Bilingual kids better at picking up new languages: Study

NewsBharati    14-Oct-2017
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New York City, October 14: Research has uncovered how we understand language. A study done at Fordham University has revealed that bilingual kids have a better chance of picking up new languages. It was published in the journal 'Bilingualism: Language and Cognition'.

Researchers analyzed the difference between Mandarin-English bilinguals and local English speakers in US. In a new, small study, researchers included 13 college students who learned English and Mandarin at a young age, and 16 college students who spoke only English.

 

The bilingual students were better able to learn a new language over the course of a week than the monolingual students, the investigators found. Brain scans revealed significant differences between the two groups in patterns of certain types of brain waves.

"The difference is readily seen in language learners' brain patterns," said senior researcher Michael Ullman. "When learning a new language, bilinguals rely more than monolinguals on the brain processes that people naturally use for their native language," Ullman explained in a university news release.

And, lead study author Sarah Grey noted, "We also find that bilinguals appear to learn the new language more quickly than monolinguals." Grey is an assistant professor of Spanish and linguistics, and director of the language programme at Fordham University in New York City.

"There has been a lot of debate about the value of early bilingual language education," Grey said in the news release. "Now, with this small study, we have novel brain-based data that points towards a distinct language-learning benefit for people who grow up bilingual."