Deck 8: D: Thought and Language

Question 1

Describe the costs and benefits of bilingualism.Based on the information provided in the textbook,is it better to be bilingual or unilingual?

Answer 1

A good answer will include some of the following.It should outline at least a couple of costs and benefits and conclude that the benefits outweigh the costs.
Costs:
- Bilingual children tend to have a smaller vocabulary in each language than unilingual children.
- In adulthood,compared to unilingual adults,bilingual adults are slower at naming pictures,have more difficulty on tests that ask them to list words starting with a particular letter,have more tip-of-the-tongue experiences in which they can't quite retrieve a word,and are slower and less accurate when making word/non-word judgments.
Benefits:
- Bilingual individuals are much better than their unilingual counterparts on tests that require them to control their attention or their thoughts.
- Bilinguals score better than unilinguals on tests of executive control throughout their lifespan.
- Bilingualism has also recently been shown to have important health benefits.Their brains have more back-up systems if damage occurs.In fact,being bilingual seems to help protect against the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Conclusion: Benefits of bilingualism clearly outweigh the costs.