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TheBenefitsofBilingualismTheNewYorkTimes

SundayReview

WhyBilingualsAreSmarter
MARCH17,2012

GrayMatter
ByYUDHIJITBHATTACHARJEE

SPEAKINGtwolanguagesratherthanjustonehasobviouspracticalbenefits
inanincreasinglyglobalizedworld.Butinrecentyears,scientistshavebegun
toshowthattheadvantagesofbilingualismareevenmorefundamentalthan
beingabletoconversewithawiderrangeofpeople.Beingbilingual,itturns
out,makesyousmarter.Itcanhaveaprofoundeffectonyourbrain,
improvingcognitiveskillsnotrelatedtolanguageandevenshieldingagainst
dementiainoldage.
Thisviewofbilingualismisremarkablydifferentfromtheunderstanding
ofbilingualismthroughmuchofthe20thcentury.Researchers,educatorsand
policymakerslongconsideredasecondlanguagetobeaninterference,
cognitivelyspeaking,thathinderedachildsacademicandintellectual
development.
Theywerenotwrongabouttheinterference:thereisampleevidencethat
inabilingualsbrainbothlanguagesystemsareactiveevenwhenheisusing
onlyonelanguage,thuscreatingsituationsinwhichonesystemobstructsthe
other.Butthisinterference,researchersarefindingout,isntsomucha
handicapasablessingindisguise.Itforcesthebraintoresolveinternal
conflict,givingthemindaworkoutthatstrengthensitscognitivemuscles.

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Bilinguals,forinstance,seemtobemoreadeptthanmonolingualsat
solvingcertainkindsofmentalpuzzles.Ina2004studybythepsychologists
EllenBialystokandMichelleMartinRhee,bilingualandmonolingual
preschoolerswereaskedtosortbluecirclesandredsquarespresentedona
computerscreenintotwodigitalbinsonemarkedwithabluesquareand
theothermarkedwitharedcircle.
Inthefirsttask,thechildrenhadtosorttheshapesbycolor,placingblue
circlesinthebinmarkedwiththebluesquareandredsquaresinthebin
markedwiththeredcircle.Bothgroupsdidthiswithcomparableease.Next,
thechildrenwereaskedtosortbyshape,whichwasmorechallengingbecause
itrequiredplacingtheimagesinabinmarkedwithaconflictingcolor.The
bilingualswerequickeratperformingthistask.
Thecollectiveevidencefromanumberofsuchstudiessuggeststhatthe
bilingualexperienceimprovesthebrainssocalledexecutivefunctiona
commandsystemthatdirectstheattentionprocessesthatweuseforplanning,
solvingproblemsandperformingvariousothermentallydemandingtasks.
Theseprocessesincludeignoringdistractionstostayfocused,switching
attentionwillfullyfromonethingtoanotherandholdinginformationinmind
likerememberingasequenceofdirectionswhiledriving.
Whydoesthetusslebetweentwosimultaneouslyactivelanguagesystems
improvetheseaspectsofcognition?Untilrecently,researchersthoughtthe
bilingualadvantagestemmedprimarilyfromanabilityforinhibitionthatwas
honedbytheexerciseofsuppressingonelanguagesystem:thissuppression,it
wasthought,wouldhelptrainthebilingualmindtoignoredistractionsin
othercontexts.Butthatexplanationincreasinglyappearstobeinadequate,
sincestudieshaveshownthatbilingualsperformbetterthanmonolinguals
evenattasksthatdonotrequireinhibition,likethreadingalinethroughan
ascendingseriesofnumbersscatteredrandomlyonapage.
Thekeydifferencebetweenbilingualsandmonolingualsmaybemore
basic:aheightenedabilitytomonitortheenvironment.Bilingualshaveto
switchlanguagesquiteoftenyoumaytalktoyourfatherinonelanguage
andtoyourmotherinanotherlanguage,saysAlbertCosta,aresearcheratthe

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UniversityofPompeuFabrainSpain.Itrequireskeepingtrackofchanges
aroundyouinthesamewaythatwemonitoroursurroundingswhendriving.
InastudycomparingGermanItalianbilingualswithItalianmonolingualson
monitoringtasks,Mr.Costaandhiscolleaguesfoundthatthebilingual
subjectsnotonlyperformedbetter,buttheyalsodidsowithlessactivityin
partsofthebraininvolvedinmonitoring,indicatingthattheyweremore
efficientatit.
Thebilingualexperienceappearstoinfluencethebrainfrominfancyto
oldage(andthereisreasontobelievethatitmayalsoapplytothosewholearn
asecondlanguagelaterinlife).
Ina2009studyledbyAgnesKovacsoftheInternationalSchoolfor
AdvancedStudiesinTrieste,Italy,7montholdbabiesexposedtotwo
languagesfrombirthwerecomparedwithpeersraisedwithonelanguage.In
aninitialsetoftrials,theinfantswerepresentedwithanaudiocueandthen
shownapuppetononesideofascreen.Bothinfantgroupslearnedtolookat
thatsideofthescreeninanticipationofthepuppet.Butinalatersetoftrials,
whenthepuppetbeganappearingontheoppositesideofthescreen,the
babiesexposedtoabilingualenvironmentquicklylearnedtoswitchtheir
anticipatorygazeinthenewdirectionwhiletheotherbabiesdidnot.
Bilingualismseffectsalsoextendintothetwilightyears.Inarecentstudy
of44elderlySpanishEnglishbilinguals,scientistsledbythe
neuropsychologistTamarGollanoftheUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,
foundthatindividualswithahigherdegreeofbilingualismmeasured
throughacomparativeevaluationofproficiencyineachlanguageweremore
resistantthanotherstotheonsetofdementiaandothersymptomsof
Alzheimersdisease:thehigherthedegreeofbilingualism,thelatertheageof
onset.
Nobodyeverdoubtedthepoweroflanguage.Butwhowouldhave
imaginedthatthewordswehearandthesentenceswespeakmightbeleaving
suchadeepimprint?
Correction:March25,2012

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TheGrayMattercolumnonbilingualismlastSundaymisspelledthenameofa
universityinSpain.ItisPompeuFabra,notPompeaFabra.
YudhijitBhattacharjeeisastaffwriteratScience.
AversionofthisopedappearsinprintonMarch18,2012,onpageSR12oftheNewYorkedition
withtheheadline:WhyBilingualsAreSmarter.

2015TheNewYorkTimesCompany

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