BilingualismBilingualism is commonly defined as the use of at least two languages by an individual (ASHA, 2004). It is a fluctuating system in children and adults whereby use of and proficiency in two languages may change depending on the opportunities to use the languages and exposure to other users of the languages. It is a dynamic and fluid process across a number of domains, including experience, tasks, topics, and time. Simultaneous bilingualismoccurs when a young child has had significant and meaningful exposure to two languages from birth. Ideally, the child will have equal, quality experiences with both languages. Sequential bilingualismoccurs when an individual has had significant and meaningful exposure to a second language, usually after the age of 3 and after the first language is well established. These second language learners are referred to as "English language learners" in U.S. schools.The "bilingual" experience is unique to every individual. There is variability in the amount and quality of exposure to the languages the individual learns, as well as the experiences he or she has using the languages when interacting with others.

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter

Harriet RussellByYUDHIJIT BHATTACHARJEEPublished: March 17, 2012 TWITTER LINKEDIN PRINT Principio del formularioFinal del formularioREPRINTS SHARESPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a childs academic and intellectual development.They were not wrong about the interference: there is ample evidence that in a bilinguals brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isnt so much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles.Bilinguals, for instance, seem to be more adept than monolinguals at solving certain kinds of mental puzzles. Ina 2004 studyby the psychologists Ellen Bialystok and Michelle Martin-Rhee, bilingual and monolingual preschoolers were asked to sort blue circles and red squares presented on a computer screen into two digital bins one marked with a blue square and the other marked with a red circle.In the first task, the children had to sort the shapes by color, placing blue circles in the bin marked with the blue square and red squares in the bin marked with the red circle. Both groups did this with comparable ease. Next, the children were asked to sort by shape, which was more challenging because it required placing the images in a bin marked with a conflicting color. The bilinguals were quicker at performing this task.The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brains so-called executive function a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind like remembering a sequence of directions while driving.Why does the tussle between two simultaneously active language systems improve these aspects of cognition? Until recently, researchers thought the bilingual advantage stemmed primarily from an ability forinhibitionthat was honed by the exercise of suppressing one language system: this suppression, it was thought, would help train the bilingual mind to ignore distractions in other contexts. But that explanation increasingly appears to be inadequate, since studies have shown that bilinguals perform better than monolinguals even at tasks that do not require inhibition, like threading a line through an ascending series of numbers scattered randomly on a page.The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be more basic: a heightened ability to monitor the environment. Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often you may talk to your father in one language and to your mother in another language, says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving. In a study comparing German-Italian bilinguals with Italian monolinguals on monitoring tasks, Mr. Costa and his colleagues found that the bilingual subjects not only performed better, but they also did so with less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, indicating that they were more efficient at it.The bilingual experience appears to influence the brain from infancy to old age (and there is reason to believe that it may also apply to those who learn a second language later in life).Ina 2009 study led by Agnes Kovacsof the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, 7-month-old babies exposed to two languages from birth were compared with peers raised with one language. In an initial set of trials, the infants were presented with an audio cue and then shown a puppet on one side of a screen. Both infant groups learned to look at that side of the screen in anticipation of the puppet. But in a later set of trials, when the puppet began appearing on the opposite side of the screen, the babies exposed to a bilingual environment quickly learned to switch their anticipatory gaze in the new direction while the other babies did not.Bilingualisms effects also extend into the twilight years. In a recent study of 44 elderly Spanish-English bilinguals, scientists led by the neuropsychologist Tamar Gollan of the University of California, San Diego, found that individuals with a higher degree of bilingualism measured through a comparative evaluation of proficiency in each language were more resistant than others to the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimers disease: the higher the degree of bilingualism, the later the age of onset.Nobody ever doubted the power of language. But who would have imagined that the words we hear and the sentences we speak might be leaving such a deep imprint?Yudhijit Bhattacharjee is a staff writer at Science.This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:Correction: March 25, 2012The Gray Matter column on bilingualism last Sunday misspelled the name of a university in Spain. It is Pompeu Fabra, not Pompea Fabra.

Les papillons bleus enculent toute la matineLes papillons bleus enculent toute la soireLes papillons bleus enculent tous les joursLes papillons bleus enculent toutes les nuitsEt toi? Quattends-toi? Va te faire enculer toi aussi.Bilingual educationBilingual educationinvolves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.Bilingual education program models[edit]The following are several different types of bilingual education program models: Transitional Bilingual Education. This involves education in a child's native language, typically for no more than three years, to ensure that students do not fall behind in content areas like mathematics, science, and social studies while they are learning English. Research has shown that many of the skills learned in the native language can be transferred easily to the second language later. The goal is to help students transition to mainstream, English-only classrooms as quickly as possible, and the linguistic goal of such programs is English acquisition only. In a transitional bilingual program, the student's primary language is used as a vehicle to develop literacy skills and acquire academic knowledge. It is used to develop literacy and academic skills in the primary language Two-WayorDual Language ImmersionBilingual Education. These programs are designed to help native and non-native English speakers become bilingual and biliterate. The two-way bilingual immersion program has 90% of the instructions in grade K-1 in minority language which is less supported by the broader society and 10% in the majority language . This proportion gradually changes in the majority language until the curriculum is equally divided in both the language by 5th grade. The two-way bilingual immersion program is based on the principle of clear curriculum separation of the two languages of instruction. Teachers do not repeat or translate the subject matter in second language but strengthen concepts taught in one language across the two languages in a spiral curriculum in order to provide cognitive challenge (Thomas & Collier. 1997). The languages of instructions are alternated by theme or content area. This type of immersion is required to develop the dual language proficiency, as social language can be mastered in couple of years, but a higher level of competency is required to read social studies texts or solve mathematics word problems, roughly around 5 to 7 years (Collier, 1987).Dual Immersion classrooms encourage students' native language development, making an important contribution to heritage language maintenance and allows language minority students to remain in classrooms with their native English-speaking peers, resulting in linguistic and sociocultural advantages (Christian, 1996b). As of May 2005, there were 317 dual immersion programs operating in elementary schools in the United States in 10 different languages(Center for Applied Linguistics, 2005).Dual Language programs are less common in US schools, although research indicates they are extremely effective in helping students learn English well and aiding the long-term performance of English learners in school. Native English speakers benefit by learning a second language. English language learners (ELLs) are not segregated from their peers.[1] Another form of Bilingual Education is a type ofDual Languageprogram that has students study in two different ways: 1) A variety of academic subjects are taught in the students' second language, with specially trained bilingual teachers who can understand students when they ask questions in their native language, but always answer in the second language; and 2) Native language literacy classes improve students' writing and higher-order language skills in their first language. Research has shown that many of the skills learned in the native language can be transferred easily to the second language later. In this type of program, the native language classes do not teach academic subjects. The second-language classes are content-based, rather than grammar-based, so students learn all of their academic subjects in the second language.[citation needed] Late-ExitorDevelopmentalBilingual Education. Education is in the child's native language for an extended duration, accompanied by education in English. The goal is to develop literacy in the child's native language first, and transfer these skills to the second language.By country or region[edit]Argentina[edit]There are many English-Spanish schools in Argentina. Several of them are in the provinces where the Irish who were part of the local Elite used to live.