Language Spotlight Series: The Importance of Bilingualism in Early Childhood Education

February 1, 2019/in Bilingualism, Language Learning, Teaching and Learning /by Tessa International School

The Importance of Bilingualism in Early Education

Parents often seek advice from pediatricians and early education professionals on what their children should be learning. By now, it’s common knowledge that reading to young ones and having frequent conversations with them are fundamental tools. These key components teach children the basics for language and communication foundations that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. We know this, right?

Why Bilingual Education Matters

If communication and language development is such a critical part of a learning foundation, then many have considered expanding that learning base by adding additional languages. The importance of bilingualism – the act of learning two or more languages simultaneously – has grown in popularity across the globe in recent decades because of this theory.

Considering that 21% of young children are already immersed in a second language at home (Hanen.org), it’s easy to understand why multiple languages are being introduced earlier and earlier in schools. In addition, a growing number of the general population speak a language other than English, so learning to be bilingual is becoming more of the “norm” today than ever before.

Beyond the Myths: The True Impact of Bilingualism

While some have been hesitant to add a second language to their young child’s educational repertoire, others are discovering how highly beneficial it can be. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “Learning more than one language is an asset to individuals, families, and our entire society.” In fact, many researchers encourage parents to consider adding a bilingual approach to their child’s education for numerous reasons.

When it comes to considering a second language, one misconception is that it may confuse a growing child during the early education stage. It’s easy to understand the basis for these concerns, but researchers have now been able to prove they’re not only incorrect, but the exact opposite is true: bilingual children learn better and faster than other children.(The Hanen Centre)

“Bilingual children are better able to focus their attention on relevant information and ignore distractions” – Hanen.org.

The U.S. Department of Education notes several key benefits to teaching children multiple languages during early childhood. They broke them down into four basic categories: Cognitive Development, Social-Emotional Development, Learning, and Long-Term Success – all of which contain major benefits for bilingual children.

Cognitive Development and Bilingualism

Perhaps the greatest (and most immediate) benefit parents can witness in children learning a second language involves cognitive development. The Department of Education states children who begin learning second languages before the age of six will “have an easier time understanding math concepts and solving word problems; developing strong thinking skills; using logic; focusing, remembering, and making decisions; thinking about language; and learning other languages.”

Bilingualism and Social-Emotional Development

Broadening language experience during school hours enriches family and community ties. By bridging the communication gap between languages, bilingual children are able to understand and connect with more individuals, building even stronger friendships within their schools and communities. This crucial skill plays out with overall improved communication experiences with others and again, allows them to build better relationships than students who learn a single language.

Bilingualism’s Impact on Learning

Introducing a second language early on improves children’s learning abilities for everything else to come. It helps children learn how to intake only the important facts while weeding out irrelevant information.

Bilingualism and Long-Term Success

According to statistics, 50-65% of all adults across the globe now speak a language other than English. By those statistics alone, those who speak only English are already in the minority.

What does this mean for your child? Being in the language-minority will limit the opportunities available to your child as they reach adulthood.

Overall, more and more researchers are proving that introducing additional languages at an early age has an immensely positive impact on children. In addition to an increase in their ability to focus, higher cognitive function, and improved social and cultural relations, bilingualism has also been linked to several other benefits. Some of which include staving off degenerative cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and a higher annual salary bracket as a result of superior career qualifications.

“Recent brain studies have shown that bilingual people’s brains function better and for longer after developing (Alzheimer’s)… On average, the disease is delayed by four years compared to monolinguals” – Michigan State University News.

This cognitive advantage (as well as the rest of them mentioned above) all boil down to the flexibility and focus that is generated when individuals are immersed in the bilingual world. When bilingual learning begins during the early education years, it has the added benefit of improving their learning potential in multifaceted ways. While adults will still see many of these benefits if picking up a second language later in life, research has shown children stand to benefit the most by becoming bilingual.

If you’re interested in incorporating bilingual learning into your child’s early educational experience, check out these Different Types of Preschool Bilingual Learning for more information.

Bilingualism and Speech Delays: What’s the Connection?

December 10, 2018/in Bilingualism, Language Learning /by Tessa International School

The world is becoming more multilingual. Nowadays, it’s common for parents to teach their kids two or more languages.

Statistics showed that there are more second language speakers of English than native speakers worldwide. In Canada, 11.9 % of the population speaks a language other than English or French at home. In the United States, the percentage of school-age children speak a language other than English at home.

Despite this, there’s a growing concern among parents with regard to the rise of bilingualism. Others are linking bilingualism to speech delay. Of course, no parent would want to have their children experience delays in speech development or any other kind of growth.

But, is there a valid reason to be worried? Or are we just depriving our children of the advantages of bilingualism because of a misleading myth?

Let’s end all speculations once and for all. Here’s what experts and various studies have said about bilingualism and speech delay.

