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Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

journals.sagepub.com

1–10 of 435 posts

Re: Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

#2
It absolutely adds advantage to those interested in literature, it allows you to see your first language outside itself and generally increases your understanding of your first language. I would consider that a cognitive advantage but it is not exactly an advantage for the general public. Interestingly (at least to me) I have found programming languages* even more beneficial in this sense which I also find ironic, stem sorts often seem to miss the nuances of spoken/written language but as a humanities sort the hard line logical brutality of programming languages has given me valuable perspective on the nuances of the spoken languages.

*I apparently forgot what this footnote was for, like I said, I am a humanities sort

Re: Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

#5
That seems to reflect my lived experience. Do bilingual people in general seem to be more intelligent? I don't think so.

But, like many other things in life, the access of even a second language in my opinion gives you another tool to use as intellectual leverage to gain greater or richer understanding to many specific domains that you would otherwise require someone else to digest the information for you.

That doesn't mean you can have the tool and immediately gain the benefits of having it. It just means that compared to someone who does not have the ability to speak a second language, you have less friction to access domains of knowledge locked behind languages other than your native tongue.

Having a second car doesn't automatically mean I travel more. But if I used that other one specifically for roadtrips, it puts me in a category of people that is far smaller than the general population or even the general population of drivers.

Re: Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

#6
post #2

It absolutely adds advantage to those interested in literature, it allows you to see your first language outside itself and generally increases your understanding of your first language. I would consider that a cognitive advantage but it is not exactly an advantage for the general public. Interestingly (at least to me) I have found programming languages* even more beneficial in this sense which I also find ironic, st…

Sounds like these were some kind of raw cognitive tests. I'm certainly in the camp that bilingualism is helpful in all sorts of ways, and is almost an objective way to be "smarter" - but if the paper's legit, presumably bilingualism doesn't automatically boost other cognitive functions (somehow I picture those things where you have to say which shape comes next)

Re: Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

#7

Without access to the actual Paper I don’t know anything about the cognitive test that was performed, so no idea what to think of it. Without the actual Paper we are just reading a footnote.

PDF is available here: https://oa.mg/pdf/10.1177-0956797620903113.pdf

Re: Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

#9
I am a mild pariah among my parent friends for suggesting that 'spanish immersion daycare' was a way of recruiting lower-cost childcare workers (in the USA).

They're everywhere, and it seems they are the most common type of daycare, actually. (upper midwest, usa)

Re: Bilingualism affords no general cognitive advantages: Study

#10

I am a mild pariah among my parent friends for suggesting that 'spanish immersion daycare' was a way of recruiting lower-cost childcare workers (in the USA). They're everywhere , and it seems they are the most common type of daycare, actually. (upper midwest, usa)

It also makes it easier to get daycare subsidies for working parents.
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