[citation needed]Australia[edit]InAustralia, some schools teach bilingual programs which cater to children speaking languages other than English. Baldauf[2]explains that these programs are now beginning to benefit from more government support. Bilingual education for Indigenous students, however, has only received intermittent official backing. In the Northern Territory, for example, bilingual programs for Indigenous students begun with Federal Government support in the early 1970s, but by December 1998 the Northern Territory Government had announced its decision to shift $3 million away from the 29 bilingual programs to a Territory-wide program teaching English as a second language. Within 12 months though the government had softened its position. Most bilingual programs were allowed to continue under the guise of two-way education. Then on 24 August 2005, the Minister for Employment, Education and Training announced that the government would be "revitalizing bi-lingual education" at 15 Community Education Centres:Alekerange,Angurugu,Borroloola,Gapuwiyak,Gunbalanya,Kalkaringi,Lajamanu,Maningrida,Milingimbi,Ramingining,Ngkurr, Shepherdson College,Numbulwar,YirrkalaandYuendumu. This revitalisation is conceived as part of an effort aimed at "providing effective education from pre-school through to senior secondary at each of the Territory's 15 Community Education Centres". As Harris & Devlin (1986) observe, "Aboriginal bilingual education in Australia represents much more than a range of education programs. It has been a measure of non-Aboriginal commitment to either assimilation or cultural pluralism". In 2008 it again shifted with the government attempting to force the nine remaining bilingual schools to teach the first four hours of classes in English.Canada[edit]Main article:Official bilingualism in CanadaEnglish and French[edit]InCanada, education is under provincial jurisdiction. However, the federal government has been a strong supporter of establishing Canada as a bilingual country and has helped pioneer theFrench immersionprograms in the public education systems throughout Canada. In French-immersion, students with no previous French language training, usually beginning in Kindergarten or grade 1, do all of their school work in French. Depending on provincial jurisdiction, some provinces also offer an extended French program that begins in grade 5 which offers relatively more courses in French. In this case the student takes French immersion until grade nine but may continue throughout their high school education. Similar English-immersion programmes also exist for Francophone children.Education is generally monolingual in either English or French according to the majority population within which a school is located.[citation needed]The second official language is introduced with allocated time provided each week for instruction in the language as a subject.Quebec[edit]Quebec is Canada's only legally monolingual French-speaking province. Based on section 59 of Canada's Constitution Act of 1982, provides that not all of the language rights listed under Canada's official bilingualism policy in previous section 23 will apply in Quebec. Specifically:(1) In Quebec, a child may be educated in English only if at least one parent or a sibling was educated in Canada in English.(2)In New Brunswick, Canada's only officially bilingual province, students have the right to education in the official language which they understand; students able to understand both languages have the right to education in either system.(3) In the rest of Canada, a child may be educated in French if at least one parent or a sibling was educated in Canada in French, or if at least one parent has French as his or her mother tongue (defined in section 23 as "first language learned and still understood").One practical consequence of this asymmetry is that all migrants who arrive in Quebec from foreign countries are required to place their children in French-language schools. This includes immigrants whose mother tongue is English and immigrants who received their schooling in English.On the other hand, Section 23 provides a nearly universal right to English-language schooling for the children of Canadian-born anglophones living in Quebec. Section 23 also provides, in theory, a nearly universal right to French-language schooling for the children of all francophones living outside Quebec, including immigrants from French-speaking countries who settle outside Quebec, and who are Canadian citizens.Another element of asymmetry between Quebec and most anglophone provinces is that while Quebec provides public English-language primary and secondary education throughout the province, most other provinces provide French-language education only "where numbers warrant."First Nations reserves and Inuit settlements[edit]Canada also has bilingual programmes forFirst Nations' languages on numerousCanadian aboriginalreserves in combination with either English, French, or both. Some programmes are gradually being established, whilst others are already long established. Most notable bilingual programmes that exist includeInuktitut,Inuinnaqtun,Cree,Blackfoot,Ojibwe,Mohawk,Mi'kmaq, and Pacific CoastSalish languages.Many of these programmes were set up in the late 1980s and early 1990s by academiclinguistswishing to preserve the languages, respectively - especially in areas where there either is a healthy speaking base, or an endangerment of as low as two remaining speakers of a language. Prior to this, as late as the 1970s and early 1980s, First Nations andInuitin Canada, as Native Americans in the United States, were forced intoresidential schoolsimposed on them by the Canadian government to integrate indigenous cultures into European-Canadian society. This came with the dramatic loss of the languages, religious beliefs, and cultures themselves due to widespread use of corporal punishment and mental abuse. As of 2010, new programmes are mushrooming across Canada to try to save what is left, but are often met with mixed success and funding challenges at federal, provincial, and reserve levels.Other minority languages[edit]In the province ofBritish Columbia, the city ofVancouversince 2002 has established a new bilingual Mandarin Chinese-English immersion programme at the elementary school level in order accommodate Vancouver's both historic and present strong ties to the Chinese-speaking world, already in itself having a very sizeable Chinese population local to the city. Six Vancouver schools have thus far adopted the programme, and a secondary school track to continue thereupon is being designed. Other suburbs within what is referred to as theGreater Vancouver Regional Districtare also considering adopting the programme into a small number of schools. Similar programmes are being developed for bothHindiandPunjabito serve in representing the large South Asian cultural community and its interests in theCity of Surrey. By default, most schools in British Columbia teach through English, with French immersion options available. In both English and French-medium schools, one can study and take government exams inJapanese,Punjabi,Mandarin Chinese,French,Spanish, andGermanat the secondary level.InManitoba,Ukrainiancommunities have played an extensive role in the development and history of the province. Bilingual Ukrainian-English education programmes have therefore long been established, alongside smaller programmes introducing and implementingFrench,Icelandicin the town ofGimli, andFirst Nations' languages.Private Islamic and Jewish schools across Canada also have bilingual and trilingual programmes that includeArabicorHebrew, respectively.InCape Bretonand other parts ofNova Scotia, a number of secondary schools now offer the option of taking introductory courses inScottish Gaelic, as reflecting upon the province's both intimate and dark history with the Gaelic language and Highland Scottish diaspora.China[edit]In theAutonomous regions of Chinamany children of the country's major ethnic minorities attend public schools where the medium of instructions is the local language, such as e.g.UyghurorTibetan. Traditionally, the textbooks there were little different from merely a translated version of the books used in the Chinese schools throughout the country; however, as of 2001, a move was on foot to create more teaching materials with locally based content.[3]Classes ofMandarinas second language are also offered in these minority schools, and the central government makes increasing efforts to make them more effective. A law passed in February 2001 provided for the Mandarin-as-second-language classes in the ethnic-minority schools to start in the early years of elementary school whenever local conditions permit, rather than in the senior years of elementary school, as it was practiced before.[4]On the other hand, it has been reported that Chinese has been used as the medium of instructions in someautonomous countieseven though less than 50% of the population "spoke and understood some Chinese"; this mismatch was thought to have contributed to the low grades earned by the students on the math and Chinese exams.[5]Hong Kong[edit]InHong Kongwhere bothEnglishandCantoneseare official, both languages are taught in school and are mandatory subjects. Either English or Cantonese is used as the medium of instruction for other subjects. Increasingly, there are a large number ofMandarin Chinese-speaking schools in operation throughout Hong Kong as well since 1996. Study of Mandarin is mandatory in junior years (from Grade 1 to Grade 9).European Union[edit]Near most of the variousEuropean Unioninstitution sites,European Schoolshave been created to allow staff to have their children receive their education in their mother tongue, and at the same time to foster European spirit by (among other things) teaching at least two other European languages.Basic instruction is given in the eleven official languages of the European Union: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. In the expansion of the Union with 10 countries in 2004 and two more in 2007, the new official languages of the EU are added. The pupil's mother tongue (L I) therefore remains his/her first language throughout the School.Consequently, each school comprises several language sections. The curricula and syllabuses (except in the case of mother tongue) are the same in all sections.In the Schools where the creation of a separate language section cannot be justified based on the number of students, teaching of the mother tongue and possibly mathematics is provided.To foster the unity of the School and encourage genuine multicultural education, there is a strong emphasis on the learning, understanding and use of foreign languages. This is developed in a variety of ways:The study of a first foreign language (English, French, or German, known as L II) is compulsory throughout the school, from first year primary up to the Baccalaureate. In secondary school, some classes will be taught in L II.All pupils must study a second foreign language (L III), starting in the second year of secondary school. Any language available in the School may be chosen.Pupils may choose to study a third foreign language (L IV) from the fourth year of secondary school.Language classes are composed of mixed nationalities and taught by a native speaker.A weekly "European Hour" in the primary school brings together children from all sections for cultural and artistic activities and games.In the secondary school, classes in art, music and sport are always composed of mixed nationalities.From the third year of secondary school, history and geography are studied in the pupil's first foreign language, also called the "working language" (English, French, or German). Economics, which may be taken as an option from the fourth year of the secondary school, is also studied in a working language. From the third year, therefore, all social science subjects are taught to groups of mixed nationalities.