User:Shantalr00/Bilingualism: Language and Cognition

User:Shantalr00/Bilingualism: Language and Cognition

Article body
Bilingualism is the development of language where one an individual has the ability to speak 2 languages. Grech and Mcleod have developed 3 definitions for bilingualism.

1) The exposure to bilingualism at birth

2) Utilizing two languages daily

3) The capacity in using one or more languages

Differences in Bilingual Minds
Peal and Lambert conducted a study to analyze how monolinguals and bilinguals perform certain tests; this helps them see how the brain differentiated between both monolinguals and bilinguals. Peal and Lambert conducted language tasks and non-verbal spatial tasks between "French-speaking" and "English-French bilinguals" and found that the bilingual participants did better on the tasks than the monolinguals. The advancement in performance from the bilinguals demonstrated the larger capability in solving language tasks.

Bilingualism Myths and Realities
Due to the patients with bilingual aphasia, many questioned whether the anatomy of the brain had differences from monolingual brains. Myths began to arise as questions began increasing. Some myths include:

1) Monolingual brains contrast with bilingual brains.


 * Many believed that the cortical areas in an individual are associated with the affection of each language from different cortical areas.

2) The right hemisphere is used more by bilinguals than monolinguals.


 * Görlitzer von Mundy proposed the idea that bilinguals use the right hemisphere more than monolinguals.