According to a new study, adults who grew up in two different languages can shift their attention faster than those who pick up a second language later in life. This is just one of the many cognitive benefits of bilingualism.
Research has shown that bilingual children constantly switch between two languages in their brain, which increases ‘cognitive flexibility’, the ability to switch between thinking about different concepts or multiple concepts simultaneously and ‘selective attentional abilities’, the mental process of focusing on one task or object at a time.
Other studies have shown that bilingual children can complete mental puzzles faster and more efficiently than those who speak only one language. The reason? Speaking two languages is ‘executive functioning’, which is higher level cognitive skills such as planning, decision making, problem solving and organization. Basically, this task is a workout for the brain.
In the new study, bilingual adults participated in an experiment that required looking at photos on a screen that was gradually shifting and taking into account the changes. The adults who started speaking a second language as a baby were able to notice the changes much faster than those who learned another language later in life.
Bilingual children should “make use of multiple sources of visual information, such as mouth movements, facial expressions and subtle gestures”, when raised in a more complex language environment, said Dean D’Souza, study author and psychology lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in ‘ said a release.
“Babies from bilingual homes adapt to their more complex language environment by taking more of their visual environment and placing more weight on new information,” the study authors wrote.
When children learn a second language at a young age (between 0 and 3), their brains are more plastic, making it easier.
It is important that the mental benefits of starting a new language appear earlier, even as children grow to adulthood, D’Souza said in the release.
If you are monolingual but hope to teach your children another language, there are ways to introduce it into your home. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, for example, it is an opportunity to see children in another language, watch TV programs and watch language classes.
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