Advantages of Bilingual Education

In bilingual education all subjects in school are taught through two different languages. For instance, in the United States, the medium of instruction is English and a minority language, such as German or Japanese.

Some fallacies about Bilingual education

The brain is limited in its capacity to take more than one language. As such, two languages are isolated from one another and that knowledge acquired in one does not lead to knowledge in the other. A certain level of competence must be achieved in both languages before the positive effects of bilingualism can occur. It leads in reduced competence in the language of the country they reside.

Advantages of Bilingual education

It is helpful while traveling to foreign countries, which have a different language. It helps you to communicate effectively and be independent of translators and interpreters. In today’s world of globalization, knowing a foreign language gives you opportunities to study and work abroad. It also helps in creative thinking. Bilingual persons have two or more words for each object and idea, and different meanings are sometimes attached to words by the two known languages. Therefore, a bilingual person may develop the ability to think more flexibly not only about words, but also about other things too. Once you know two languages, it becomes much easier to learn another language. Knowing three to four languages is prevalent in many parts of Europe.

It gives you more choices. If the country where you are a resident becomes unstable, if unrest or war breaks out, you will be able to move to the country/countries and communicate in their language. When each parent of a child speaks a different first language, the child who is bilingual can communicate freely with both, developing a close relationship with them. At the same time, both parents are passing to the child a rich heritage on their part. Being bilingual creates a bridge between generations, for instance, with grandparents. Generally what happens is if parents migrate, the children learn only the local language. They are ignorant of their mother tongue, which creates a barrier in communication with their relatives. Being able to communicate between generations helps to establish a sense of belonging to an extended family.

It leads to access to more information resources. A bilingual person can read books or literature that exists in both the known languages and that would would otherwise be unavailable. It leads to exposure to different cultures. A language is usually closely related to the culture of the speaker. To read a book or a poem or to listen to a song in the original language is a completely different experience than to read/hear the translation. Exposure to a second set of customs, traditions and history provides a different viewpoint on many questions and makes life a lot more interesting and rewarding. Knowing two languages places one in a position to think about language itself, to reflect on its functions, and to treat it as an object of thought.

Bilingual children have also demonstrated superior story-telling skills, perhaps because they are less bound by words and more elastic in thinking due to the knowledge of two languages. Current research from around the world shows that bilingual people do better at IQ tests compared with monolingual people of the same socio-economic class.