[6]Belgium[edit]Belgiumhas three official languages:Dutch,FrenchandGerman. The constitution guarantees free education, so private schools can use any language, but state(-recognised) schools teach in the language of the language area where it is located. ForBrussels, which is an officially bilingual French-Dutch area, schools use either Dutch or French as medium.Even though Belgium has two major languages (Dutch in Flanders, and French in Wallonia), bilingual instruction does not occur since Belgian law only permits education in one official language. In Flanders, bilingual instruction is only allowed as a short-term project.[7]France[edit]See also:Language policy in FranceFrancehas one sole official language,French. However, regional provincial languages such asCorsican,Provenal,Alsacien,Occitan, andBretondo have charter protection, and respectively there are bilingual education programmes and regional language course electives established. However, due to the strict French-language policy imposed by national government, there is no centrally allocated funding towards any of these programmes. All funding is done at the municipal level, with more often than not regional languages themselves facing extreme endangerment.Republic of Ireland[edit]The Republic of Ireland has two official languages,IrishandEnglish. With theIrish languagefacing endangerment, as well as the presence of regions where Irish is still spoken as native (referred to as theGaeltacht), theIrish constitutionprotects and reserves the right for education to be established through the medium of either official language, and it thus is.An Irish-medium school is referred to asGaelscoil(plural, Gaelscoileanna) This movement has been met with some success in that 10% of the schooling in Ireland is conducted in Irish. The movement has also been successful in setting up schools in both urban and rural areas, ranging from Dublin and Cork, to the traditional Gaeltacht regions.Netherlands[edit]In theNetherlands, there are around 100 bilingual schools. In these schools, the first language (L1) is Dutch, whereas the second language (L2) is usually English and occasionally German. In the province ofFriesland, which has its own official language (West Frisian language), some trilingual primary schools exist. In those schools, the children are taught in Dutch, Frisian, and English. Most bilingual secondary schools are TVWO (Tweetalig Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs or Bilingual Preparatory Scientific Education), but there is THAVO (Tweetalig Hoger Algemeen Voorbereidend Onderwijs or Bilingual Higher General Secondary Education), too. The following subjects are taught in English: arts, chemistry, physics, biology, geography, economics, physical education, drama, English, mathematics, history, music, social sciences and religious studies, but some variation may exist among schools.Spain[edit]Andalusia[edit]InAndalusia(Spain's southernmost region), things have changed drastically concerning bilingual education since the introduction of the Plurilingualism Promotion Plan by the autonomous government. The plan was born as the realization for the Andalusian territory of the European language policies regarding the teaching and learning of languages. With special strength in the past ten years bilingual education has worked at most elementary schools.In addition to this new European scene, the Scheme for the Promotion of Plurilingualism has learned a lot from the first experimental bilingual sections set up in some schools by the Andalusian government in 1998. Following the content-based approach, French and German were used to partly teach other subjects. This successful experience, as show the international tests that the students have been given, is the starting point for a more ambitious scene, where 400 schools will be involved in the next four years, more languages, especially English, will take part, and a lot of investigation and implementation of the Integrated Curriculum of languages must be carried out.Being aware of the necessity of the Andalusian people to adapt to the new scenario, a major government plan, called "strategies for the second modernization of Andalusia", was designed in 2003. The document also underlined language diversity as a source of richness and a valuable heritage of humankind which needs to be looked after.It was then clear that a scheme was needed to carry out this new language policy in the territory, especially affecting education, with clear goals, timing and funding.The scheme is to be developed through five major programmes and also an organization and assessment plan.The programmes are: Bilingual schools Official Schools of Languages Plurilingualism and teachers Plurilingualism and society Organization and assessment plan.The full version of the Plurilingualism Promotion Plan is available in English at:[1]PDF(497KB)Basque Country, Navarre, Galicia, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands[edit]In addition toCastilian Spanishbeing the primaryofficial languageofSpain, the kingdom also has several co-official regional languages which enjoy equal and unbiased constitutional protection and promotion:Catalan/Valencian(inCatalonia,Valenciaand theBalearic Islands),Galician(inGalicia),Basque(in theBasque Countryand the northern zone ofNavarre) andAranese(inVal d'Aran,Catalonia).Many schools are bilingual in the regional language as well as Castilian at both the elementary and secondary levels. Regional universities also often provide programmes through the regional medium. Education in all co-official languages uses to receive both national and regional funding.UnlikeFrancein which regional languages face incredible endangerment and possible extinction, Spain's long-established approach to making regional bilingual education mandatory has served often as a model for both the survival and thriving state of the languages indigenous to the country.United Kingdom and dependencies[edit]The British Isles have several indigenous languages apart fromEnglish. These includeWelsh(official in Wales),Irish,Manx Gaelic,Cornish,Scottish Gaelic, and theScots language(which is sometimes considered as a dialect of English).Scotland,Northern Ireland,Wales,Cornwall, and theIsle of Manhave each established bilingual programmes which provide education through the medium of their indigenous language. Most often, except for the cases of Manx and Cornish, these programmes exist where the language is spoken communally as a first language.Wales[edit]Roughly a quarter of schoolchildren in Wales now receive their education through the medium of Welsh, and children wishing to join a Welsh medium school (Welsh:ysgol Gymraeg) do not have to speak Welsh to go to one if they are young enough to learn the language quickly. Welsh medium education has met with great success across Wales since the first such schools opened in the 1940s. There are current plans to extend further provision in urban centres such asCardiff,Newport,SwanseaandLlanellito cater for growing demand; this has caused controversy in some areas.Welsh-speaking areas use Welsh-medium education almost exclusively. Parents have a legal right for their children to receive education in Welsh, and each local authority caters for this. In the Western flank of Wales,Carmarthenshire,Ceredigion,GwyneddandAnglesey, most primary and secondary schools are Welsh medium or have bilingual streams. Some 75-80% of all pupils in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion receive their education through the medium of Welsh, with this figure increasing in Gwynedd to around 90%.In English-medium schools, the study of Welsh is compulsory and must be taught from age 5 to age 16 in all state-funded schools.Northern Ireland[edit]Irish Gaelic received official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under theGood Friday Agreement. A cross-border body known asForas na Gaeilgewas established to promote the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. The British government in 2001 ratified theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Irish Gaelic (in respect only of Northern Ireland) was specified under Part III of the Charter, thus giving it a degree of protection and status somewhat comparable to the Welsh language in Wales and Scottish Gaelic in Scotland. This included a range of specific undertakings in relation to education, translation of statutes, interaction with public authorities, the use of placenames, media access, support for cultural activities and other matters (whilst the Ulster variant ofScots, known as (Ulster Scots, was specified under Part II of the Charter.)The Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 states: "It shall be the duty of the Department (of Education) to encourage and facilitate the development of Irish-medium education.There are no Ulster Scots-medium schools, even at primary level.India[edit]The official languages of the Union ofIndiaareHindiand English, with 21 other regional languages holding co-official status, including:Assamese,Bengali,Bodo,Dogri,Gujarati,Kannada,Kashmiri,Konkani,Maithili,Malayalam,Manipuri,Marathi,Nepali,Oriya,Punjabi,Sanskrit,Santali,Sindhi,Tamil,TeluguandUrdu.Education in India follows theThree-language formula, where children are to be taught Hindi, English and the regional language, with schools having the freedom to decide the sequence in which these languages are taught, as well as the medium of teaching. An exception isTamil Naduwhere onlyTamiland English are taught.[8][9][10]English-medium schools often find favour with parents, especially in urban areas, due to English's international prestige, India's Colonial heritage, its usage in Indian business and it being the medium of instruction in most Indian universities.Japan[edit]This articleneeds additional citations forverification.Please helpimprove this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(March 2007)

