Researchers from the University of Strathclyde in the UK claim that bilingual children outperform children who speak only one language in problem-solving skills and creative thinking.
"Our study has found that it can have demonstrable benefits, not only in language but in arithmetic, problem solving and enabling children to think creatively," lead author Dr Fraser Lauchlan said.
"We also found they had an aptitude for selective attention- the ability to identify and focus on information which is important, while filtering out what is not- which could come from the 'code-switching' of thinking in two different languages," Lauchlan added.
The study conducted with 121 children in Scotland and Sardinia- 62 of them bilingual- were set tasks in which they were asked to reproduce patterns of coloured blocks, to repeat orally a series of numbers, to give clear definitions of words and to resolve mentally a set of arithmetic problems. The tasks were all set in English or Italian and the children taking part were aged around nine.
It was observed that the bilingual children were significantly more successful in the tasks set for them. The Gaelic-speaking children were, in turn, more successful than the Sardinian speakers.
The differences were linked to the mental alertness required to switch between languages, which could develop skills useful in other types of thinking.
"Bilingualism is now largely seen as being beneficial to children but there remains a view that it can be confusing, and so potentially detrimental to them," Dr Lauchlan added.
The study has been published in the International Journal of Bilingualism.
