Proficient Development in Bilingual Children compared to Monolingual

Children
By Sasha Zanjani

Credit: Shutterstock/Creativa

Exposure to multiple languages has an essential developmental effect on adolescent

growth. Adolescent development is a very interesting and critical focus that can alter an
individual in many ways. Language barrier exposure can facilitate in childhood development in
various ways, all benefiting the individual immensely.

The knowledge of the tongue tongue provides children with a whole new gateway to
skills, giving them advantages in the ever-challenging world. These advantages, have been
demonstrated using multiple cognitive tasks and have been found among bilinguals speaking a
variety of language pairs, suggesting that these effects are not limited to a single task or
particular language pairing (Kapa et. Al 2013). Skills such as cognitive skills, communication,
are skills that are unchangeableintangible. In recent studies, psychologists have made it a priority
to understand exactly how much of an effect bilingualism has on children, good or bad.
Communication is one of the most critical, yet arduous skills needed for survival and success.
Effective communication skills are developed at an early age. In a study done at the University of
Chicago by a team of psychologists, a group of children aged 4-6 was done to see just how much
communicational differences there were in multilingual families and monolingual families. They
wanted to see how exposure to diverse sociolinguistic environments would benefit the children
in a very intersting way. They werent necesarrily looking for brain development, but they were
looking to see if the children are able to grasp the differences of what the other person is actually
observing could grant children a profound understanding of differences between peoples
perspectives (Fan et. al 2015). Sociolinguistic refers to the study of cultural norms, syntax of
language, and the effect of language on society. In this test, the children were given a social task
requiring the intake of someone elses perspective in a situation. The children were seated across
the adult with 3 cars of different sizes (small, medium, and large) visible only to the child (the
smallest car wasnt visible to the adult and they had no prior knowledge of the third smallest
car). The child was aware of this as they were given a trial run before hand. The test was done to
see whether or not the children of various linguistic groups were able to distinguish which car the
adult was referring to move. The results showed that bilingual children, along with children who

have exposure to another language but arent themselves bilingual performed at a higher rate
than monolingual children. This turns about to be very crucial, as the scientist can now deduce
that children who are bilingual are able to disntinguish what another person is possibly viewing
from their own perspective.
An experiment by psychologists Bialystok and Martin-rhee was done to study inhibitory
control, the ability to stay focused on a relevant stimulus in the occurrence of an irrelevant
stimuli, to which bilingual children have an advantage. The study included 34 preschool
children; 18 monolingual English speakers and 17 bilingual French-English speaking children
(with English being the main language spoken). A specific task was given to each group along
with the final task that both language groups completed. This task required the children to click
on the shift button whenever they saw a red or blue square. Left and right shift was labeled with
a blue and red color, respectively. These tasks showed that bilinguals have a quicker reaction
time, showing an ability to control attention suggesting that children who are raised in a
mutliple language environment have enhanced inhibitory control and development of executive
functionthat the development of executive functioning broadly and inhibitory control in
particular is influenced by bilingualism (Martin-Rhee et. Al 2008). This analysis supports the
test on communicational skills because it applies to the ability of the children to control their
attention of the adults perspective. The study done in Chicago tested the childs ability to
distinguish what the adult can see with what they see. This study showed something entirely
different, yet it relates massively to the previous study. Communication skills are essential in
observing and assessing a situation, veryfing that bilinguals bilingual adolescents are able to
control their attention while also focusing on what the adult can see. This study focused more on
communicaitonal tests which further confirms the previous study. The ability of the child to use

