The benefits of learning a foreign language are not new; economic, social, educational or cultural arguments abound. For instance, being able to communicate and negotiate in another language may make new international markets accessible to a company. Socially, it can improve relationships, foster inclusion and enhance understanding within mixed-origin communities. Culturally and educationally, your experience of the world becomes richer and more stimulating.
What about medically, and from a health point of view? Scientific bodies carry out regular research on this topic and an article published in The Times in February 2011 caught my eye. According to recent scientific research, bilingualism can slow down the symptoms of ageing by boosting brain performance, and can particularly delay the onset of dementia or Alzheimer's by five years on average. These are the results of a research study recently published by Ellen Bialystock, a psychologist at York University (Toronto, Canada). Bilingual people are found to be able to cope with the disease for longer. Bialystock compares the brain to the petrol tank in a car, and more precisely the safety, or reserve, tank. The more the brain is stimulated, the better the 'cognitive tank' gets, and manages to keep you going for longer. Regular switching between two languages seems to do exactly that - strengthen your brain potential. The research now focuses on whether brain size changes as a result of bilingualism.
Bilingual children should also be better at multi-tasking than their monolingual peers. Another study (by Judith Kroll, a psychologist at Penn State University, United States) shows that bilingualism boosts multi-tasking and prioritising skills. According to this study, multilingualism does not confuse the brain and does not hinder cognitive development.
We often hear how our ageing population is putting a strain on NHS resources. If these scientific findings are indeed true, wouldn't this constitute an extra argument for the promotion of language learning? The government is very good at telling us how much fruit, vegetables, salt, sugar, fat and alcohol we should or shouldn't consume, and how much physical exercise we should include in our daily routine, so how about guidelines on cognitive aspects of our lives to regularly top up our brain reserve, e.g. how many crosswords and sudokus we do, how many books we read, and how much of our compulsory education we spend on learning foreign languages, and subsequently as a life-long component of our daily existence? Food for thought anyway...
Visit the authors website Business Language Services Ltd or leave a comment on the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment