Running Head: Bilingual Language Learning 1

Bilingual Language Learning

Final Paper

Ashley Ordaz

Early Childhood Development FS2613.50

Professor Lisa Taylor Cook

Bilingual Language Learning 2

Introduction

In our society today there are many families that immigrate from their country of origin

and migrate to a different country. In the United States there has been an increase of immigrants

that have migrated to our country. With this influx of new comers there are families who have

different customs, backgrounds, culture, and language. Bilingualism has not been accepted or

supported well in the past. New research has been conducted to test cognitive abilities in

bilingual children as well as monolingual children. There is a different process in which the brain

interacts with language processing of two different languages. There are both advantages and

disadvantages of being bilingual. Advantages in metalinguistic skills have been noted

(Cummins,1978 (McCardle, 42)). It is important to gather information on how advantages and

disadvantages as well as cognitive development shape bilingual language learning children.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

There are two different types of Bilingualism simultaneous and sequential. Simultaneous

begins when the child is exposed to the first language, typically at home. Then in school or

outside community the child is exposed to the second language, the caregiver might know the

second language or prefer to speak to them in the first language. Sequential is when the child has

knowledge and understanding of the first language before learning the second language.

There are some advantages for children who are bilingual. Advantages have been noted

in cognitive areas of executive control/executive functions (McCardle, 42). There is has been

evidence of greater density of gray matter in left parietal cortex in bilingual children

(McCardle, 43). Gray matter is associated with the language centers of the brain. Because

children are learning both languages there are different sounds phonetically, this can differentiate
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how the languages differ and or are similar to each other. Areas of inhibition, selection, retrieval,

working memory, and sustaining attention have been connected to the advantages of the dual

languages (McCardle, 42). There is also an increase the extent of activation in the left

hemisphere during verbal and nonverbal language tasks (Kovelman, Baker, & Petitto (McCardle,

43)). Disadvantages disadvantages have been noted in speech production, verbal fluency, and

lexical processing (McCardle, 42). Another disadvantage is opportunities for bilingual children

are limited, this may be due to cost, difficulty in finding bilingual teachers, the desire to not

segregate these children, or policies that restrict classroom language use to English (McCardle,

45). There are a few states in the United States that have an English-only legislation in the school

systems. This can inhibit bilingual children from properly learning both languages.

Cognitive Development:

There are several cognitive functions that are heightened in bilingual children. In a study

conducted by Nicolay and Poncelet, their study was to determine the role of phonological

processing abilities (phonological short term memory, phonological awareness, and speech

perception) and attentional/executive skills (auditory attention, inhibition, and flexibility)

(Nicolay, Poncelet, 666). It has been found dual language is strongly associated with

phonological processing abilities such as phonological short-term memory, phonological

awareness, and speech perception (Nicolay, Poncelet, 655).

As a result of the study, results showed second language vocabulary development to be

associated with phonological short term memory and speech perception, among phonological

processing abilities, and with flexibility and auditory selective attention, among

attentional/executive skills (Nicolay, Poncelet, 655). Vocabulary and reading instruction could
Bilingual Language Learning 4

boost ongoing phonological segmentation processes and stimulate the phonological

reorganization (Nicolay, Poncelet, 657).

Related to early childhood education:

Bilingualism can affect how children learn and how they process information in their

language centers of their brain. In a research conducted by Brain Collins, children made

significant gains in both Spanish and English proficiencies with the largest overall gains being in

English (Collins, 394). In the same study it was found that students who were in the classroom

where English and Spanish were spoken were more proficient. I think there should be more

research on better strategies for all types of learners to increase their proficiency in both

languages.

In another study by Audrey Lucero, the teachers used instructional scaffolding.

Teachers use micro discourse scaffolding to repeatedly expose students to key language, and an

analysis of it (Lucero, 538). There benefits of scaffolding that students pick up on, such as the

repetitive sounds and words, help them retain and phonically hear the semantics of the words.

Micro is scaffolding on a single instructional interaction between the student and teacher. Macro

scaffolding is between a larger group with different scaffolding techniques to fit all included in

the group. This sustained linguistic scaffolding not only helps children understand new

language but also enables them to work toward producing their own oral and written language,

and thus participate more fully as members of the academic community (Lucero, 539). Luceros

findings were teachers should, repeated key terms, adjust rate of speech, or rephrased new

academic language into conversational language for children (Lucero, 545). The repetition of

terms help the child remember the term and how the term should be used as well as how it is
Bilingual Language Learning 5

pronounced. The rate of speech is important it is a cue for the child to listen more intently for key

words or important information being discussed.

Conclusion:
In our society today, there has been an increase of children who are bilingual. Because of

the increase there needs to be a different approach on techniques and strategies taken inside the

classroom for bilingual children to succeed. Scaffolding has been a method that has helped

children in the classroom. Repetition, rate of speech, and rephrasing is another technique that had

improved proficiency of the languages. There are also advantages and disadvantages if

techniques are not being used or not used in the right context. There are also outside forces such

as legislation and economic circumstance that can minimize the opportunities for bilingual

programs to integrate the school systems.

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References:

Atagi, N., Goldberg, E., Sandhofer C., (2016). Childrens use of linguistic information when

learning in a bilingual context. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Vol. 144,

p199-208 Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.twu.edu:3361/science/article/pii/S0022096515002787

Collins, B. A. (2014). Dual language development of Latino children: Effect of instructional

program type and the home and school language environment. Early Childhood Research

Quarterly, Vol 29, p389-397. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.twu.edu:3361/science/article/pii/S0885200614000374

Lee, M., Shetgiri, R., Barna, A., Tillitski, J.,Flores, G., (2015). Raising Bilingual Children.

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 37, p503-521 Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2199/content/37/4/503

Lucero, A. (2014). Teachers use of linguistic scaffolding to support the academic language

development of first-grade emergent bilingual students. Journal Of Early Childhood

Literacy, Vol 14, 534-561. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2339/ehost/detail/detail?vid=16&sid=e594a70e-8792-482c-b146-

9f8719a4c3d5%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZz

Y29wZT1zaXRl#AN=99587860&db=a9h

McCardle, Peggy. (2015). Bilingualism: Research and Policy.New Directions for Child and

Adolescent Development, Vol.2015, p41, 8p. Retrieved from

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979b58a2a4e9%40sessionmgr4001&vid=15&hid=4114
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Nicolay, A.C, Poncelet, M. (2013). Cognitive abilities underlying second-language vocabulary

acquisition in an early second-language immersion education context: A longitudinal

study. Journal of Experiemental Child Psychology, Vol 115. P655-671. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.twu.edu:3361/science/article/pii/S0022096513000726

The Impact of Bilingualism on Overall Language Development and Academic Success. (n.d.).

Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.brainy-child.com/article/bilingual.shtml