inhibitory control to facilitate in making a decision was supported with the study by Bialystok
and Martin-rhee.
To further prove that bilingualism can facilitate in the improving of cognitive functions, a test
in Italy was conducted on 7-month infants that were exposed to two languages. These infants
were given an auditory and visual test. An audio cue occurred followed by a puppet on one side
of a monitor. In another trial, another audio cue was followed by another puppet on a different
side of the monitor. Bilingual exposed infants adapted their gaze in the new direction swifter than
monolingual exposed infants. The data gathered reveals an advantage in executive control for
crib bilingual infants (Kovaks et. Al 2009). The difference between this study and the other
studies is that it focuses on pre-verbal adolescents infants and how language can have an effect
of them as well, further suggesting that exposure to numerous languages can have a dramatic
impact early on.
In comparison with the pervious studies mentioned, further studies on multilingual families
with different cultural backgrounds, economical backgrounds, and educational experience were
completed to see how these diverse variables can affect growth. This study comprised of 104
Spanish-English, French-English, and Chinese-English speaking children. This study
investigated effects of psychomotor speed through the use of language tasks that measured
common grammar knowledge , general cognitive level, performed language tasks measuring
vocabulary, grammar, and metalinguistic knowledge, and a nonverbal executive control task
assessing task switching (Barac et. Al 2012). The study showed, through the use of numerous
trials, that bilingual children with different cultural backgrounds contribute to the performance
on various tests. In addition to culture backgrounds affecting performance, what language the
children are exposed to may also have a factor in the performance on the linguistic test.

language similarity and language of schooling contribute to performance on linguistic and

metalinguistic tasks by bilingual children as well (Barac et. Al 2012). For example, a linguistic
test of English vocabulary and syntax displayed that Spanish-English bilingual children
obtained scores comparable to monolinguals and they also placed much better than children
who spoke English and Chinese or French ; French-English children spoke a language with some
relation to English and Chinese-English children were being educated in English, but each of
these groups lacked one of the essential experiences that characterized the Spanish-English
bilinguals and consequently obtained lower scores than the Spanish-English bilingual and
monolingual groups (Barac et. Al 2012). This shows that different backgrounds can have an
effect on certain bilingual families, further suggesting that other factors such as economical and
educational backgrounds could also have a dramatic effect on development of bilingual or
monolingual children. Although we do not know why these specific Spanish-English speaking
children placed higher in the tasks, a future experiment should be conducted on a wider scale to
really see if a certain language matters in performance standards.
All of these studies showed that bilingual children, or children exposed to multiple
languages, had enhanced cognitive skills, communication skills, and problem solving. Exposure
to a multi-lingual environment can be seen early on and it can have a different impact on children
who come from various backgrounds. The study done on different cultures and backgrounds
differs from the other studies as it shows us some biases that the other tests dont offer. In order
to really gain a better understanding of how much languages have on children, a test should be
conducted on a larger sample size using children in different culture norms and economical
differences. However, each of these test all support the theory that children with exposure to a
multilingual upbringing can have a proficient development in adolescents. Further studies can

address just how much the executive functions enhancement in bilinguals depends on the
context of language acquisition (crib or school bilingualism) or on the similarity of languages
(same or different language classes (Kovaks et. Al 2009). Studies on different age groups using
the same tests can also be conducted to gain a better understanding of how the developmental
process increases in children. Language is more than a means of communication, its a
developmental tool.

References:
1. Barac, Raluca, and Ellen Bialystok. "Bilingual Effects on Cognitive and Linguistic
Development: Role of Language, Cultural Background, and Education." Child
Development (2012): n. pag. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.

2. Buac, Milijana, and Margarita Kaushanskaya. The Relationship between Linguistic and NonLinguistic Cognitive Control Skills in Bilingual Children from Low Socio-Economic
Backgrounds. Frontiers in Psychology 5 (2014): 1098.PMC. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

3. Fan, S. P., Z. Liberman, B. Keysar, and K. D. Kinzler. "The Exposure Advantage:

Early Exposure to a Multilingual Environment Promotes Effective
Communication." Psychological Science 26.7 (2015): 1090-097. Web. 4 Apr.
2016.

4. Kapa, Leah L., and John Colombo. Attentional Control in Early and Later Bilingual
Children. Cognitive development 28.3 (2013): 233246. PMC. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

5. Kovacs, A. M., and J. Mehler. "Cognitive Gains in 7-month-old Bilingual

Infants." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106.16 (2009): 6556560. Pnas. Web. 3 Apr. 2016.

6. Martin-Rhee, Michelle M., and Ellen Bialystok. "The Development of Two Types of
Inhibitory Control in Monolingual and Bilingual Children."Bilingualism
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 11.01 (2008): n. pag. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.