Important Facts About Bilingualism

By Rose Marie Garcia Fontana, Ph.D, Garcia Fontana Research

Introduction:

This article was written in order to clarify some misconceptions about bilingualism. As a bilingual educator in California with over 20 years of experience, I can attest to the accuracy of the research information published by the Center for Applied Linguistics. CAL is a highly reputable organization, and has helped to illuminate many linguistic issues for educators and the general public.

I wrote this article, for the newsletter “Proud To Be Bilingual Works” because I firmly believe that speaking two languages provides enormous benefits for children. Future articles that I hope to contribute to the Newsletter will address issues such as “bilingual brains are better”, and “what can parents do to help their children maintain their home language”, “being bilingual makes you smarter and has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world”, etc.

Summary of key information

In the interests of brevity, I decided to reference the summary of key information that was published in a Digest by CAL (quoted below). The original article is titled “A Global Perspective on Bilingualism and Bilingual Education”, written by G. Richard Tucker, of Carnegie Mellon University.

Of prime importance is the last point: time spent instructing the child in a familiar language is a wise investment.

“Research on the Use of First and Second Languages in Education A comprehensive review of research on the use of first and second languages in education, carried out for the World Bank (Dutcher, 1994), examined three different types of countries: (1) those with no (or few) mother tongue speakers of the language of wider communication (e.g., Haiti, Nigeria, the Philippines); (2) those with some mother tongue speakers of the language of wider communication (e.g., Guatemala); and (3) those with many mother tongue speakers of the language of wider communication (e.g., Canada, New Zealand, the United States).

Several conclusions can be drawn from this study:

• Success in school depends upon the child’s mastery of cognitive/academic language, which is very different from the social language used at home.
• The development of cognitive/academic language requires time (4 to 7 years of formal instruction). § Individuals most easily develop literacy skills in a familiar language.
• Individuals most easily develop cognitive skills and master content material when they are taught in a familiar language.
• Cognitive/academic language skills, once developed, and content subject material, once acquired, transfer readily from one language to another.
• The best predictor of cognitive/academic language development in a second language is the level of development of cognitive/academic language proficiency in the first language.
• Children learn a second language in different ways depending upon their culture and their individual personality.
• If the goal is to help the student ultimately develop the highest possible degree of content mastery and second language proficiency, time spent instructing the child in a familiar language is a wise investment.”

The reader can obtain more information on topics about bilingualism from the s listed at the end of this article. Please note that a simple Google search yielded a wealth of websites that can be used for obtaining specific information about bilingualism from a wide variety of s.

Conclusion

Thus, Spanish-speaking parents would do well to develop vocabulary in Spanish with their children, encouraging their children to read, write, sing, communicate in Spanish frequently, in order to promote high levels of language.

Above all, parents need to model positive linguistic behaviors, such as reading in Spanish, talking to their children in Spanish, sharing family stories in Spanish, listening to their children tell their own experiences, in Spanish. All of these behaviors will help to develop pride in being able to speak Spanish while also learning English. Frankly, watching too much TV or playing video games are not constructive behaviors. There isn’t much learning going on in TV “novelas”, but there is a lot to be learned from the “noticieros” and any educational programs that might be available on Spanish language channels.

And lastly, the article listed in the bibliography, by Dr. Mercola, provides very important information about why being bilingual is good for the brain:

…”bilingualism has been associated with improved metalinguistic awareness (the ability to recognize language as a system that can be manipulated and explored), as well as with better memory, visual-spatial skills, and even creativity.”

What more can a caring parent want for their child, other than a better brain? Material things come and go, but your brain is always with you.

Your Editor Informs: Dr. García Fontana will be making periodic contributions to our newsletter.