Tag: advantages

Posted in Website

The Advantages of a Bilingual Brain

Posted on by jannetteaguilera

The website article called “The Advantages of a Bilingual Brain” by Laura Chaparro on April 26, 2018 talks about the positive impact that bilingualism has on individuals. Being bilingual is tied to delaying symptoms of dementia, better recovery after a stroke, better memory and attention skills, better working memory skills compared to monolinguals and the better executive functions like working with others and conflict resolution. In a study that examines micromanaging and behavioral studies on adulthood bilingualism found that “two languages protects against cognitive deterioration by improving the cognitive reserve.” Dementia is delayed by about four years as bilingualism keeps our minds and brains healthy. As for stroke recovery, 608 patients were analyzed by the Institute of Medical Sciences of Nizam (India). Of those, “40.5% of bilinguals recovered normal cognition, compared to 19.6% of monolinguals.” Regarding the brain, eleven month babies where studied at the University of Washington. They looked at babies of bilingual and monolingual families. They found that ” The prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices (two areas of the frontal lobe) had more intense responses in bilingual babies compared to those who only heard and spoke one language. ” Also, bilingual individuals show denser grey matter on the “left interior parietal regions of the cerebral cortex” and white matter better maintained during aging. What is most interesting is the following: “Overall, bilinguals have developed different brain regions to perform tasks than the ones used by monolinguals,” Bialystok sums up. We still don’t know how these changes allow an improvement in performance and cognitive reserve for those who can speak two languages.

I chose this article as it answers my guiding question regarding the advantages of the bilingual brain. We see a delay in dementia, as well as an improvement in cognitive skills when compared to monolinguals. We also add on to the development of the bilingual brain because we now know that different regions are developed in the brains of bilinguals.

Image from the website
Image from the website
Chaparro, L. (2018, April 26). The advantages of a bilingual brain. Retrieved July 6, 2019, from OpenMind website: https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/research/the-advantages-of-a-bilingual-brain/
Posted in Book

The Bilingual Brain: Language, Culture, and Identity (Book Excerpt)

Posted on by jannetteaguilera

The book article “The bilingual brain: language, cultura and identity” by Nairan Ramirez-Esperanza and Adrian Garcia-Sierra” was published in July 2014 (as part of the Oxford Handbooks) and begins with the fact that many immigrant parents would teach their child to not speak their native language because English was thought to be “the gateway to becoming a part of American Society” (2). However, there has been a huge push for parents wanting their child to be bilingual in the recent years. Bilingualism is defined as “the ability of an individual to speak two languages” (2). The book discusses three characteristics involved in bilingualism: “age of second language acquisition, competence in first and second languages, and cultural identity” (2). Simultaneous bilinguals learn from an early age at the same time, second language learners are those who learn a different language after 3 years of age. Language competency is defined in different ways but can include “listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing” (3). Cultural identity is involved since cultures are associated with languages but not culture is not always internalized. BII stands for when bilinguals can integrate and find compatibility between their two cultures. This usaully depends on how much the native language is associated with social status. Also, I found the following interesting: “Hong and colleagues (Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martínez, 2000, see also chapter 2 in this volume) showed that biculturals are able to switch their perceptions in response to cultural cues: Chinese-American biculturals display more internal attributions when primed with American icons (e.g., American flag, Superman), and more external attributions when primed with Chinese icons (e.g., Chinese dragon, Great Wall)” (3).

Being bilingual is a norm in many countries, in 2006 a study found that 50% in Europe spoke to converse in two languages and almost 30% can do an additional language, while in the U.S. 80% speak only English. While there has been a growth in language since then, this is shocking since the U.S. is multicultural. A great cause is the belief that developing two languages can cause a cognitive delay, as well as a delay in speech. Code-switching (switching between two languages) was seen as a sign of confusion. As a result of limiting multiple languages, even maintaining cultural traditions are difficult. Empirical studies have found no difference between the “achievement of developmental milestones in a variety of areas, from babbling to word prosecution” of bilinguals compared to monolinguals (6). There was a higher amount of English words for babies of 18-30 months old monolinguals, but there is a similar growth if seen when summing up the words from two languages for bilinguals.

My guiding questions are: How is the bilingual brain developed? and What are the advantages of a bilingual brain? This text answers these questions since it describes what it means to be bilingual, how bilingualism is developed and challenges misconceptions regarding how learning two langues slows down connotative development. 

Book Excerpt Source:
Ramírez-Esparza, N., & García-Sierra, A. (2014). The Bilingual Brain: Language, Culture, and Identity. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199796694.013.012