In Japan, the need for bilingualism (mostly Japanese and English) has been pointed out, and there are some scholars who advocate teaching children subjects such as mathematics using English rather than Japanese.[citation needed]As part of this proposal, subjects such as history, however, would be taught solely in Japanese.On the island ofHokkaido, the indigenous and endangeredAinu languageis receiving newfound interest with establishment of a small number of bilingual Ainu-Japanese elementary schools.Mongolia[edit]There has been long standing encouragement to teach at least one other language other than Mongolian. TraditionallyRussian languagewas taught during middle school and high school. After the 1990 transition to democracy, English language has been gaining more ground in Mongolian schools. Today many public schools at all levels teach one other language that are usually English, Russian, Korean, Japanese or Chinese. Although the core curriculum is in Mongolian, it is generally encouraged by the government and the public that the students should have some command of a secondary language when they graduate from high school. Also there are other private schools that teach their curricula in English.Middle East[edit]The Arab World[edit]Schools in theMiddle Eastfollow dual or triple language programmes. The triple language programme is most commonly found inLebanon,Syria, and often implemented as well inEgypt. History, grammar, literature and theArabic languageare taught in the native language (Arabic), whereas Mathematics and sciences are generally taught in English and/or French. In Lebanon, however, science and mathematics are taught in either French or English, depending on the school's administration or the grade level. It is not uncommon to find French- or English- only schools, though usually these institutions are primarily international establishments.In mostGulf countriesas well asJordan, English is introduced as a second language early on alongside the primary medium of instruction, Arabic. InIraqhowever, triple language programmes are, like in Lebanon and Syria, normal, except rather than using French,Kurdishis taught alongside Arabic and English due to Iraq's considerably sized Kurdish minority in the north, and bilingual official language policy regarding Kurdish.InMorocco,Berbercan be used as a regional medium of elementary education, with widespread use of French and Arabic come later grades. Due to Morroco's long history with French colonialism, alongside neighbouring countries includingAlgeriaandTunisia, sole French-medium education is very widespread, with Arabic being introduced and taught as a second language, as well as the study of a third language later on, usually eitherEnglish,Spanish, orItalian(inLibya).Israel[edit]Normally, Israelis are taught in either Hebrew or Arabic depending on religion and ethnicity. Within the standard education system, thorough study of English is compulsory, and depending on the primary medium of education, Arabic or Hebrew are introduced as third languages with significantly lesser emphasis placed on achieving solid proficiency. Within Hebrew-medium programmes, other foreign languages such as French, German, Russian, or Yiddish can often be studied as well.Israel is also home to several international schools whereby the sole medium of education is eitherEnglishorFrench. In general, as English is taught early on across all Israeli schools, most Israelis become comfortably bilingual, much like what one would see in The Netherlands or Scandinavian countries. This in combination with a large proportion of English-language programming on television that is merely subtitled and seldom dubbed.Recent peace initiatives have also lead to a small number of bilingual and multi-religious schools in which both Hebrew and Arabic are used in equal emphasis. TheHand in Hand: Center for Jewish Arab Education in Israelruns four bilingual schools, and theNeve Shalompeace village also hosts a local school.Philippines[edit]In July 2009Department of Educationmoved towardsmother-tongue based learninginitially by issuing an order which allowed two alternative three-year bridging plans. Depending on the bridging plan adopted, the Filipino and English languages are to be phased in as the language of instruction beginning in the third and fourth grades.[11]OtherPhilippine regional languagesare taught in schools, colleges and universities located in theirrespective provinces.In 2007, PresidentGloria Macapagal-Arroyosigned a directive in Spain that would reintroduce teaching and learning the Spanish language in the Philippine school system starting in 2008.[12]Thee order, Memorandum Order No. 276, s. 2007, issued on November 29, 2007, ordered the Department of Education to encourage the teaching and learning of the Spanish language throughout the country.[13]Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia)[edit]Since the mid-1990s bilingual approaches to schooling and higher education have become popular in parts ofSouth-east Asia, especially inThailandandMalaysiawhere different models have been applied, from L2 immersion (content taught in a non-native language) to parallel immersion, where core subjects are taught in both the mother-tongue and a second language (usually English). The Malaysian government reversed its decision to have Maths and Science taught in English, but is implementing different programmes designed to improve English language teaching within schools. Wichai Wittaya Bilingual School in Chaing Mai (1995),[14]Siriwat Wittaya Bilingual School in Bangkok(2004) ,[15]Chindemanee School English Program (2005),[16]The Sarasas model, pioneered by the Sarasas schools affiliation in Thailand,are exemplars of parallel immersion.[citation needed]TheEnglish for Integrated Studiesproject model at Sunthonphu Pittaya Secondary School(SPSS), Rayong, Thailand, is an exemplar of the use of English for integrated studies in Math, Science and IT, taught by non-native English speaking Thai teachers.[17]This project is under the auspices of the International Study Program ofBurapha University.[citation needed]Panyaden Schoolis an example of a private bilingual school in North Thailand that provides its students with a Thai-English education (each class has a Thai teacher and native-English speaking teacher).The difficulties and disputes characteristic of the US experience have not been replicated in these Asian countries, though they are not without controversy. Generally, it can be said that there is widespread acknowledgment of the need to improve English competence in the population, and bilingual approaches, where language is taught through subject content, are seen to be the most effective means of attaining this. The most significant limiting factors are the shortage of teachers linguistically competent to teach in a second language and the costs involved in use of expatriate native speakers for this purpose.Singapore[edit]In Singapore, education is bilingual. The medium of instruction is in English and the learning of the mother tongue is compulsory. The mother tongue subject is usuallyMandarin,MalayorTamil, the other official languages of Singapore. They are taught till pre-university level but a student can choose to learn a third language (German, French, Japanese, etc.) in later school years.[citation needed]United States[edit]

SER-Nios Charter School, a bilingualstate charter schoolin theGulftonarea ofHouston,TexasBilingual education in the U.S. focuses on English Language Learners (ELL). According to theU.S. Department of Educationwebsite, a bilingual education program is "an educational program forlimited English proficientstudents". (The Office of English Language Acquisition, 2009).[citation needed]The term "limited English proficiency" remains in use by the federal government, but has fallen out of favor elsewhere. According toBankstreet's Literacy Guidethis shift is due to the fact that the term ELL represents a more accurate reflection of language acquisition. The term "English language learner" is now preferred in schools and educational research to refer to a student whose first language is not English and who needs language support services in order to succeed in school.In the fifty states of the United States, proponents of the practice argue that it will not only help to keep non-English-speaking children from falling behind their peers in math, science, and social studies while they master English, but such programs teach English better than English-only programs. For many students, the process of learning literacy and a new language simultaneously is simply an overwhelming task, so bilingual programs began as a way to help such students develop native language literacy first - research by Cummins,[18]a central researcher in the field, shows that skills such as literacy developed in a first language will transfer to English. Opponents of bilingual education argue that it delays students' mastery of English, thereby retarding the learning of other subjects as well. InCalifornia, where at least one-third of students are enrolled in bilingual classes,[19]there has been considerable politicking for and against bilingual education.The very first instance of bilingual education in the United States occurred with Polish immigrants in the first permanent English settlement ofVirginiain what is now the United States. The Poles provided the community with manufactured pitch necessary to prevent the sinking of ships, and glass works among other industries. When theHouse of Burgessesmet in 1619, the rights extended only to Englishmen. The Poles, in turn, launched the first recorded strike in the New World.[20]In dire need of their skills and industries, the Poles received the "rights of Englishmen," and established the first bilingual schools with subjects taught in English and Polish.[20]From this first documented historic beginning, bilingual education existed in some form or another in the United States. During the 18th century, Franciscan missionaries from California to Texas used indigenous languages for translating and teaching the Catholic catechism to Native Americans. By the mid-19th century, private and public bilingual schools had include such native languages as Czech, Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.[21]Ohio became the first state in 1839, to adopt a bilingual education law, authorizing German-English instruction at parents' request. Louisiana enacted an identical provision for French and English in 1847, and the New Mexico Territory did so for Spanish and English in 1850.[22]By the end of the 19th century, about a dozen states had passed similar laws. Elsewhere, many localities provided bilingual instruction without state sanction, in languages as diverse as Norwegian, Italian, Polish, Czech, and Cherokee.[22]Beginning in 1959, public schools in Miami introduced bilingual programs. In 1968 the U.S., with Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or, informally, theBilingual Education Act, Congress first mandated bilingual education in order to give immigrants access to education in their "first" language. The Act was amended in 1988.[22]Federal spending on bilingual education jumped from $7.5 million in 1968 to $150 million by 1979.[19]A 1974U.S. Supreme Courtruling,Lau v. Nichols, gave further momentum to bilingual education.[19]Here, the Court held thatSan Franciscoschools violated minority language students' rights when they educated students in the same classes as other students[19]without special provisions.