Kaspar and Jasmine have an opportunity to place their six-year-old son,Darius,into a bilingualism program.If they enrol him,half of his classes will be conducted in Spanish and the other half in English.Since Kaspar struggled with school,he worries that Darius will too,especially if he has to learn Spanish on top of everything else.Jasmine argues that bilingualism will actually improve Darius's other cognitive abilities.Who is correct?
A) Jasmine.Research shows that bilingualism is correlated with higher self-esteem,greater thinking flexibility,and higher performance on nonverbal intelligence tests.
B) Jasmine,but only because bilingual programs tend to hire extremely intelligent teachers.
C) Kaspar,because whenever someone learns a second language,the brain tries to overwrite the first one with the new information.
D) Kaspar,because Darius is already past the critical period to learn a second language.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Research has shown that bilingualism can have positive effects on cognitive abilities such as self-esteem, flexibility in thinking, and performance on nonverbal intelligence tests. Kaspar's concern about learning two languages at the same time is not supported by research, and the critical period for language learning extends beyond early childhood.

Kaspar and Jasmine Have an Opportunity to Place Their Six-Year-Old