Dissecting Bilingualism and Speech Delay

A child with speech delay manifests a delay in the use of the mechanisms that produce speech or the actual process of making sounds. A common sign of speech delay is when a child is not meeting the language developmental milestones for their age.

Bilingualism, on the other hand, is often confused as a cause of speech delay because of the two ways of its acquisition — simultaneous and sequential acquisition.

Simultaneous acquisition happens when two languages are introduced to a child at the same time. This means that the second language is taught before the child reaches the age of three. Meanwhile, sequential acquisition is when the second language is introduced after the age of three. At this point, the child has already established his first language.

Although bilingual language development has a slight difference from monolingual language development, it doesn’t necessarily translate into a delay in speech. The cause of speech delay is congenital or present at birth such as hearing impairment, autism, and intellectual disability.

Bilingual and monolingual children start speaking at similar times.

The vocabulary of bilingual children may be smaller than average, but the combined size of his vocabulary from both languages is the same with monolingual children. And while a bilingual child may speak his first word later than a monolingual child, research shows that both monolingual and bilingual children meet language developmental milestones within the same time frames.

It’s also important to note that some children may start speaking earlier than expected while others could be later regardless if they’re raised monolingual or multilingual.

Bilingualism has cognitive and social advantages.

According to Drs. Barbara Lust and Sujin Yang of the Cornell University of Human Ecology, bilingualism does not cause speech delay, language confusion or cognitive problems among children. Instead, it can enhance the children’s ability to focus despite the presence of distractions. Learning and speaking two or more languages can also broaden children’s perspectives and give them easier access to other cultures.

There’s no valid reason to be worried about bilingualism as several studies have already concluded that it doesn’t cause speech delay. What parents can only expect from bilingualism are the benefits it could bring to child development and learning. For instance, bilingualism supports math skills and enhances social abilities among children.

So, don’t miss the chance to improve your child’s potentials. Get them ready for the multilingual world as early as childhood.

Photo by Alyssa Stevenson on Unsplash.

Bilingualism Can Help Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

July 10, 2018/in Bilingualism, Classroom Management, Teaching and Learning /by Tessa International School

If you’re a parent who has a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), then you’re familiar with how tough it can be for some children to unconsciously shift their attention between tasks. Shifting attention from one task to another is known as task switching or set-shifting and is an executive function that involves specific parts of the brain, like the prefrontal cortex. This brain structure also plays a role in the development of ASD. Recent research suggests that learning a second language may boost cognitive flexibility in areas like this and benefit those with ASD.

What is the Prefrontal Cortex?

The prefrontal cortex is part of the cortex that covers the front part of the frontal lobe. This is an area in the brain that helps you shift your focus and attention, unconsciously, and is also a brain structure that’s involved in ASD’s development. Automatically switching from one task to another without breaking concentration or re-focusing on the new task can be a tad difficult for some children with ASD. New research recently published in Child Development reports that being bilingual may possibly help children with ASD improve their ability to do just that—unconsciously shift their attention between tasks.

Being Bilingual May Increase Cognitive Flexibility

Being bilingual, and having the ability to switch between languages, may help increase cognitive flexibility, especially in children or adults with ASD. Over the past decade scholars and researchers have significantly debated whether having the ability to speak two languages improves executive functions. In fact, the term “bilingual advantage” was eventually coined because so many within the field believed that being bilingual clearly improved the executive system. With advances in technology, brain imaging studies have plainly demonstrated that bilinguals suppress their desire to use certain words from one language, in order to use words and grammar from another. In other words, speaking two languages is a workout for your brain.

Speaking Two Languages May Train the Brain Differently

Bilinguals learn a range of social tasks, such as verbal or non-verbal communication and how to read people. Some researchers think that bilingualism may even enhance some executive functions, like conflict resolution and working in a group, because switching between two languages helps the speaker see the world in different contexts.

Being Bilingual May Help Build Brain Muscle

It seems research is suggesting that speaking two languages may help flex some brain muscles and enable the brain to switch focus from one task to another without even breaking a sweat! So you can imagine, then, why so many within the field are focusing on these new research findings and why they desire to repeat studies with a larger sample size: it has huge implications for those with ASD.

Bilingualism May Even Offer Brain Protection

Another benefit of being bilingual is that it may help protect the brain from dementia, stroke and brain injury. The thought process is similar: bilingualism boosts cognitive reserve. When executive function begins to decline, like in dementia, being bilingual seems to offer some cognitive protection by keeping parts of the brain fit. In other words, these brain structures may not age as quickly in people who are bilingual because these areas of the brain are more resilient. Whether you have ASD or not, it seems learning a second language can benefit your overall brain health. Just like briskly walking thirty minutes every day helps your heart to stay healthy, being bilingual is a way to stay cognitively fit.

Being Bilingual Offers Those with ASD an Advantage

It’s evident that current findings may affect families when making educational decisions for their child with ASD. This research is only the beginning; hopefully, families who have a child with ASD will see more rigorous studies from scholars and scientists in the future.

