Brain imaging techniques, such as fMRIs, have shown that multilingual brains tend to activate the linguistic portion of their brains even when not engaged in linguistic tasks. This leads researchers to believe that the brain's ability to connect skills tends to enhance cognitive function over time.
A key feature of multilingual cognition is that two or more languages can become activated at the same time, requiring mechanisms to control interference. Consequently, extensive experience managing multiple languages can influence cognitive processes as well as their neural correlates.
Multilingualism has been shown to have positive effects on various aspects of cognition, such as memory, attention, problem-solving, creativity, and mental flexibility. This is because multilinguals have to constantly switch between languages, monitor their linguistic choices, and suppress irrelevant information.
Learning a new language through an immersive process does appear to improve functions like attention and mental alertness. It has been shown that people who speak other languages often exhibit more empathy and a global mindset.
Multilingualism has been linked to several cognitive benefits, including improved memory, problem-solving skills, and attention control. These skills keep the brain persistently alert and active even when only one language is used. It also helps delay age-related cognitive decline and reduce the risk of dementia.
This study played a large role in our understanding of multilingualism and the effects that it has on the brain. Since the late 1970s, researchers have found more cognitive benefits of bilingualism, including better attention, task-switching, and protection against aging declines.
Bilingual people enjoy advantages: they have enriched cognitive control, it's likely that they have improved metalinguistic awareness, as well as better memory, visual-spatial skills and even creativity. There are also social benefits from being bilingual.
Several studies have suggested bilingualism can improve their brain's cognitive function, producing great cognitive control abilities, increased nonverbal and verbal capabilities, increased perceptual sensitivity, and confers some protection against aging, most notably delaying the onset of dementia.
Cognitive development also includes language development, which is a child's ability to communicate, understand speech, and express themself verbally. For school-aged children, this also includes reading and writing comprehension.
More Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual
[9] These skills alone can lead to both academic and behavioral gains as well as a stronger learning environment in your classroom. In a nutshell, advantages of being bilingual include heightened: Executive thinking skills. Working memories and attention spans.
Language does not completely determine our thoughts—our thoughts are far too flexible for that—but habitual uses of language can influence our habit of thought and action. For instance, some linguistic practice seems to be associated even with cultural values and social institution. Pronoun drop is the case in point.
3.2 MULTILINGUALISM – BASIC CONCEPTS
Multilingualism is the knowledge of more than one language by a person or within a social group; it assumes the ability to switch from one language to another in speech, in writing, or in reading.
Language skills enable a child to communicate with others in his or her environment, which encourages the development of cognitive skills and promotes socio-emotional regulation through social interactions.
In language learning whether it is second or foreign, cognitive factors play a big role. There are many cognitive factors that affect language learning. Among the cognitive factors, there are memory, attention and awareness, forgetting, and context or environment in which the learning process takes place.
Research has also shown a positive correlation between bilingualism and cognitive development, especially executive function. Bilingualism supports skills that are specific to executive function: careful attention to the target language, suppressing the non-target language and effectively switching between languages.
Cognitive Theory in Language Learning
Cognitive linguistics theory describes how language interacts with cognition, how language forms our thoughts and the evolution of language parallel with the change in the common mindset across time.
Cognitive principles comprise automaticity which means there is subconscious processing of language with peripheral attention to language forms; meaningful learning which can be contrasted to rote learning, and is thought to lead to better long term retention; anticipation of rewards in which learners are driven to act ...
We can use cognitive theory to help us understand how human beings learn languages, whether this is a first language or a second language. Cognitive theory is grounded in the idea that individuals must first understand a concept before they can use language to express it.
Studies of the cognitive abilities of bilingual children have primarily been concerned with identifying developmental differences between monolinguals and bilinguals.
Being multilingual or bilingual often helps children learn at school because it helps them with problem-solving, multitasking, creativity and flexible thinking. These children can also have good focus.
Learning a new language enhances and improves memory. The Scandinavian Journal of Psychology notes that “bilingualism creates advantages in terms of cognitive abilities (including memory).” Learning a new language expands your mind and worldview. It opens you up to new cultures and to the fruits of diversity.
Cognitive benefits of multilingualism
There is emerging scientific evidence that being bilingual or multilingual actually delays the onset of dementia or even prevents it altogether. Multilingualism also improves working memory, meaning that the brain's capacity to remember things on a short-term basis gets a boost.