[23]Taken together, theBilingual Education Actand theLau v. Nicholsruling mandated that schools needed to at least provide some type of services to support English language learners, though neither specified what type of educational program needed to be provided. As such, both bilingual and English-only programs flourished after the law's passage and the court ruling.[19]TheBilingual Education Actwas terminated in 2001 by new federal education policy, with the passage ofNo Child Left Behindby theU.S. Congress. This law offers no support for native language learning, but rather emphasized accountability in English only, and mandates that all students, including ELLs, are tested yearly in English.The majority of U.S. high school students in the United States are required to take at least one to two years of a second language. The vast majority of these classes are either French or Spanish. In a large number of schools this is taught in a manner known asFLES, in which students learn about the second language in a manner similar to other subjects such as mathematics or science. Some schools use an additional method known asFLEXin which the "nature of the language" and culture are also taught. High school education almost never uses "immersion" techniques.Controversy in the United States[edit]In recent times there has been a lot of discussion about bilingual education. In the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision,Horne v. Flores, the majority opinion stated, "Research on ELL instruction indicates there is documented, academic support for the view that SEI (Structured English Immersion) is significantly more effective than bilingual education."[24]Proponents of bilingual education claim that it is not only easier for students to learn English if they are literate in their first language, but that such students will learn English better and become bilingual and biliterate.[25]Proponents further claim that effective bilingual programs strive to achieve proficiency in both English and the students' home language. Dual language or Two-Way bilingual programs are one such approach, whereby half of the students speak English and half are considered English language learners (ELLs). The teacher instructs in English and in the ELLs' home language. The dual purpose of this type of classroom is to teach the children a new language and culture, and language diversity in such classrooms is seen as a resource. Programs in English only eradicate the native languages immigrants bring to this country, while dual language bilingual programs serve to maintain such languages in an "additive" context, where a new language is added without the first being lost. One paper states that two-way developmental bilingual education programs in elementary school have the most success in language minority students' long term academic achievement. These students will maintain their gains in academic performance in secondary level academic classes.[26]Another study shows the positive results of a two-way bilingual education program.[27]Some people make the mistake that once a student can converse in English (Basic interpersonal communication skills - BICS), they will naturally perform well academically (cognitive academic language proficiency - CALP) in English. It has been postulated that BICS and CALP are two different sets of skills.[28]Opponents of bilingual education claim that students with other primary languages besides Spanish are placed in Spanish classes rather than taught in their native languages[19]and that many bilingual education programs fail to teach students English.[19]Critics of bilingual education have claimed that studies supporting bilingual education tend to have poor methodologies and that there is little empirical support in favor of it.The controversy over bilingual education is often enmeshed in a larger political and cultural context. Opponents of bilingual education are sometimes accused ofracismandxenophobia. This is especially so in the case of such groups asEnglish First, which is a conservative organization that promotes the stance that English should be the official language of the United States. InMilwaukee, Wisconsinand other cities, Minister of education of the Young Lords, Tony Baez and others held marches and other activities to promote bilingual education. Proponents of bilingual education are frequently accused of practicingidentity politics, to the detriment of children and of immigrants."To aid and monitor the education of English language learners (ELL)through mother-tongue and English education, the federal government enacted the Bilingual Education Act (Title V11) of the elementary and secondary Education Act in 1968. As an offshoot of president Lyndon B. Johnson's war on poverty, the act strove to help disenfranchised language-miniority students, especially Hispanics. Unfortunately, the acts aims were somewhat ambiguous. As Crawford (2000a) writes 'enacted at the apex of the Great Society, bilingual education act of 1968 passed congress without a single dissent. Americans have spent the past 30 years debating what it was meant to accomplish'." (p.107).[29]California[edit]Californiais the state with the highest number of English Learners (ELs) in the United States. One out of three students in California is an EL.[19]In June 1998,Proposition 227was passed by 61% of the California electorate. This proposition mandates that ELs be placed in structured English immersion for a period "not normally to exceed one year," then be transferred to mainstream classrooms taught "overwhelmingly in English."[30]This proposition also gave parents the possibility to request alternative programs for their children, however, the availability of waivers and information to parents have been a challenge in the implementation of this proposition.[31]In 2000, the California Department of Education contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and WestEd to conduct a five-year evaluation of the effects of Proposition 227.[32]The study methodology focused on "A combination of student achievement analysis, phone interviews, case study site visits, and written surveys was used to examine such questions as how the proposition was implemented, which EL services are most and least effective, and whatunintended consequencesresulted from Proposition 227's implementation."The authors caution about the limitations in the statewide data. California does not have the capacity to link student academic progress over time across years; however, using student-level linked data over time from the Los Angeles Unified School District, and complementing that analysis with surveys, site visits and interviews, the study found "no conclusive evidence favoring one instructional program over another." Students who remained in bilingual education have similar academic growth trajectories when compared with students who switched to English Immersion.[33]California, among other states, also has many public schools which have Immersion programs, most commonly Spanish/English Immersion but also including other languages. Immersion programs include native speakers of both languages and include instruction in both languages, with primary (grade) schools typically having 90% instruction in the minority language in the early grade, transitioning to 50% instruction in each of the minority language and English in the upper grades.Arizona[edit]California was followed byArizonain the passage of similar legislation,Arizona Proposition 203, which ended several programs previously available to ESL students. Arizona was the first state to provide bilingual education in the 1960s.[19]Georgia[edit]During the 1990s the state ofGeorgiaincreased its foreign born population by 233%. That was the second largest increase in the country, and Georgia is the sixth fastest growing state in the United States. Georgia has the seventh largest illegal immigrant population in the country; in the 2000 census 228,000 illegal immigrants lived in the state. During the 1980s and 1990s a labor shortage in the carpet industry contributed to an increase in the Hispanic population of Whitfield County, Georgia. Today almost half of the students in the Dalton (the hub of Whitfield County) public schools are Hispanic.[34]Erwin Mitchell, a local Dalton lawyer, founded theGeorgia Projectin 1996 to help teach the influx of Hispanic students who have moved into the Dalton public schools. The Georgia Project partners with theUniversity of Monterreyin Monterrey,Mexicoto bring teachers from Mexico to Georgia Schools. Sixty teachers from the University of Monterrey have taught in Georgia since 1997, and they typically teach for two to three years onH-1B visas. The Georgia Project also has a Summer Institute that trains American teachers to speak Spanish and learn about Mexican culture. The Georgia Project is a bilingual/bicultural program that is primarily funded from federal education appropriations.[35]Massachusetts[edit]In 2002, more than two-thirds of Massachusetts' voters supported an initiative replacing bilingual education programs with "one-year" English Immersion instruction.[36]The initiative was supported by the ProEnglish campaign and the RepublicanMitt Romney, who at the time wascampaigningto becomeGovernor of Massachusetts. The close to 30,000 bilingual education students within Massachusetts were forced to enter classrooms where they would be instructed specifically and intensively in English.[37]Native American Reservations[edit]Following similarFirst Nations' models toCanada, academiclinguiststhroughout theUnited Statesare working closely withNative Americanreservations communities to establish immersion and second-language programs for a number of respective tribal languages includingNavajo,Hopi,Cherokee,Ojibwe,Lakhota, andSioux, among others. Due to the combination of often a violent and isolative relationship between European settlers and Native Americans, their languages and communities have suffered dramatically in terms of facing extreme endangerment or extinction. The success of these programmes is mixed, depending largely on how healthy the status of the language in question is.However, English-medium education still remains most widely used. Native programs often suffer a lack of state support in terms of funding or encouragement due in large part to the strong preference towards a melting-pot society.Native American boarding schools, which enforced white American values and the English language were extensively used as late as the 1990s, and were notorious for implementing corporal punishment if a Native child was caught speaking his or her language or freely practicing their tribal faith.Intercultural bilingual educationFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIntercultural bilingual education(IBE)[1]orbilingual intercultural education(BIE)[2]is aninterculturalandbilingualmodel ofeducationdesigned for contexts with two (or more)culturesandlanguagesin contact, in the typical case a dominant and an underprivileged culture. The IBE could be applied in almost any country in the world, however, it is discussed and also applied above all in Latin America, where it has been offered to indigenous people as an alternative to monolingual Hispanic education due to the efforts of indigenous movements. In recent years, it has become an important, more or less successful instrument of governmentallanguage planningin several Latin American countries, as has been described for thecase of Quechua in Peru.[2]Contents[hide] 1Types of education in bilingual and bicultural contexts 2History in Latin America 3Bibliography 4References 5External linksTypes of education in bilingual and bicultural contexts[edit]Colin Baker distinguishes four models of education for bilingual or multilingual contexts. The first two of them are models ofassimilationof the minority to the dominant culture and language, while the two others have the aim ofmultilingualismandmulticulturalism.[3]Type of educationLearners' mother tongueLanguage of instructionSocial and educational goalsLinguistic goals