How Bilingualism Supports Math Skills in Children

June 11, 2018/in Bilingualism, Language Learning, Teaching and Learning /by Tessa International School

For many students, speaking two languages is a way of life. Navigating the world as a bilingual student provides many rich benefits for learning. Yet while being bilingual has been shown to increase students’ language skills, parents often wonder whether navigating two languages also has an effect on their child’s ability to learn math.

When PBS explored the issue, they found that bilingual students not only solved word problems, but all types of math problems, in a unique way. Unlike students who only spoke a single language, bilingual students were using the visual and spatial parts of their brain while solving the problems. Scientists are still theorizing as to why this is the case. One theory is that students are visualizing the elements of the problems in their heads (in other words, they’re actually creating pictures to represent multiplying apples or two trains leaving a station at different speeds).

As the New York Times reported, bilingual students also have a host of advantages in education, including the ability to focus on demanding tasks and solve difficult kinds of puzzles. By using dynamic language practices (in other words focusing on the all the linguistic strengths of bilingual students), teachers can help students take full advantage of their bilingual strengths. A 2011 study showed that allowing bilingual students to use both languages to discuss and solve problems increased the mathematical productivity of students. The flexibility bilingual students show in switching between languages also grants them an increase in creativity and problem solving that can enhance their math education.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that students, especially bilingual students, have been shown to be ever adaptive to new surroundings. While bilingual students may initially find it easier or faster to solve problems using their first language, research from the University of Texas at San Antonio found that while students tended to solve arithmetic problems in the language they first learned them in, they were more likely to solve word problems in the language they use regularly. Such research indicates that bilingual students may be more adaptable in solving math problems than first believed.

Bilingual students are uniquely prepared to meet the challenges of mathematics head on when supported by strong teachers and parents.

At Tessa International School, we may have a focus on bilingual education, but we also teach the whole child. We believe that each aspect of learning is connected. To find out more, visit our website or learn about our Summer Camp.

Bilingual Language Programs Benefit Brain Development!

April 9, 2018/in Bilingualism /by ruben

It’s an age old question: does learning a foreign language have visible effects on your brain? With advances in modern technology, scientists now possess the equipment to study parts of the brain during language learning. Medical machinery, like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), make it possible for doctors to dive deep down into the cortex and gain a better understanding of how learning a new language affects brain development at any age.

Cerebral Language Processing

It was once thought only certain regions of the brain, such as Broca’s and Wernicke’s area, were capable of cerebral language processing. But with brain-imaging methods, like fMRI, scientists now know every major lobe plays a part in our ability to process language.

The four lobes:

Frontal lobe (Broca’s area)
Parietal lobe (Wernicke’s area)
Temporal lobe (Wernicke’s area)
Occipital lobe

What Happens to the Brain When Learning Language?

In 2012, the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy measured brain function between a group of language recruits and a group of science students. The study design was simple: the recruits underwent an intense three-month language course and the control group diligently studied something other than language, both for three-months. Scientists took fMRIs of students before they began their three-months of intense study and after they completed three-months of intense study and compared the results between groups. What they found fascinated them!

Brain Growth Varies Among Student Performance

Swedish scientists proved on brain scans what researchers and educators have believed for decades: learning a foreign language positively impacts brain growth. Brain-imaging visibly demonstrated that bilingual education benefits brain development. In fact, researchers were pleasantly surprised to learn that different parts of the brain developed at different degrees depending on how much effort a student had put into their own language learning. In other words, the more effort a student put into their own learning, the more they cognitively benefited.

fMRI demonstrated greater growth in the following areas:

Hippocampus ~ This structure is a part of your limbic system and plays a role in memory, learning, and emotion. Deep within your temporal lobe is a portion of your hippocampus.
Superior temporal gyrus ~ This structure contains your primary auditory cortex and is responsible for processing sounds. It’s understandable how perceiving sounds would affect your ability to process language.
Middle frontal gyrus ~ This brain bump takes up about a third of your frontal lobe and is responsible for re-orienting attention and perceptual processing.

Bilingual Education Benefits Brain Development

The Swedish study finally confirmed that learning foreign languages foster brain growth and development.

For educators, doctors, and clinical researchers, this data has potential to shift the direction of education and medicine to benefit children of all ages, including those with dyslexia or autism. Imagine educators and researchers using fMRI scans to help tailor bilingual education programs to each individual child’s cognitive ability. If your child is struggling to correctly pronounce some words or observe linguistic patterns and syntax, brain imaging could help to develop phonetic software and language apps that match their unique brain circuitry.

Learning Languages Keeps the Brain Fit

Linguistic research continues to unravel more cognitive abilities that lie deep within our brains. In fact, learning languages doesn’t only benefit children, but also adults! Like aerobic exercise keeps your heart healthy, learning another language keeps your brain fit. It can help buffer your brain against the effects of aging and delay the onset of dementia!

If you’re in New Jersey and wish to enhance your child’s language learning and development, schedule a private tour to visit Tessa International School today!