Bilingual learning has been shown to be associated with higher cognitive flexibility (Bialystok and Senman, 2004). Cognitive flexibility refers to an individual's ability to switch between different task states and mental stereotypes (Miyake et al., 2000).
Bilingual people show increased activation in the brain region associated with cognitive skills like attention and inhibition. For example, bilinguals are proven to be better than monolinguals in encoding the fundamental frequency of sounds in the presence of background noise.
Research has also shown a positive correlation between bilingualism and cognitive development, especially executive function. Bilingualism supports skills that are specific to executive function: careful attention to the target language, suppressing the non-target language and effectively switching between languages.
Research has shown that bilingual kids are constantly switching between two languages in their brain, which increases “cognitive flexibility,” the ability to switch between thinking about different concepts or multiple concepts at once, and “selective attention abilities,” the mental process of focusing on one task or ...
Bilinguals reported higher social flexibility than monolinguals.
On the other hand, some of the disadvantages of bilingualism are an apparent delay in language acquisition; interference between the two phonological, lexical, and grammatical systems; and a possible decrease in vocabulary in both languages.
Bilingual adults and children seem to have social and emotional benefits like being able to show better self-control and internalize negative states like anxiety, aggression, anger, loneliness or low self-esteem less frequently. They have greater tolerance and less racism.
Cognitive flexibility declines with age and often results in an inability to adapt to new situations and environments. The Wisconsin card sorting task, which requires individuals to adapt to new rules, shows that normal aging decreases cognitive flexibility in humans (Boone et al., 1993).
Contributing factors
Executive functioning includes other aspects of cognition, including inhibition, memory, emotional stability, planning, and organization. Cognitive flexibility is highly related with a number of these abilities, including inhibition, planning and working memory.
Researchers found that young adults who knew two languages performed better on attention tests and had better concentration compared to those who only spoke one language. They also respond faster or more accurately than their monolingual peers, according to Kapa and Colombo, 2013.
Bilingual people are often claimed to have an advantage over monolingual people in cognitive processing owing to their ability to learn and use two languages. This advantage is considered to be related to executive function (EF).
Through language, children make sense of experiences and the world around them. In fact, language is the foundation for most learning—whether it is factual knowledge, social skills, moral development, or physical achievement.
When viewed language and mind as a whole system, it is evident that the functions of language are part of the brain system at the same time as being involved in the workings of the mind. Moreover, information is exchanged between language and each of perception, memory, and consciousness in both directions.
This theory was developed by Jim Cummins, in the early 1980's. It stated that the two languages used by an individual, though on the surface apparently separate, function through the same central cognitive system. This was first put forward by Toukomaa and Skutnabb-Kangas in 1977.
Many studies have shown that bilingual experience can promote the development of children's metalanguage cognition and reading skills. They are found to be better than monolingual children in the flexibility of lexical- semantic connection.
According to 2015 research from the Georgetown University Medical Centre, subjects who spoke two languages (bilinguals) had more gray matter in the brain (a very good thing) and better short-term memory, problem-solving skills, and attention management when compared to those who only spoke one language.
Sometimes known as cognitive shifting, cognitive flexibility is all about your brain's ability to adapt to new, changing, or unplanned events. Cognitive flexibility is also the ability to switch from one way of thinking to another. This is also known as task switching.
Preschool Cognitive Flexibility Examples:
Task switching from playing with blocks to participating in circle time. Adapting to a new classroom routine or schedule change. Transitioning from one activity to another, such as moving from outdoor play to indoor art time.
Individuals who are cognitively flexible are more responsive, assertive, and empathetic in communication, and are more likely to achieve social interaction goals in various situations (Martin and Anderson, 1998).
Yet all research points to the exact opposite–not only that, but bilingual students pick up certain pre-reading skills faster than their monolingual classmates. In fact, bilingualism is associated with many other cognitive benefits like stronger multitasking skills, creativity, and working memory.
Being bilingual can improve a person's multitasking skills, attention control, problem solving and creativity as it promotes outside-the-box thinking. It can also help improve your memory – handy when shopping and remembering people's names!
The most commonly recorded cognitive benefits of bilingualism are improved attention span and focus, better problem-solving skills, and better organization and planning skills.
A key feature of multilingual cognition is that two or more languages can become activated at the same time, requiring mechanisms to control interference. Consequently, extensive experience managing multiple languages can influence cognitive processes as well as their neural correlates.