SubmersionMinority languageMajority languageAssimilationMonolingualism in dominant language

TransitionMinority languageTransition from minority language to majority languageAssimilationRelative monolingualism in dominant language (subtractive bilingualism)

ImmersionMajority languageBilingual, with initial importance of L2 (minority language)Pluralism and developmentBilingualism and biliteracy

MaintenanceMinority languageBilingual, with emphasis on L1 (minority language)Maintenance, pluralism and developmentBilingualism and biliteracy

History in Latin America[edit]After theindependence of the nation statesinLatin Americaat the beginning of the 19th century the elites imposed a model of unification based on theCriolloculture andSpanishorPortuguese languagerespectively. This system reached only the privileged classes to at most the Spanish- or Portuguese-speakingmestizopopulation.Only in the 20th century there were increasing attempts to offer school education to the whole population with the explicit goal ofhispanization(castellanizacin) of the indigenous population. The exclusive use of Spanish as language of instruction for learner groups without anybody understanding it resulted in bad learning success and high repetition and dropout rates. The speakers of indigenous languages left school as analphabets, stigmatized as uneducated indios. The use or even knowledge of an indigenous language became a social disadvantage, so that the mother tongue was no longer used and instead of it a deficient Spanish. These people became uprooted, belonging neither to the indigenous nor to the dominant culture.[4]TheevangelicalSummer Institute of Linguistics(SIL) with seat inDallas(USA) was the first institution to introduce bilingual education for indigenous people with the goal ofevangelization. The first bilingual education programs of SIL started inMexicoandGuatemalain the 1930s, inEcuadorandPeruin the 1940s and inBoliviain 1955.[4]A goal of the National Revolution in Bolivia in 1952 was to end discrimination of the indigenous people by integrating them into the majority society. This was to achieved by an adequate school education, adapted to the linguistic situation. The government ofVctor Paz Estenssoroassigned education and hispanization in the eastern lowlands to the SIL, granting the at the same time the right to evangelize. Instruction in the first two grades of primary school took place in the indigenous languages to facilitate acquisition of Spanish. By the beginning of secondary school, the only language of instruction became Spanish.[4]The first education programs without the explicit goal of hispanisation were developed in the 1960s, among them a pilot program of theUniversidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcosin aQuechua-speaking area in theQuinua District(Ayacucho Region,Peru). Due to the efforts of this university, the government of generalJuan Velasco Alvaradoincluded bilingual education into its educational reform in 1972. Peru under general Velasco was the first country of the Americas to declare an indigenous language,Quechua, an official language in 1975. However, this proved to be a symbolic act: The introduction of Quechua as foreign of second language inLimafailed due to racist prejudices, and even for the Quechua andAymaraspeakers in the Andes nothing changed, as the Velasco government was overthrown in 1975.[5][6]The General Directorate for Education of the Indigenous (DGEI) in Mexico was created in 1973, scheduling the use of 56 officially recognized indigenous languages. The Federal Education Law of 1973 ascertained that instruction in Spanish must not take place at the cost of cultural and linguistic identity of Spanish learners.[4]Despite contrary declarations all these bilingual programs were in facttransitional, i.e. to prepare pupils for monolingual secondary and higher education. They contributed to a more effective distribution of Spanish as common language.[2]However, these were experimental projects of limited extension and duration, enabled by international aid, e.g. by theDeutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit(GTZ), which supported a bilingual project with Spanish and Quechua or Aymara,[7]or theUnited States Agency for International Development(US-AID).[4]With the rise of indigenous movements in the 1970s and reflexion about multilingualism and previous bilingual education projects, a new education model of language maintenance and development emerged, which included cultural aspects which were not exclusively linguistic, e.g. aspects of everyday life culture, traditions and world concepts. Therefore, from the beginning of the 1980s people began speaking of Bilingual intercultural education in Latin America.[4]Since then, many countries have invented laws recognizing linguistic and cultural rights. In some countries asArgentina,Bolivia,Brazil,Colombia,Ecuador, andMexico, constitutional reforms were realized.[4]All countries of theAndeshave recognized the importance of intercultural bilingual education.[2]Currently, in most countries IBE does not reach the majority of the indigenous population and is applied only in primary education. According to the laws of some countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, IBE should reach the whole population speaking an indigenous language, in Paraguay the whole population.[4]In recent years, in some countries, above all in Bolivia, a two-way IBE for the whole population is discussed, which means all Spanish-speaking pupils and students should learn at least one indigenous language.[8]On the other hand, thePeruvianindigenous teachers associationAsociacin Nacional de Maestros de Educacin Bilinge Intercultural(es) criticizes the implementation of IBE in Peru as a bridge to castellanization and monoculturalization and that the education of indigenous people should be in the hands of the indigenous peoples and communities themselves.[9][10]In most Latin American countries, IBE is under control of the Ministry of Education. By contrary, IBE inEcuadorwas administered by the indigenous organizations, which were members ofECUARUNARIandCONAIE, since an agreement of the government and the indigenous movement and the creation of the national IBE directorate DINEIB (Direccin Nacional de Educacion Intercultural Bilingue) in 1988. Indigenous representatives appointed teachers and school directors, designed curricula and wrote text books. However, according to investigations in 2008 a fundamental change in the decline of indigenous languages includingKichwaandShuarhas not been achieved. Even inOtavaloandCotacachi, where there are a Kichwa middle class and indigenous mayors, many young people speak no more Kichwa, and even parents organized in the indigenous movement send their children to Spanish-only schools, as these are much better equipped than their IBE counterparts. In February 2009, presidentRafael Correadecided to put IBE under control of the government, restricting indigenous autonomy in educational affairs.[11]Cognitive advantages of bilingualismFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaBeingbilingualhas been linked to a number ofcognitivebenefits. Research has studied how a bilingual individual's L1first language(L1) andsecond language(L2) interact, and has shown that both languages have an influence on the function of one another, and also on cognitive function outside of language. Research on the cognitive advantages to linguistic development, perception, and attentional and inhibitory control has shown that bilinguals can benefit from significant cognitive advantages over monolingual peers in various settings.During history of research into the cognitive advantages of bilingualism, the view has shifted from a subtractive to an additive perspective;[1]that is from believing that being bilingual detracts from one's abilities to believing that being bilingual adds to an individual's abilities.A bilingual can be defined as an individual that is exposed to two languages simultaneously from a young age (under 4), although the definition may vary slightly depending on the studies being presented and their sample selection processes. Several definitions have been given in the literature for bilingualism, for example, either individuals that are learners of another language irrespective of proficiency, or individuals that are equally proficient in both languages.Contents[hide] 1History 2Language 3Executive functions 4Perception 5See also 6ReferencesHistory[edit]Before the 1960s research on bilingual individuals was varied but with a specific pattern of conclusions, namely that being bilingual was detrimental to a child's linguistic and cognitive development, and put the individual at a disadvantage compared to monolingual peers. The general opinion was that bilinguals would have smaller vocabularies, stunted general cognitive abilities and that children learning two languages from a young age would be spending too much of their energy differentiating and building the two languages to become competent in either one.[2][3]Studies referred to the problem of bilingualism the handicapping influence of bilingualism[4]and reported that bilinguals performed worse in IQ tests, had smaller vocabularies, and suffered in most aspects of language development, as revealed mostly through verbal IQ tests.[3][5]However, these studies suffered from several methodological problems that undermined the soundness of their conclusions: These studies employed unstandardized and subjective definitions of bilingualism and of a bilingual individual (e.g., labeling a person as bilingual or monolingual through assumptions based on the national origin of that person's parents or even based on that person's family name), raising the concern that there is no way of determining whether their samples were truly representative of a bilingual population; they did notcontrolforsocioeconomic status(SES); and many of them administered verbal-intelligence tests to non-proficient speakers of a second language in that second language.