Zut alors! Being bilingual DOESN'T make you smarter: Cognitive benefits of speaking two languages are a 'myth', claim scientists


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Scottish scientists claim that speaking two languages (illustrated) does not give people cognitive advantages as previously claimed

Scottish scientists claim that speaking two languages (illustrated) does not give people cognitive advantages as previously claimed

The notion that being bilingual makes you smarter has been the focus of numerous scientific studies in recent years.

But now researchers claim that there is a growing battery of evidence that this is a myth.

In one experiment, they did not detect any cognitive benefit in people who could speak two languages. 

They say that the widely held belief could be the result of publication bias - where a study only gets published if an effect is found.

Language experts from Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, originally set out to explain why being bilingual makes people smarter.

They wanted to see whether there was a similar cognitive advantage to speaking two dialects - something that had not been looked at before.

To find out, they examined cognitive control in a group of people who switched between speaking a Dundonian dialect and standard Scottish English, with cognitive control in two other groups: bilinguals and monolinguals.

They used a test known as the Simon task, which enables psychologists to examine inhibitory control.

They were surprised to find that the bilingual people performed no better in the cognitive task than those who spoke one language, or a dialect.

Vera Kempe, Professor of Psychology of Language Learning at the university, said there were no differences in performance at all.

'When we started our research, we were convinced - like everybody else - that there was an advantage to being bilingual, but when we carried out our analysis, we were astonished by the results. 

The scientists claim that there is no conclusive evidence that bilingualism makes you smarte
The scientists claim that there is no conclusive evidence that bilingualism makes you smarte

The scientists claim that there is no conclusive evidence that bilingualism makes you smarter. Previous studies have claimed that the ability to speak two languages (such as Bradley Cooper who speaks French pictured left and Mila Kunis, who speaks Russian, right) have better memories and problem-solving abilities

CONFLICTING EVIDENCE: ANOTHER STUDY CLAIMS BILINGUALS HAVE 'BETTER MEMORIES AND PROBLEM SOLVING ABILITIES' 

Last year, scientists claimed that people who can switch between two languages seamlessly have a higher level of mental flexibility than monolinguals.

They said bilingualism strengthens the brain's executive functions, such as its working memory and ability to multitask and problem solve.

The psychologists claimed that as fluent bilinguals seem to use both languages at all times but rarely use words unintentionally, they have control of both languages simultaneously.

Judith Kroll, professor of psychology, linguistics and women's studies at Penn State University, said: 'Not only is bilingualism not bad for you, it may be really good.

'When you're switching languages all the time it strengthens your mental muscle and your executive function becomes enhanced.'

The study found fluent bilinguals have both languages 'active' at the same time, whether they are consciously using them or not.

Pointing to bilingual people's ability to rarely say a word in the unintended language, the researchers said they have the ability to control both languages to select the one they want to use without thinking about it.

'Although we had replicated the original study to the letter, we found no benefit in either of our bilingual groups - neither in the Gaelic-English bilinguals, nor the bilinguals speaking a variety of Asian languages.

'At first we were stumped. How could this be? How could we have failed to find an effect, when we knew there was supposed to be one?

'When we began to dig deeper, we discovered that - far from being an anomaly - our study is actually one in a now growing number of studies that fail to find that bilingualism makes you smarter.

'In other words, there is actually no conclusive evidence that bilingualism makes you smarter.'

She believes that publication bias could be to blame and that it is misleading for educational policy recommendations to be based on the belief that learning languages makes you smarter when it is not yet clear whether this is true.

Professor Kempe said: 'Saying that "some scientists carried out a study, but didn't find anything," doesn't make for a very good story - and that is where the problem lies.

'There is so much pressure to demonstrate novelty and real-life impact that it has sometimes been difficult for scientists to get studies published if they haven't found something startling and newsworthy.

'Other factors that come with being bilingual - like being an immigrant or coming from a culture which values mentally challenging activities - may be responsible for a benefit in some instances.'

She said that while psychologists are keen to understand whether learning more languages leads to mental agility, they do not have conclusive evidence yet.

Professor Kempe said: 'What we can do in the meanwhile, though, is to encourage everybody - especially young people - to learn languages not based on the selfish motive of boosting individual brain power, but because knowing languages affords us the opportunity to connect with different people from different backgrounds and cultures.'

'Perhaps being able to see the world from another point of view is the most beneficial and mind-enhancing effect that comes with learning languages.'

The new study is one of many that claims that being bilingual doesn't make people smarter. However, a study in June showed that learning a second language (stock image) at any point in life could help keep your brain sharp as you age

The new study is one of many that claims that being bilingual doesn't make people smarter. However, a study in June showed that learning a second language (stock image) at any point in life could help keep your brain sharp as you age

STUDY CLAIMS BEING BILINGUAL MAY KEEP BRAIN SHARP IN OLD AGE 

Learning to speak a second language at any point in your life could help keep your brain sharp as you age, according to a study published in June.

Academics at the University of Edinburgh detected a pattern of slower mental decline among the bilingual in a group of 835 born in 1936.

They were given an intelligence test in 1947 at the age of 11, then retested in their early 70s between 2008 and 2010.

A total of 262 participants could communicate in at least one language other than English. Of those, 195 learnt the second language before the age of 18.

Those who spoke two or more languages had significantly better cognitive abilities in their 70s than their peers. The strongest effect of bilingualism was seen in general intelligence and reading tests.

Dr Thomas Bak, who led the research, said: 'Our study shows that bilingualism, even when acquired in adulthood, may benefit the ageing brain.'

Experts said the research opened the doors to further investigations which may help doctors find new ways to understand mental decline in older people. 

 



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