multilingual kids Archives | The Latino Family Literacy Project Parent and Family Engagement with English Learners Wed, 28 Sep 2016 23:35:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 New Research Links Bilingualism with Better Attention and Self Control https://www.latinoliteracy.com/new-research-links-bilingualism-with-better-attention-and-self-control/ Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:00:58 +0000 https://www.latinoliteracy.com/?p=13787 New Research Links Bilingualism with Better Attention and Self Control Bilingualism has long been considered something of an advantage. Children who are taught to learn multiple languages are often better prepared for their lives ahead, not just for the reason that they can converse with people from diverse backgrounds in other countries, but because bilingualism is often an indication of ... Read More

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Bilingualism has long been considered something of an advantage. Children who are taught to learn multiple languages are often better prepared for their lives ahead, not just for the reason that they can converse with people from diverse backgrounds in other countries, but because bilingualism is often an indication of a higher intellect at work. In addition, the ability of being bilingual brings with it some evidence of a greater control over one’s own thought processes and mental skills. The evidence suggests that having a grasp of more than one language with fluency helps strengthen the brain, training it to concentrate more effectively, grasp complex thoughts and concepts, and focus one’s attention more thoroughly.

Award-winning dual language books for infants and toddlers
The tougher the language to learn, the more of a potential benefit it can provide to condition the brain and hone its mental capacities for self-control, discipline, and becoming more alert and open to complicated thinking patterns. This practice helps to prepare bilingual learners for making quick decisions and paying closer attention to something the mind has been set towards accomplishing. Keeping two or even three or four languages in the brain, ready for use at any time, heightens the sensitivity towards proper stimuli, yet enables it to fend off distraction. Some languages are harder to learn than others, but if you are a native English speaker who is learning or has learned another language, such as Chinese, the belief on the part of many noted researchers is that this education only serves as the building blocks toward higher academic achievement in addition to clear, rational, and logical problem-solving. So learning a second language can bring with it many true benefits besides having a wider vocabulary, and developing these attributes from a young age can pay great dividends later in the improvement of the mind.

So it stands to reason that English language learners may be getting a leg up as they pursue their studies at even the elementary school level. As they work to sound out and comprehend the many basic sounds of English, they are also equipping themselves with the skills to be more attentive and sharp, enabling their minds for greater cognitive and deductive capabilities.

Lectura Books offers award-winning bilingual books. Reading is a great way to teach a child to become bilingual. To watch a video trailer of some of their most popular books, visit their Youtube Channel.

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]]> Communication Skills Better With Bilingual / Multilingual Kids https://www.latinoliteracy.com/skills-better-with-bilingual-kids/ Mon, 14 Mar 2016 19:09:18 +0000 https://www.latinoliteracy.com/?p=13080 Researcher Katherine Kinzler recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about a study she conducted with other researchers and a follow-up study, both of which underlined the social advantages of bilingualism and that communication skills were better with bilingual / multilingual kids. Her study, published in the journal, Psychological Science, showed that children who speak more than one ... Read More

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]]> Researcher Katherine Kinzler recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about a study she conducted with other researchers and a follow-up study, both of which underlined the social advantages of bilingualism and that communication skills were better with bilingual / multilingual kids.

Bilingual Elementary Family Literacy Program
Her study, published in the journal, Psychological Science, showed that children who speak more than one language are better at communication than children who speak just a single language.

She wrote: “We took a group of children in the United States, ages 4 to 6, from different linguistic backgrounds, and presented them with a situation in which they had to consider someone else’s perspective to understand her meaning….Children in multilingual environments have social experiences that provide routine practice in considering the perspectives of others. They have to think about who speaks which language to whom, who understands which content, and the times and places in which different languages are spoken…Interestingly, we also found that children who were effectively monolingual yet regularly exposed to another language — for example, those who had grandparents who spoke another language — were just as talented as the bilingual children at this task. It seems that being raised in an environment in which multiple languages are spoken, rather than being bilingual per se, is the driving factor.”

The second study, to be soon published in Developmental Science looked at even younger children, 14-to-16-month-old babies, and found again that being raised in a bilingual or multilingual environment sharpens social skills.

The bottom line for Kindler is being exposed to more than one language seems to facilitate “the basic skills of interpersonal understanding. Of course, becoming fully bilingual or multilingual is not always easy or possible for everyone. But the social advantage we have identified appears to emerge from merely being raised in an environment in which multiple languages are experienced, not from being bilingual per se. This is potentially good news for parents who are not bilingual themselves, yet who want their children to enjoy some of the benefits of multilingualism.”

For bilingual teaching resources and bilingual books, visit www.LecturaBooks.com

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