[5]In 1962, Peal and Lambert published a study which brought to light the importance of controlling for such factors as age, sex, and SES, as well as of having a standardised measure for bilingualism, when selecting a sample of bilinguals to be studied. In their study where they carefully matched their bilingual to their monolingual participants, they found that the bilinguals showed significant advantages over the monolinguals in both verbal and non-verbal tests, especially in non-verbal tests that required more mental flexibility.[6]Since then, the literature has consistently found advantages of bilinguals over matched monolingual peers in several aspects of language development and ability, as well as in more general areas of aptitude such asperceptionandexecutive functioning.Language[edit]Leopold, in his record of his daughter's bilingual development of language[7]observed that she had loose connections between the (phonetic) structure of words and theirsemantics(meaning), demonstrated by her frequent substitution of English words with German and vice versa, in every day speech and even well rehearsed songs and rhymes. He notes that this gave her a greater flexibility in the use, and a way of use of language, that was unobserved in monolingual children of her age, and that perhaps this loose connection between the meaning and form of a word could result in more abstract thinking or greater mental flexibility.In 1972, Worrall[8]designed a study to test Leopold's[7]observations and was able to replicate them. She tested two groups of monolingual and bilingual children at ages 46 and 6-9, and presented them with tests to assess whether they showed a semantic or phonetic preference when categorising words. An example of one task given in the paper was to decide which of the two wordscanandhatwere more similar to the wordcap. The semantic choice would behat, versus the phonetic which would becan. Other tests were designed to provide a choice between semantic and phonetic interpretation of objects (e.g. in a hypothetical situation could you call acowadogand if you did would thisdogbark?).She found that, although both monolingual and bilingual children showed no differences in the way they understood the words used, 54% of the younger bilingual children consistently showed a semantic preference in contrast to their monolingual peers. In monolingual children, semantic preference increased with age, suggesting that bilingual children reach a stage of semantic development 23 years earlier than their monolingual peers. This finding is in stark contrast to the early research and claims about bilingualism which warned that bilingualism stunts children's linguistic development.In their bookIn Other Words,[9]Ellen Bialystok and Kenji Hakuta examine the idea that "the knowledge of two languages is greater than the sum of its parts." They argue that the linguistic benefits of being bilingual are more than simply being able to speak two languages. If a child is learning two languages whose structures and rules are significantly different from each other, this would require the child to think in more complicated ways. An example of this is the understanding of the arbitrariness of labels for objects discussed in the above paragraph, but also being able to distinguish between and use two different grammatical or syntactical structures. This enables the child to increase their understanding of the structure of language and gain a greater awareness of meaning; an increase ofmetalinguistic awareness.[1][10][11]Bialystok argues that metalinguistic awareness also increases bilinguals' control of linguistic processes, such as having a greater ability to detect grammatical or syntactical errors, and recognize words in continuous speech.[12]Bilinguals have also been found to outperform monolinguals in reading ability (an effect modulated by the relationship of the two languages),[13]and better reading skills in L1 were demonstrated with as little as an hour a week of L2 learning,[14]suggesting that being bilingual is also advantageous in the development of reading as well as spoken language.Metalinguistic awareness has therefore been shown to benefit the individual in the acquisition and use of language, giving bilingual individuals (who acquire metalinguistic awareness earlier in life than their monolingual peers) a firm advantage. However, it has also been proposed that metalinguistic awareness could result in advantages in other cognitive abilities besides language, giving individuals a generalised cognitive advantage over monolinguals (see below).[2][3][9]Finally, studies have shown that regardless of the language in use at a present time, both languages are constantly active both phonologically and semantically in bilingual individuals, as indicated byelectrophysiologicalmeasures of performance, even though behavioural measures such as reaction times often do not indicate such an interference.[15][16][17][18]In 2011, Wu and Thierry[16]conducted a study where bilinguals were shown picture pairs and asked to judge whether the word pairs corresponding to the pictured objects rhymed or not. Word pairs were designed so that they either rhymed in both L1 and L2 or only in one of the two languages. Electrophysiological measures (seeEvent-related potential) of the effect (priming) of the sound repetition induced by the rhyming of the word pairs, showed that even though the participants were performing the task in L2, they showed a priming effect (albeit delayed) when those L2 words rhymed in L1.In 2012, Hoshino and Thierry[15]conducted a study where participants were shown word pairs in L2 that sometimes contained words that were cognates to L1 words. Participants judged whether the words in the pairs were related, and electrophysiological results revealed that semantic priming (facilitation of processing of the words) occurred when the words in the pairs were related to each other whether or not the meaning was interpreted in L1 or L2.Both these studies conclude that both languages of an individual are constantly unconsciously active and interfering with one another with facilitatory results regarding the processing of words, explaining bilinguals' advantages over their monolingual peers when it comes to linguistic processing.Executive functions[edit]Executive functionsare those cognitive processes such as problem solving, mental flexibility, attentional control, inhibitory control, and task switching. Bilingual individuals have been shown over a number of different tasks and situations to be better at such processes; suggesting an interaction between being bilingual and executive functions.[11]Hakuta and Diaz,[3]addressed the chicken and egg question concerning bilinguals and their enhanced cognitive abilities; do children with greater cognitive abilities tend to learn more than one language, or is it knowing more than one language that enhances cognitive ability? They administered a set of non-verbal tests that are designed to measure cognitive ability (Raven's Progressive Matrices) to a bilingual sample of children. They found a high correlation with the degree of bilingualism (how proficient the individuals were in each of their languages) of their sample and scores on the test, as well as bilingualism did in fact predict performance (and therefore cognitive ability).Bialystok makes a distinction between two types of processing that aid children in language development; analysis, which involves the ability to represent and understand abstract information, and control, which involves the ability to selectively attend to specific aspects of structures whilst ignoring irrelevant information.[19]The literature concludes that it is in the aspect of control that bilinguals have been found to have an advantage over their monolingual peers when it comes to cognitive abilities.In one study,[20]Bialystok administered a non-linguistic card-sorting task to her participants that required flexibility in problem solving, inhibiting irrelevant information, as well as recognizing the constancy of certain variables in the face of changes in the rules. She found that bilingual children significantly outperformed their monolingual peers in this task, suggesting early development of inhibitory function that aids solving problems that require the ability to selectively focus attention.In a following study, Bialystok and Martin[21]aimed to determine what gave bilinguals an advantage in solving the card-sorting task (and generally an advantage in problem solving situations). Though the groups were equivalent in their ability to represent the stimuli (reflecting back to Worrall's findings[8]), and both were equally able to inhibit learned motor responses, bilinguals showed a firm advantage in the task requiring conceptual inhibition; the ability to inhibit previous associations and create new mental representations of the stimulus according to task changes.An explanation offered by Bialystok[21]and others[22]for this greater ability of bilinguals to selectively attend to important conceptual attributes of a stimulus, is that it may stem from the bilinguals' constant need to inhibit competing labels in their two languages for one object according to the currently relevant language. Bilinguals have different representations in each language for similar concepts and therefore need to constantly be aware of which language they are using and which the appropriate word is to be used in that context. This culminates in an advantage of cognitive control, since the ability to switch between languages and select the appropriate word for use is directly linked to the ability to better attend to relevant, or inhibit irrelevant, information.[23]A further explanation refers to bilinguals' unique experience with using two languages in the samemodality(spoken), differentiating them from monolingual peers, and requiring them to make the decision about how best to respond to a situation, as well as have better control over what they select.[24]Ellen Bialystokhas done extensive research[13][20][21]into the cognitive advantages of bilingualism. In several studies she has shown that bilinguals outperformed their peers in tasks measuring executive function, suggesting that being bilingual gives the individual an advantage of better control of attention and therefore facilitates processing and functioning in several cognitive tasks. Moreover, the ability to better attend to or inhibit irrelevant information has been found to persist into adulthood with bilingual adults (that have been bilingual since childhood) who show better controlled processing than monolingual peers,[25]and has even been linked to slowing age-related cognitive decline.