bilingual Signature, the cognitive benefits of processing multiple languages have been termed the Bilingual Advantage.” The advantage is that bilinguals demonstrate better executive function (sophisticated processing like decision making and inhibition and metalinguistic awareness. (knowledge of how language functions). In addition, domain-general processing advantage (like making associations, recalling and attention) is more accurate, reacting with appropriate times, fluid switching, and performing better on tasks involving memory. Two disadvantages are noted such as smaller vocabulary in either language and slower language processing initially, but these do not continue through the process of learning. Lastly, it would be best if parents can have their child learn early in age but can still be successful in done in school.

This article is useful to answer questions regarding the advantages of the bilingual brain and how it works.

Article Source:
Mohr, K. A. J., Juth, S. M., Kohlmeier, T. L., & Schreiber, K. E. (2018). The Developing Bilingual Brain: What Parents and Teachers Should Know and Do. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0833-7

Video

Language On The Brain Podcast Episode 1: Bilingualism

Posted on 27 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The YouTube video called “Language On The Brain Podcast Episode 1: Bilingualism” is part of the Language on the Brain Podcast that from The Interesting Channel published on May 14, 2014. According to the speaker, she speaks of a balanced bilingual who learns two languages at a young age together and the dominate bilingual who learned one language first and took on a second one later in life. She states that those with “high proficiency in one or more languages would induce more focal activity in core regions of the language network in the brain whereas a lower proficiency would be accompanied by a wider distribution of activity in less core areas. ” She then speaks more of how defining bilingual is confusing since some consider it to mean having knowledge of how to speak a language versus being completely fluent in the language. She then says that it is unclear as to what it means to be fluent or the uncertainty as to what constitute as a language. She also discusses how there is debate as to whether bilingual education is good for children and how in the 1960s that bilingual education “would be detrimental to a child’s education, that they wouldn’t develop a full knowledge of either language.” She claims that there are actual cognitive advantages of multilingualism and bilingualism. For example, “it has actually been proving that the onset of various types of dementia happens later in multilingual… you keep your brain active, you use more of your brain areas.” Also, “being bilingual gives you a sense of metalinguistics, so you literally think about what you are saying,” which helps you think more deeply and make better decisions. She promotes the fact that you have exposure to foreign films and music.

This source is useful to my guiding questions as it demonstrates some basics of bilingual language, metacognition, and the brain.

Video/ Podcast Source:
Cat (Producer). (2014, May 14). Bilingualism [Show #1]. Language On The Brain. Podcast retrieved  from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgmQh8SWh2A

Website

Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain Lab

Posted on 27 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The website called “Bilingualism, Mind and Brain Lab” is one created by Dr. Rachel Wu’s CALLA Lab. and the UC Riverside’s Cognitive Program Area as part of the school’s Department of Psychology . The lab also works with a group of psycholinguistics labs at Penn State that is part of the Center of Language Science (CLS). Through research collaborations, the lab ” investigates the cognitive processes that support the acquisition and proficient use of a second language. We study how bilingual speakers manage to speak words in one language at a time, how adult learners of a second language acquire new vocabulary, and what information is available when proficient bilinguals read in one or both of their two languages. ” The website provides research, publications, talks, recent media, research opportunities, events and volunteer opportunities.

From this website I learned that “the same neural networks that support the use of the native language also support use of a second language” (Research page). The hypotheses is that these neuron connections is the reason why it is hard for bilinguals to “turn off” a language and separate the two languages. Additionally, it would cause monolinguals who are learning a new language require an increase in cognitive resources to do so. In another section, we see that research demonstrates how “bilingualism may change minds and brains to be more open to learning, more cognitively flexible, and more resistant to cognitive decline.” (Research page). Also, “previous research has shown that bilingual older adults may show less cognitive decline in areas like cognitive control compared to monolingual older adults” (Research page). Prior to this, the belief was that speaking two or more languages can cause learners to be confused, but with these studies, we find that the bilingual brain can be a lot stronger than previously thought.

This resource specifically helps answer my guiding question about how the bilingual brain is developed by describing the neurons involved and also provides advantages to being bilingual. This source also provides a “selected publications” and “selected talks” that I can use for my own research purposes.

Website Source (Main page):
University of California, Riverside. (2016). Welcome. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from Bilingualism,  Mind, and Brain Lab website: https://bilingualismmindbrain.com/

Website Source (Research Page):
University of California, Riverside. (2016). Research. Retrieved June 27, 2019, from Bilingualism,  Mind, and Brain Lab website: https://bilingualismmindbrain.com/research/

Video

The Benefits of a bilingual Brain

Posted on 24 Jun 20196 Jul 2019 by jannetteaguilera

The YouTube video called “The benefits of a bilingual brain-Mia Nacamulli” is about the bilingual brain, how it develops and how it can benefit our lives. One interesting quote found in the video was “The heightened workout a bilingual brain receives through its life can also help delay the onset of diseases, like Alzheimers’s and dementia by as much as 5 years.” Through this video, I learned that there are three types of bilinguals which consist of the compound bilingual, the coordinate bilingual and the subordinate bilingual. The compound bilingual learn two languages from an early age, the coordinate bilingual learns two languages in two contexts such as home and school, and the subordinate bilingual learns a second language by filtering it through their primary language. Also, being bilingual used to be seen as a learning handicap but newer research shows that the frequent switching of the brain between the two languages causes a strengthening of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which helps with problem-solving.

This resource is useful as it provides a brief overview of the bilingual brain, which helps me answer the questions on how the bilingual brain develops and what are some of the benefits that are not just social but also relating to our brain development.

Video Source:
TED-Ed. (2015, June 23). The benefits of a bilingual brain - Mia Nacamulli [Video file]. Retrieved  from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmOLN5zBLY