Benefits of Bilingualism by Investigating Reviews of Literature

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These literature reviews show the benefits of bilingualism.

(From the chapter) Research addressing the possible cognitive consequences of bilingualism for children's development has found mixed results when seeking effects in domains such as language ability and intelligence. The approach in the research reported in this chapter is to investigate the effect that bilingualism might have on specific cognitive processes rather than domains of skill development. Three cognitive domains are examined: concepts of quantity, task switching and concept formation, and theory of mind. The common finding in these disparate domains is that bilingual children are more advanced than monolinguals in solving problems requiring the inhibition of misleading information. The conclusion is that bilingualism accelerates the development of a general cognitive function concerned with attention and inhibition, and that facilitating effects of bilingualism are found on tasks and processes in which this function is most required.(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Consequences of bilingualism for cognitive development. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.

Bialystok, E. (. (2005).
The past five years have witnessed an increase in interest in bilingualism & second-language learning among researchers & policy makers. Growing cultural & linguistic diversity, cross-cultural contact, & the increasing recognition of the linguistic rights of indigenous & cultural minorities have fostered this interest. Recent advances in research & theory concerning these issues are addressed. Four topics are given specific attention: language shift in early childhood, cognitive & academic consequences of bilingualism & second-language learning, bilingualism & second-language learning during the school years, & theoretical approaches to the development of bilingualism & second-language learning. An annotated bibliography is also provided.

Bilingualism and second language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 51-70. from Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts database.

Cummins, J. (1993).
(From the chapter) proposes an explanatory model of the relation between bilingualism and cognitive abilities that specifies the role of language awareness in the development of non-linguistic cognitive skills it is our belief that any successful explanation of the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive development must fulfill two basic requirements: first, the model should be formulated, developed, and tested within a solid theoretical framework regarding the relation between language and thought in development; second, the model should be constrained by the available data / in other words, the model should be developed in order to explain the reliable findings to date on bilingual cognitive development in order to fulfill our second requirement for the development of an explanatory model, we review the literature in search of findings that must be explained / discuss six different sets of findings regarding the relation between bilingualism and cognitive development cognitive advantages / metalinguistic abilities / additive and substractive situations / timing of positive effects / bilingual private speech Vygotsky's theory of thought and language (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Towards an explanatory model of the interaction between bilingualism and cognitive development. In E. Bialystok (Ed.), Most of the chapters in this volume were originally presented in the invited symposium "language acquisition and implications for processing in bilingual children" at the meeting of the society for research in child development, 1987. (pp. 167-192). New York , NY , US: Cambridge University Press.

Diaz, R. M. (., & Klinger, C. (1991).
The idea that bilingualism causes cognitive damage to children is no longer held by researchers, but it lingers in popular belief. It is based on the assumption that language is central to cognitive development, which is not held by all theorists. Another theoretical issue is whether the mind is a limited-capacity container or can accommodate two languages with ease. Social concerns arising from cases of poor acculturation have also influenced research on bilingualism. More recent research has compared the performance of "real" bilingual children, those with roughly equal language skills, with that of monolingual children and found the former group to have superior performance, especially in metalinguistic ability. There is now data suggesting that even language minority students in bilingual education programs who are in the process of learning English can benefit from some of the advantages of bilingualism. These studies contradict the argument that bilingualism in itself might cause cognitive confusion in the child, and support the idea that bilingualism can lead to higher levels of metalinguistic awareness and cognitive ability. In general, they point to the benefits to children of all language backgrounds of learning and maintaining two languages. (MSE)

Cognitive development of bilingual childrenNo. ER3). U.S.; Connecticut

Hakuta, K. (1986).

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Benefits of Bilingualism by Investigating Reviews of Literature

These literature reviews show the benefits of bilingualism.