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Bilingualism & Intelligence Nowadays, bilingualism is prevalent in many parts of the world. It is a multi-faceted concept, shaped by factors such as migration, medium of instruction, interracial marriage, and politics, among others. From Southeast Asia to Africa to Latin America – people have been using more than one language in numerous situations, as well as for various purposes and functions. “It is very reasonable to guess that over half the world’s population is bilingual,” states Cindy Kandolf (1998) in her US-based website, the Bilingual Families Webpage.
In the same light, “intelligence” is also a much-talked about subject matter today. Parents put a premium on providing the best possible education for their children, so that they may grow up to their full potential. Some even go to great lengths to discover and cultivate their children’s “giftedness. ” This phenomenon is not at all surprising, since the world is becoming more and more competitive, and quality education is often seen as the ticket to success. Putting these two concepts together, one might wonder if — and how — bilingualism and intelligence relate with each other.
Does being functional in more than one language affect intelligence positively or negatively? This question stirred my interest and led me to find out what different researchers, educators, and language experts had to say. Some experts strongly uphold that bilingualism has a positive affect on intelligence. In an article for Europe’s Children Our Concern (ECOC) website, Dr. Ludo Beheydt, Professor of Dutch Linguistics at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, recalls how early studies cautioned against teaching children a second language at an early age.
It was thought that this would “hamper” their learning of the first language. He counters this misconception by presenting newer studies, which show otherwise: “The continual switching of languages is a powerful cognitive exercise. It can lead to greater cognitive flexibility, and bilingualism could, therefore, enhance intelligence” (Beheydt, 2010). Likewise, Alvaro Fernandez (2007), a writer for the Sharp Brains: Brain Fitness for All website, shares that learning and using more than one language provides constant “brain exercise. He draws from earlier studies by Bialystok, who believes that bilinguals constantly choose which language to use, and which one to restrain. This led Fernandez to surmise that using two languages appears to boost one’s decision-making, multi-tasking and even memory skills. Meanwhile, a number of experts also share a positive — though more objective — outlook on the relationship between bilingualism and intelligence. Kandolf (1998) states that recent studies showed that bilinguals are better than monolinguals at certain tasks, such as language games; however the differences between them are insignificant.
She contrasts this with earlier studies in the United States, which claimed that monolinguals had a higher degree of intelligence than bilinguals. However, it was later found that the bilingual respondents were immigrant children, who spoke little English and lived through more stressful conditions than their monolingual peers. Similarly, Sampath (2005) reports that knowing a second language does not necessarily translate to “global nonverbal intelligence” such as — logical reasoning, perception of part-to-whole relationship, and flexible manipulation of codes.
He concluded this after conducting a study on the effects of learning through a second language on the intelligence of 10-year-olds in Chennai, India. For this study, he compared the performances of 30 monolingual children, who used Tamil only, and 30 bilingual children, who spoke Tamil and another language. In addition, Sampath mentions a “specific” beneficial effect of learning through a second language: “When children have a higher level of second language proficiency, they perform better on verbal intelligence. ” Still, there are others who are not sold on the positive effects of bilingualism.
Gupta (2010) articulates that while teaching a second language to children is definitely helpful, there is no special “magic” in it. In an article for The Linguist List: International Linguistics Community Online, Gupta states that bilingualism does not increase (nor decrease) intelligence. She also explains that just as bilinguals vary in terms of intelligence, there are also monolinguals with varying degrees of intelligence. Having read the various views stated above, I am thus able to formulate a more informed, personal outlook on bilingualism and intelligence.
Being a bilingual myself, I do believe that learning and using a second language is a good “mental exercise. ” I also agree with Sampath’s statement, that proficiency in a second language correlates to a high level of verbal intelligence. However, this clearly does not refer to “intelligence as a whole. ” The concept of intelligence itself is a wide-ranging theme, especially since theories such as Howard Gardner’s “Multiple Intelligences” indicate that people possess a particular aptitude for certain aspects (i. e. linguistic, logical, kinesthetic, musical, etc. ) — but this does not make them more “intelligent” than others.
Another thing that I discovered is that one must be careful in scrutinizing each study related to bilingualism. The claims of one language expert or the findings of one study might not hold true for all cases. Though the world is becoming more and more interconnected today — diversity in culture, lifestyle, and beliefs all contribute toward the occurrence of bilingualism in various contexts. Ultimately, doing this assignment has made me more interested in reading about language studies in general. I realize that one must be objective and critical in analyzing past and recent research findings.
Moreover, I learned that it is always wise to look beyond the specifics and try to understand as well the “macro” factors that affect a particular issue. REFERENCES Sampath, Kalyani K. (2005). Effect of bilingualism on intelligence [Electronic version]. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, 2048–2057. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from http://www. lingref. com/isb/4/159ISB4. PDF Gupta, Andrea Fraser. (2010). Bilingual and multilingual children: a perspective. The Linguist List: International Linguistics Community Online. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from http://linguistlist. org/ask-ling/biling2. fm Kandolf, Cindy. (1998). Myths about bilingualism. Bilingual Families Webpage. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from http://www. nethelp. no/cindy/myth. html Fernandez, Alvaro. (2007). Bilingual brains stay sharp longer. Sharp Brains: Brain Fitness for All. Retrieved July 25, 2010 from http://www. sharpbrains. com/blog/2007/04/07/bilingual-brains-stay-sharp-longer/ Beheydt, Ludo. (2010). Bilingualism and specific learning difficulties. Europe’s Children Our Concern (ECOC): supporting children and young people with learning difficulties. Retrieved July 25, 2010 from http://www. ecoc. be/en/rcenter_library_pub_bil1. php