Bilingual Children Are, In Fact, Smarter Than Other Children

AFP/Relaxnews

Posted: 09/04/2014 1:51 pm EDT Updated: 09/04/2014 1:59 pm EDT

Inspired by the high proportion of Singaporean children being raised bilingually, they tested the cognitive abilities of 114 six-month-old babies by means of visual imaging and found they were able to recognize familiar images faster than their monolingual counterparts.When presented with novel images, the bilingual babies paid more attention to the unknown than those being raised in monolingual homes.

The babies were shown a colour picture of either a bear or a wolf, and half the group was exposed to one of the two images until it became familiar to them. The bilingual babies grew bored of the familiar image faster than their monolingual counterparts.

Researchers selected this method as a test of cognitive abilities based on previous research linking increased attention to novel images with increased performance in early education and because visual habitation engages babies' natural curiosity.

Conversely, these past studies indicate that infants who tire of a familiar image rapidly can outperform their peers during early education in the domains of concept formation, non-verbal cognition, expressive and receptive language and IQ tests.

Given the simple fact that bilingual babies encounter more novel words than monolinguals and must pay more attention to learn to communicate effectively, the results are not surprising.

Researchers believe the greater information processing efficiency required in learning two languages at once gives babies the chance to develop skills for coping that will give them the upper hand when it comes to navigating early education.

The study is part of an ongoing birth cohort study of Singaporean parents and children called GUSTO, a tripartite project between A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) and the National University Hospital (NUH).

"This is good news for Singaporeans who are making the effort to be bilingual," says Associate Professor Chong Yap Seng, Lead Principal Investigator for GUSTO.

The study was published in the journal Child Development.

Advantages of Learning Languages: Considerable Added Value Needs Recogniztion; Implementation

Professor Antonella Sorace, founder of the Bilingulaism Matters Centre at Edinburgh University and Professor of Developmental Linguistics, said that all university degrees should include a second language because it bring a range of benefits.

“Bilingual kids are better at understanding other people and have a different perspective on things," she added.

“Studies show certain types of dementia appear on average four of five years earlier in bilingual elderly people compared to monolingual people. It is thought bilingual people have a cognitive reserve that delays the onset

“It is thought that compartmentalising the languages, plus switching between them at the right time, exercises the brain and has a protective function.

“Languages should be a requirement for any kind of degree. Whether people are doing classics or literature or modern languages or a science degree, languages should be a requirement.”

“We are not saying bilingualism would solve all the problems. We can’t say that. But we can say it would be a very good idea if people learnt more languages from an earlier age.”

The research was published in the journal Cognition.

7 Benefits of Being Bilingual That’ll Change Your Lif

By katherinekostiuk Comments are closed

Want a Healthy Lifestyle? Reap These Benefits of Being Bilingual!

Want a new job?

Wish you had better health?

Want a more fulfilling personal life?

Learn a second language!

When discussing the benefits of learning a foreign language, most people think of the straightforward perks right away. You know, that it’s useful to be able to ask where the bathroom is when you visit Beijing, or to be able to ask for directions when you get lost in Barcelona.

But did you know that the benefits of being bilingual go much deeper than that?

Recent research on bilingualism in studies all around the globe have found that speaking another language can improve your life in many ways. Here are some of them (with abbreviated points from the article --rsb).

--------- Workplace Benefits of Being Bilingual

Knowing more than one language can give you a big boost professionally, and in today’s economy, that’s something everyone can use.

1. Bilingualism can improve your competitiveness in the job market.

• makes your resume stand out (can boost you to the top of the interview list)
• can better understand and market to increasingly diverse populations at home and abroad. ”
• companies with int'l offices want to hire versatile employees who can speak other languages and navigate different cultural expectations.

Even knowing just a few words of a foreign language can be helpful. Taylor Diaz-Rogers, a student at Florida International University, found this out when she interviewed for an internship at the marketing company Optimum7.According to the FIU career services department website, Diaz-Rogers said, “The COO of Optimum7, who was at the fair and with whom I got the chance to speak to, was from Turkey… I had visited his country 5 years ago and still knew a few words in Turkish. Because of that, we were able to build a good rapport.”  It was partially because of her knowledge of Turkish that Diaz-Rogers was offered an internship at the company.

2. Knowing a second language can open up new career opportunities.

• particularly beneficial if you’re interested in changing careers to a new and growing fields
• translators and interpreters are in the top 15 fastest-growing occupations in the USA
• the military actively recruits (and trains) people with a variety of language skills
• fast-growing fields like travel and tourism, healthcare, and national security need employees with bilingual language skills and the ability to work across cultures
• journalism, education, and international development are other fields always in search of bilingual employees. 
• Peace Corps and Foreign Service Officer placements are competitive; language skills can help tip the balance in your favor.

3. Bilinguals can earn more money.

• The financial returns of learning a foreign language vary by language and job, but they can add up to a lot, with German being especially valued.
• Salary.com found that jobs with pay differentials based on bilingualism usually pay 5-20% more per hour for bilingual employees.

4. Being bilingual opens up social and cultural opportunities.

• lets you interact with different people and understand the nuances of another culture
• more opportunities to make friends, explore different hobbies 
• better understand your favorite foreign music, film and literature.
• Travel can also be cheaper and more rewarding (no need to travel with a tour group, stay in expensive foreigner hotels, eat at restaurants where there are special tourist menus and/or staff speaks English).

5. Speaking another language gives you a new perspective.

• can help you see the world in a different way
• can help you understand yourself better.  (Research has found that bilinguals literally see the world differently. People who regularly speak a second language perceive differences in color variations that are not recognized by monolinguals!) 
• many feel “like a different person” when they speak another language.
• significant levels of “frame-shifting,” or changes in self perception have been found among bilinguals

--------- Health and Well-being Advantages of Bilinguals

6. Speaking a second language improves problem-solving, multitasking and decision-making.

• improves brain functions like the ability to focus attention and perform mental tasks.
• “significantly more successful” in problem-solving and creativity tasks
• process information more efficiently and easily.
• do better at tasks that require multitasking and blocking out distractions
• make more rational decisions-- by reducing natural human biases, allowing focus on needed information rather than emotions.

7. Bilingualism can slow the effects of old age.

• especially important in old age
• blocks (or significantly delay -- by up to 5 years) the decline in cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt to unfamiliar or unexpected circumstances
• especially noticed in general intelligence and reading abilities.

URI's IEP ist SUPER!

My name is Katie Topp and I have been studying Anthropology and German at the University of Rhode Island. I have just got home from a year abroad in Germany as a guest student of the International Engineering Program (IEP). I would love to visit your junior level and possibly the senior level classes to speak briefly to your students about the great opportunities this program provides.

The following link is to the IEP website: http://www.uri.edu/iep/. In brief, the IEP is a 5 year, dual degree program during which the student studies a language of choice (Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Italian) in conjunction with an engineering discipline.

In the fourth year of study, the student spends the year abroad- the first six months are spent studying at a partner university, the following six months are spent doing an internship with a reputable company in your language of choice.

For the seniors, I would like to meet before December first, since that is the application due date for engineers at URI. For the juniors, Spring semester would be easier for everyone.

We would love to show the amazing students of North Kingstown the opportunities that the IEP program can give to them.

Please share this email with whom you believe may be interested in my visit, as I would like to tell as many students as possible about the IEP!

Thank you and best regards,

Katie Topp

North Kingstown Resident and Student of URI