29 Benefits of Bilingualism for Children
Everyone knows being a bilingual is a gift. Here we have gathered some scientific results. Enjoy!
- A child’s brain has a higher number of synapses (compared with an adult brain) and greater plasticity. This means children naturally can learn languages better than adults.
- A study which assessed math and language scores of 2 groups (1 group studied 30 minutes of Spanish for 1 semester and the other comparable group did not) found that the group which studied the foreign language for 1 semester had higher math and language scores at the school.
- A study which looked at the reading scores of average intelligence children concluded that there is a close relationship between studying a foreign language and better reading scores.
- According to the IQ test scores of 2 groups: immersion French class vs. regular class, immersion French class students had higher IQ scores (e.g. classifying dissimilar objects etc.)
- An analysis of the Louisiana State Basic skills Tests scores of 13200 3rd and 5th graders showed that students who took foreign languages classes did better in the English test.
- Bilingual babies are more perceptive to nonnative languages/easily discriminate different sounds
- Bilinguals can better deal with distractions
- Bilingual kids have better problem solving skills . Having more linguistic and cultural information enable bilinguals to look at different aspects of the problem.
- Bilingual kids can read better than their peers.
- Bilingual kids can understand more about any other culture
- Bilingual kids gain flexibility in acquiring any kind of new information
- Bilingual kids have the upper hand in a multicultural, multilingual, multi-ethnic world
- Bilingual kids perform better in the situations that require multitasking
- Bilingualism delays dementia and Alzheimer’s
- Bilingualism helps kids become more creative (Bialystok, 2001): field independent thinking…
- Bilinguals can better understand other cultures and countries
- Bilinguals can easily interact with multinationals
- Bilinguals can effortlessly learn a 3rd language
- Bilinguals can have a better use of language creatively
- Bilinguals gain competitive advantage in future jobs
- Bilinguals have better memory when it comes to remembering language dependent words
- One in five Americans speak another language besides English at home. Two thirds of the world’s children are brought up bilingually.
- Only bilingual kids in immigrant families can understand the true heritage of their ancestors
- People who know more than one language are better at handling with conflict
- People who study languages in early age get better in creativity and divergent thinking
- Saunders (1998) found that students in the ESFL program of a high school in Georgia, scored higher on the Math portion of the e Iowa Test Of Basic Skills test
- Students who study a foreign language in elementary school have better communication skills, improved cognitive development and advance cultural awareness.
- Students who study another language get higher scores in college entrance exams
- Studying foreign languages increases SAT score. Cooper (1987) analyzed 23 metropolitan high schools in the south and found that student who studied any foreign language for at least 1 year in general had higher SAT scores.
SOURCES
1 Research Notes: Language Learning and the Developing Brain. (1996) Learning Languages, 1/2, 17.
2 Armstrong, P. W. and J. D. Rogers. (1997). Basic Skills Revisited: The Effects of Foreign Language Instruction on Reading, Math and Language Arts. Learning Languages, Spring, 20-31.
3 Garfinkel, A. and K. E. Tabor. (1991). Elementary School Foreign Languages and English Reading Achievement: A New View of the Relationship. Foreign Language Annals, 24/5, 375-382
4 Samuels, D. D. and R. J. Griffore (1979). The Plattsburgh French Language Immersion Program: Its Influence on Intelligence and Self-esteem. Language Learning, 29/1, 45-52.
5 Dumas, L. S. (1999). Learning a Second Language: Exposing Your Child to a New World of Words Boosts Her Brainpower, Vocabulary, and Self-Esteem. Child, February, 72, 74, 76-77.
6 http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135043787/being-bilingual-may-boost-your-brain-power
7 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
8 Kessler& Quinn, 1980,87, Hakuta, 1986
9 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
10 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
11
12 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
13 http://www.frenchtribune.com/teneur/113581-bilingual-people-can-be-best-doing-multiple-tasks
14 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10954-bilingualism-delays-onset-of-dementia.html
15 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
16 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
17 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
18 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
19 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
20 Marcos, K. M. (1998). Learning a Second Language: What Parents Need to Know. National PTA Magazine, August/September, 32-33.
21 Seven steps to raising a bilingual child. Naomi Steiner, Susan L. Hayes, Steven Parker, 2008
22 http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135043787/being-bilingual-may-boost-your-brain-power
23 common sense
24 http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-he-bilingual-brain-20110227,0,6215645.story
25 Marcos, K. M. (1998). Learning a Second Language: What Parents Need to Know. National PTA Magazine, August/September, 32-33.
26 Saunders, C. M. (1998). The Effect of the Study of a Foreign Language in the Elementary School on Scores on the Iowa Test Of Basic Skills and an Analysis of Student-participant Attitudes and Abilities. Unpublished dissertation, University of Georgia.
27 Marcos, K. M. (1998). Learning a Second Language: What Parents Need to Know. National PTA Magazine, August/September, 32-33.
28 College Board, 2003
29 Cooper, T. C. (1987). Foreign Language Study and SAT-Verbal Scores. The Modern Language Journal, 71/4, 381-387