The Connection Between Bilingualism And Cognitive Functioning

The connection between bilingualism and cognitive functioning has been greatly studied in the field of psychology. It is believed that people who speak more than one language have enhanced cognitive abilities, compared to monolinguals, which put them at an exceptional level of being communicatively and perceptually successful in life. However, in order to study such abilities that bilingual individuals might have in greater depth it is important to look at development specifically and where it all begins in youth. With this type of research, we will be able to make conclusions about how such predispositions during childhood could have beneficial effects on these individuals later on in life. Therefore, we assume that children who grow up and are raised speaking more than one language possess better executive functioning, specifically in the areas of working memory and attention, compared to monolingual children. In their research on executive functioning in toddlers, Poulin-Dubois et al. (2011) performed various tests on 24-month-old bilingual and monolingual children in order to inspect patterns of their cognitive and executive aptitudes. To achieve this, they presented both of these language groups with conflict tasks that require them to inhibit certain areas of their attention while being exposed to a distracting stimulus. They found out, in fact, that bilingual children were able to accomplish this to a better extent than monolingual children. This authenticates theShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of A Bilingual Advantage For Terms Of Enhanced Executive Control Essay1536 Words   |  7 PagesBialystok, Craik, and Luk (2012) investigated the growing body of evidence examining the presence of a bilingual advantage in terms of enhanced executive control: the group of cognitive skills involved in language switching, working memory and inhibition. 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