[26]Studies have correlated bilingualism with the delayed onset ofdementiainAlzheimer's disease(AD) for as long as 5 years[26][27]and a recent study[27]provided neurological support for these findings by analyzingCT scansof patients diagnosed with possible AD. Certain functional abilities, that correlate with environmental factors remain in individuals with AD, enabling them to function somewhat normally even in advanced stages of the disease process; these have been termed Cognitive Reserves. This study hypothesized that bilingualism may be a contributing factor to cognitive reserves in AD, measurable by the amount of AD-related atrophy in the brain of bilingual individuals with the disease, matched to monolinguals. As predicted, bilinguals showed a higher level of atrophy than the monolinguals even though their cognitive functioning remained similar, suggesting strongly that bilingualism could be a cognitive reserve that delays the onset of signs of dementia in AD.Perception[edit]A review of the literature suggests that bilingualism has an additive effect on an individual's creativity, by enhancing their mental flexibility, their ability to solve problems, and to perceive situations in different ways and the ability to maintain or manipulate these perceptions to suit the task at hand, all in ways that matched monolingual peers do not exhibit.[8][9][11]One study addressed a less explored field of cognitive advantages bilingual children may exhibit, in the use of creativity to solve of mathematical problems.[28]Participants were presented with problems that were either mathematical in nature (arranging two sets of bottle caps to be equal according to instruction) or non-mathematical (a common household problem represented in pictures) and were asked to provide solutions, while being rated on scales of creativity, flexibility and originality. The results of the study confirmed that the bilingual children were more creative in their problem solving than their monolingual peers. One attribution for this trait could be bilinguals' increased metalinguistic awareness, which creates a form of thinking that is more open and objective, resulting in increased awareness and flexibility.This enhanced mental flexibility that develops in bilinguals influences more than their problem solving or linguistic skills. Language appears to change the way the world is perceived between individuals that speak different languages, and it has been shown to influence the perception of color[29]as well as the categorisation of objects.[30]Thierry et al.[29]studied how having different words for different colors in one language might affect the perception of that color as compared to a language that does not discriminate between those colors. In Greek, "light blue" is distinguished from "blue", not simply as a different shade but as a whole different category of color. In this study, bilingual and monolingual Greek/English participants were shown different shades of blue and light blue as well as green and light green (for which a distinction is not made in Greek) and ERPs were recorded. Electrophysiological measures showed a distinct pattern for the bilinguals indicating that they were perceiving the two colors as completely separate.Cook et al. explored the fact that Japanese speakers are likelier than English ones to categorise objects according to their material as opposed to their shape. In their study[30]they found that the preferences of Japanese monolinguals learning English changed; the more proficient they became in English, the more their object categorization results matched those of English monolinguals.Simultaneous bilingualismis a form ofbilingualismthat takes place when a child becomes bilingual by learning two languages from birth. According to Annick De Houwer, in an article inThe Handbook of Child Language, simultaneous bilingualism takes place in children who are regularly addressed in two spoken languages from before the age of two and who continue to be regularly addressed in those languages up until the final stages oflanguage development.[1]Both languages are acquired asfirst languages. This is in contrast tosequential bilingualism, in which thesecond languageis learned not as anative languagebut aforeign language.

A bilingual sign in a Quebec supermarketContents[hide] 1Prevalence 2Beliefs about simultaneous bilingualism 3Bilingual acquisition 3.1Language input in bilingual acquisition 3.1.1Amount of language input 3.1.2Separation of language input 3.1.3Input stability 3.1.4Attitudes 4Theories of simultaneous bilingual acquisition 4.1Unitary Language System Hypothesis 4.2Dual Language System Hypothesis 5Bilingual Acquisition versus Monolingual Acquisition 5.1Difficulties 5.2Findings 6Dominance 7Code-switching 7.1Equivalency Problems 7.2Social Norms 7.3Parental Interaction 8Further Research 9See also 10References 10.1Notes 10.2BibliographyPrevalence[edit]It is estimated that half of the world is functionally bilingual, and the majority of those bilinguals are 'native speakers' of their two languages.[2]Wlck has pointed out that there are many "native bilingual communities", typically inSouth America,Africa, andAsia, where "monolingualnorms may be unavailable or nonexistent".[3]Beliefs about simultaneous bilingualism[edit]Some popular misconceptions about bilingualism include the ideas that bilingual children will not reachproficiencyin either language and that they will be cognitively disadvantaged by their bilingualism.[4]Many studies in the early 20th century found evidence of a language handicap in simultaneously bilingual children, linking bilingualism with a lowerintelligence.[5]However, many of these studies had seriousmethodologicalflaws.[6]For example, several studies relating bilingualism and intelligence did not account forsocioeconomicdifferences among well-educated,upper classmonolingual children and less-educated (oftenimmigrant) bilingual children.[7]Some recent research on simultaneous bilinguals has actually found some evidence that they have a cognitive advantage over their monolingual counterparts, particularly in the areas ofcognitive flexibility,[8]analytical skill,[9]andmetalinguistic awareness.[10]However, most studies agree that simultaneous bilinguals do not have any definitive cognitive edge over monolinguals.[11]Despite these findings, many therapists and other professionals are at odds with still believing that simultaneous bilingualism can be harmful for a childs cognitive development. One side argues that only one language should be spoken until fluently spoken and then incorporate the second language. The other side argues that the child, whether simultaneously bilingual or not, would still have speech issues. Some bilingual families have chosen to stop speaking a language after hearing about the supposed negative developmental effects of child bilingualism from people in authority.[12]Bilingual acquisition[edit]According to De Houwer, there is no established normal development pattern for simultaneous bilinguals.[13]However, similarlanguage developmentpatterns have been seen in bilingual and monolingual children.[14]Language acquisition in simultaneous bilinguals generally take two common forms of exposure to a second language:[15] A one-personone-language pattern, where each parent communicate in only one of the two languages to the child or both parents speak both languages to the child.Language input in bilingual acquisition[edit]The most influential factor in bilingual language acquisition is the languages spoken by parents to their children, and the languages spoken by others with whom the child comes into contact.[16]This language exposure is calledcomprehensible input. In a 1984 edition ofBilingual Education Paper Series,Carolyn Kessler claimed that children develop faster in the language which is used most in theirenvironment,[17]which may or may not reflect the language of the surrounding community. However, bilingual acquisition can also be affected by the amount of input, the separation of input, and the stability of input, as well as attitudes about bilingualism.Amount of language input[edit]It is important to consider amount of input, because not only do the languages of each person affect on bilingualism; the amount of time each main input carrier spends with the child also has an effect.[18]Separation of language input[edit]There is a spectrum ranging from zero to total separation of language by person. Usually, a simultaneous bilingual child's situation is somewhere in the middle.[19]Somelinguisticexperts, dating from the early 20th century, have maintained that the best way to facilitate bilingual acquisition is to have each main input carrier (usually parents) use one and only one language with the child. By having each parent speak one of the two languages, this method (known as theone person, one language approach) attempts to prevent the child from confusing the two languages.However, the lack of language separation by person does not necessarily lead to failure to communicate effectively in two languages.[20]Further studies have shown that a one person, one language approach may not be necessary for the early separation of language systems to occur.[21]Children appear to be able to disentangle the two languages themselves.There has been little research done on other methods of language separation. De Houwer points out that input may be separated by situation: for example, "Finnishspoken by all family members inside the home butSwedishonce they are outside."[22]Input stability[edit]A change in a childs linguistic environment can triggerlanguage attrition.[23]Sometimes, when input for one language is lost before the final stage of development, children may lose their ability to speak the lost language. This leaves them able to speak only the other language, yet fully capable of understanding both.Attitudes[edit]The parents expectations and knowledge about language development can be instrumental in raising simultaneously bilingual children. Parental attitudes toward their roles and linguistic choices also play a part in the childs linguistic development.[24]The attitudes of the childs extended family and friends have been shown to affect successful bilingualism.[25]Theories of simultaneous bilingual acquisition[edit]Unitary Language System Hypothesis[edit]Virginia Volterra and Traute Taeschner put forth an influential[citation needed]study in 1978, positing that bilingual children move from a stage where the two languages are lexically mixed into eventual structural differentiation between the languages.[26]They theorized that until age two, a child does not differentiate between languages.[27]There are 3 main stages identified by this hypothesis:[28]Stage One - L1 and L2 comprise one language system until approximately 3 years of age.Stage Two - L1 vocabulary separates from L2 but the grammar remains as one languageStage Three - The language systems become differentiated. The child is fully bilingualThis Unitary language system hypothesis, has been the subject of much debate in the linguistic world.[29]Since its publication, this system has been discredited, and current linguistic evidence now points to two separate language systems.[30]Dual Language System Hypothesis[edit]In contrast, the Dual language system hypothesis states