Benefits Of Bilingualism

Words: 948
Pages: 4
Open Document
Questioning the Benefits of Bilingualism
Few people have questioned the reliability of the statement that bilingualism brings people benefits, but when we scrutinize the former researches and proofs that support this belief, the results are disappointing. With the arguments of Ed Yong in The Bitter Fight Over the Benefits of Bilingualism and other proofs I found, the executive benefits of bilingualism is more an illusion that people want to believe.

According to Ed Yong, former experiments with a supportive conclusion of a bilingual advantage on executive functionings are built upon flimsy foundations, including pre-set biases and flaws in the design of the tests. The problem is compounded with the failure to replicate the former experiments. …show more content…
The tendency to report only the studies that work is not only a trap researchers always steps on, but one that lies in media’s routine of function, where it varies into publication bias. The aptitude to accept positive, attention-grabbing papers makes journals put less weight on negative, contradictory ones that reveal the truth of bilingualism. For instance, in a research of 104 abstracts on bilingualism that were presented at scientific conferences, researchers found that 68 percent of abstracts with a conclusion of an executive-functioning advantage were eventually published in journals, compared to just 29 percent that found no advantage. More positive findings can be published than those finding no advantage of bilinguals. This biased publication selection leads to a perception of a stronger evidence for the phenomenon than it actually …show more content…
Confounding factors, or uncontrollable scope of variables could explain the better performance of bilinguals in some tests of attention or mental control, because many studies compare monolingual and bilingual people who vary in more ways than the number of languages they speak, with other variables that can affect the outcomes hugely. These variables include their nationality, educational level, socioeconomic background, immigrant status, and cultural traits, all of which might play a more important role in attention or mental control. Just as Paap says, “Some positive findings are likely to have been caused by failures to match on demographic factors and others have yielded significant differences only with a questionable use of the analysis-of-covariance to “control” for these factors.”(Paap) It’s not difficult to imagine a bilingual American college student with middle class families who emigrated from France has more executive advantage over a monolingual Chinese farmer whose family has been engaged in farming for generations. No solid conclusion of a bilingual advantage can be drawn before diminishing the effects of these variables, if not excluding them. But the reality is that very few studies satisfactorily account for
Show More

Related Documents: Benefits Of Bilingualism

Proposition 227

For our educational system to be advanced and productive, we have to realize that bilingualism is an opportunity for economic development. Recently, state legislators have repealed the measure known as Proposition 227. The paper will explain why academic result reports are low and why student dropout rates are high. The main objective of this research is to identify the outcome and obstacles for teaching bilingualism. Many fear that the curriculum for teaching will be harder if Proposition 227 was…

Words 1003 - Pages 5

A Brief Note On ELL Families And Schools

English language skills are not sufficient to keep up with classes conducted only in English – are enrolled in PK- 12 public schools across the United States” (p. 1). Understanding ELLs requires a level of knowledge about sociocultural influences, bilingualism and home language, parental and community resources, and the partnership between school and home. Sociocultural Influences Within a community, school administration and staff, parents and students, are expected to follow a certain guideline…

Words 1304 - Pages 6

Interview with a Bilingual Essay

bilingual called H.D . H.D. is a daughter of a Turkish immigrant family who lived in Australia for 12 years .H.D. gives examples from her personal life about how she became bilingual background , the challenges of second language acquisition , benefits and the role of languages in her life. H.D was asked the following questions : (a) Could you please explain how you became bilingual? (b) Could you describe the bilingual environment you grew up in? (c) Which language do you feel more confident…

Words 1929 - Pages 8

Bilingualism Research Paper

education or bilingualism. Bilingualism is the ability of one to speak two languages just not speaks it but actually to speak those two languages fluently. In other words, bilingualism is the habitual use of two languages. Bilingual education has been a headache for most developed and developing countries as to whether embrace it or neglect it. As a controversial issue such as this, many people and countries have been placed into a tight corner whether to enroll or institute the idea of bilingualism in schools…

Words 1797 - Pages 8

Module Two Reflection Journal: Foundations For Multilingualism In Education

how contact between speakers of different languages has developed historically. It also presents the two arguments .One is supporting the maintaining the linguistic diversity and the other one is encouraging a monolingual norm. The causes of the bilingualism or multilingualism are two ways. One is that some people want to learn more languages in order to survive in the society. The others are natural outcomes living in the multilingual environment. Migration is one of the main contributing factors…

Words 499 - Pages 2

National Literacy Trust - Bilingualism Essay

Bilingualism: Frequently Asked Questions Is it an advantage to speak more than one language? Yes. Bilingualism helps children’s learning because they can think about their ideas in both languages. They can communicate with more people in their community and internationally and understand different cultures. They stay connected to their family, so they feel secure in their identity and have more self-confidence. This helps them do well at school. They can learn other languages more easily and have…

Words 1059 - Pages 5

The Pros And Cons Of Being A Bilingual

Bilingualism is the capacity to talk two dialects. A few individuals feel that being a bilingual is an obligation, I contend against that. I think being a bilingual is a benefit particularly in such a different spot like the United States. Presently a day's talking one dialect doesn't suffice. There are numerous individuals who don't communicate in English and need to get help by individuals who know both English and their remote dialect, therefore a bilingual. In any case, pretty much as whatever…

Words 1002 - Pages 5

Stepping In A Bilingual Community

being bilingual was a person who talk just English and their first language, but was I wrong. Anyone who can speak, writing, and read two different languages is a bilingual. Albuquerque Sign Language Academy open my eyes of a different type of bilingualism, some of the students know English,…

Words 281 - Pages 2

AEB/3100 Student Diversity

AEB 3100 Student Diversity in Early Childhood Education Assessment 1a Questions for Mentor Teacher 1. How would you think a cultural background makes any affects on child’s learning? How (Sanders 2009) 2. How would you Incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders culture in your teaching, while you don’t have an indigenous children in your centre? 3. How would you identify that equality can be reasonable towards culturally children in one setting?(practice principle 4, equity and diversity…

Words 1518 - Pages 7

Multilingualism In Education

from animals. The ability to teach language, to use language for entertainment or deception, and to learn more than one language are qualities unique to humans. Consequently, there is great emphasis placed on speaking languages well. There are many benefits to speaking more than one language that span across several aspects of life, such as increased mental flexibility, better memory, better selective attention skills, more job opportunities, and increased empathy. Yet, the teaching of foreign languages…

Words 1435 - Pages 6