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July 27, 2016
Children Show Off Bilingual Advantage
Benefits found in problem solving
monolingual peers.
Cristina Crivello, Ph.D. stu-
by e riC t egethoff
children learning two languages dent, University of Concordia in
A new study of bilingual and perform better at certain prob- Montreal who led the study in the
monolingual toddlers shows lem-solving tasks than their Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, says bilingual learn-
ing gives children abilities that are
beneficial for people at any age.
“It’s these specific cognitive
abilities, like selective attention
and cognitive flexibility, where
they have to focus on relevant in-
formation and ignore distracting
information,” says Crivello.
Though there is no consensus
yet on exactly how learning oth-
er languages improves the brain,
Crivello suggests that switching
between languages mirrors the pro-
cess of switching between tasks.
Speaking another language can
also improve children’s chances
of getting a job later in life, both
at home and abroad.
Bridget Yaden, professor of
Hispanic studies, Pacific Luther-
an University whose third-grader
is enrolled in a dual-immersion
language program, says her son
will be able to bring another set
of skills to potential employers.
Those employers could be in any
number of countries around the
world.
“Just the general ability to learn
a second language or a third lan-
guage, he could really go anywhere
and be much more open to the cul-
tural practices and really kind of
make his way,” says Yaden.
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Children immersed in other
languages can more easily pick
them up because their brains are
more receptive to acquiring lan-
guage. Yaden, who also teaches
foreign languages, says she can
see how fast her son is progressing
compared to her college students.
“He’s definitely leaps and
bounds beyond where my col-
lege students, who may have had
the same amount of time with the
language, are,” says Yaden. “He’s
definitely progressed much more
quickly.”
Yaden, who is fluent in Span-
ish, adds she didn’t study a foreign
language until high school.
Eric Tegethoff is a reporter for
the Oregon News Network.
Few Options
after Racist Post
C ontinued from P age 2
areas of interest, such as Donald
Trump and illegal immigration.
The full college board voted to
censure him and he’s earned him
a rebuke from the head of Ore-
gon’s Republican Party, but these
officials don’t have the power to
discharge him under Oregon law.
A recall election from office
would be possible if 2,300 val-
id voter signatures in the college
district were collected to bring the
issue to a vote, according to Mult-
nomah County Elections officials.