Australia is a multicultural country with over 300 languages spoken.
However, bilingual children are losing their native language due to the monocultural approach. Many families have a misconception that the English language is enough because English is the primary language spoken in Australia. That is just not the case. Studies have found that learning another language is more beneficial than ever before, so let’s break away from the monocultural mindset.
Bilingual people have an academic advantage
Based on numerous studies bilingual and multilingual people do much better in standardized tests because they have physiological functions that help them; such as attention control, cognitive inhibition, and working memory, these functions enable bilingual and multilingual people to store memory and process information efficiently and effectively quickly.
Evidence in these studies indicates that bilingual and multilingual people have more grey matter in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, a locus for language control and broader executive function which in turn predicts why they are academically smarter.
Make rational judgments
A recent study found that a bilingual person will process moral dilemmas more rationally based on their cultural views, so before making recommendations on impulse, bilingual people will go through their channels of thought thus coming up with a rational decision.
Delay the signs of dementia
Several studies in Toronto and Northern Italy’s hospitals have found that bilingual patients had dementia on average three to four years later than their monolingual counterparts.
Another further study in 600 stroke survivors in India found that about 40.5% of bilingual patients recovered much better than their monolingual patients at 19.6%.
Higher Pay
A U.S study found that bilingual people earn an extra $3,000 more a year than monolingual counterparts. Countries like the U.K need more bilingual and multilingual people because they could lose out around $48 billion a year due to lack of language skills. This shows there is a demand to learn an extra language.
Better communication
To build a better understanding of someone; we like to engage in conversations with them, but different languages express our emotions in different ways. For example, if you participate in discussion with someone in your language then you will most likely; relate better with that person than someone who does not speak your language.
Connection with parents and the grandparents
When the younger generation starts to grow up, they will be able to connect with their parents and grandparents in their native language. This helps keep their culture alive for many generations to come. If all words are lost than the connections between the older and younger generation will be lost forever. Also, It is an honour to know more than one language, so why not expose your child to your native language.
Let’s continue the communication between our family’s members.
Head over to our community school page and find the community language school in your area.
