Bilingualism Correlates with Increased Cognitive Development and Abilities
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Hypothesized that mutual interference between a bilingual child's 2 languages forces the child to develop particular coping strategies which in some ways accelerate cognitive development. The sample consisted of 96 5-8 yr olds: 2 groups of Hebrew-English bilinguals, one group tested in theUSand the other group tested inIsrael; and 2 groups of monolinguals, with those tested in theUSspeaking only English and those tested inIsraelspeaking only Hebrew. In all groups parent occupation and education level were similarly high. In spite of lower vocabulary level, bilinguals showed more advanced processing of verbal material, more discriminating perceptual distinctions, more propensity to search for structure in perceptual situations, and more capacity to reorganize their perceptions in response to feedback.
The influence of bilingualism on cognitive strategy and cognitive development. Child Development, 48(3), 1009-1018. from PsycINFO database.
Ben-Zeev, S. (1977).
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A previous study found that middle-class Hebrew-English bilingual children were characterized by distinctive perceptual strategies and more advanced processing in certain verbal tasks, as compared to similar monolinguals. The present study tested whether similar strategies and response patterns will appear when the children involved are from different language groups and from relatively disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods. The results showed that Spanish-English bilingual children manifest similar strategies to those found in the previous study (distinctive perceptual strategies and more advanced processing in certain verbal tasks), although with some attenuation. The strategies apply to nonverbal as well as verbal material. These results appeared in spite of deficiencies in vocabulary and syntax usage for the Spanish-English bilinguals relative to their control group of similar ethnic and social background.
Bilingualism and cognition: Some recent findings. NABE: The Journal for the National Association for Bilingual Education, 4(1), 15-50. from ERIC database.
Duncan, S. E., & De Avila Edward A. (1979).
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Hispanic children in grades 1 and 3 were tested to examine the relationship between degree of bilingualism in English and Spanish, intellectual development level, and performance on two tests of cognitive-perceptual functioning or field dependence /independence. A positive, significant relationship was found between relative language proficiency and cognitive perceptual performance.
Bilingualism and cognition: Some recent findings.NABE: The Journal for the National Association for Bilingual Education, 4(1), 15-50. from ERIC database.
Duncan, S. E., & De Avila Edward A. (1979).
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Investigated is the relationship between bilingualism in children and cognitive development. French-Italian bilingual children (aged 7-11) were categorized into four groups: (1) equally fluent in both languages, acquired at home; (2) equally fluent in both languages, acquired scholastically; (3) dominant in French; & (4) dominant in Italian. A control group of monolingual Italian children is identified for comparison with the results. A series of cognitive tests was administered to the students and to the control group. It is concluded that bilingualism in early childhood exerts a positive effect on the formation of cognitive processes in children.
Franco-italian bilingualism in early childhood and cognitive development. [Bilinguisme precoce franco-italien et developpement cognitif] Il Forneri,7(2), 83-99. from Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts database.
Fardeau, O. (1993).
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Presents case promoting foreign languages in elementary schools using study conducted to explore relationships between bilingual and cognitive abilities of Mexican American children. Favors additive over subtractive bilingualism.
An empirical rationale for foreign languages in elementary schools. Modern Language Journal, 65(1), 36-42. from ERIC database.
Ginsburg, H. J., & McCoy, I. H. (1981).
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Theory and research on bilingualism and its relationship to cognitive development have provided mixed results, especially in relation to the value of United States bilingual education programs. Little of the existing research on bilingualism is generalizable to U.S. minority language groups. However, one study of children in a bilingual program designed to see if intellectual abilities are related to the student's degree of bilingualism rather than to compare bilingual and monolingual children found that a positive relation exists between bilingualism and various abilities, such as the ability to think abstractly about language and to think nonverbally. In addition, the correlation between the students' abilities in the two languages developed in the bilingual education program became stronger in the course of the program, supporting the idea of the interdependence of the languages of the bilingual.
Cognitive development in bilingual instruction. U.S. ; Virginia
Hakuta, K. (1985).
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Two samples of Grade 1 pupils, 50 monolingual and 50 bilingual were tested on a specially constructed Concepts of Linear Measurement Test based on Piaget's test items. The bilingual sample proved to be significantly superior to the monolingual sample on the concept formation test.
Concept formation and bilingualism. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 14(4), 225-232. from PsycINFO database.
Liedtke, W. W., & Nelson, L. D. (1968).
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The cognitive development of Italian-English bilingual & Italian monolingual children (aged 5-6) was studied based on measures of metalinguistic awareness, creativity, nonverbal abilities, & reading achievement. Following proficiency testing in both languages, students were assigned to groups of high & low Italian proficiency & high & low English proficiency, producing six groups for comparison. Results of comparison of performance on the measures of cognitive development indicated that students who demonstrated high proficiency in both English & Italian achieved higher scores on the creativity, metalinguistic awareness, & reading achievement tests.
An investigation of the cognitive development of Italian-English bilinguals and Italian monolinguals from Rome .Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,14(4), 345-346. from Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts database.
Ricciardelli, L. A. (1993).
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It was the primary purpose of this study to investigate the effects of bilingualism on the cognitive development and linguistic performance of children at various ages living in the same cultural environment. It also studied the relationship between formal operational thought and a prerequisite cognitive style as typified by field independence/field dependence for both bilingual and monolingual subjects. The bilingual subjects were tested for both language dominance and language proficiency. To investigate the interrelationships between bilingualism and cognitive function, it was necessary to include both verbal and non-verbal tests of cognition. No significant differences in performance could be attributed to lingualism, grade, or age with the exception of language proficiency correlated with cognitive level on analytical reasoning. The childrens' overall cognitive level indicated some justification for the theoretical relationship between verbal and non-verbal measures of abstract thinking. The bilingual children used higher order rules more frequently than the monolingual children. The evidence seems to suggest that bilingualism may scaffold concept formation and general mental flexibility.
The effects of bilingualism on cognitive development. (EdD, ProQuest Information & Learning/Temply University).Dissertation Abstracts International,53(4-A), 1104.
Rodriguez, Y. G. (. (1992).