Challenges and Benefits of Being a Bilingual - Report Example

Challenges and Benefits of Being a Bilingual Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Challenges and Benefits of Being a Bilingual Introduction Bilingual involves individual’s possession two or more languages that they engage in through the process of communication. Bilingualism therefore is used to refer the psychological orientation of an individual by means of accessing of more than a single linguistic code that is utilized in the social communication process. There are several levels of bilinguals that include childhood bilingualism, teenage bilingualism and grown-up bilinguality. The childhood bilingualism occurs during the growth of the child and can be distinguished through the form of experience. In the global arena studies have indicated that more individuals are becoming bilinguals and children are being brought up in a bilingual form of society. Hence the ability of bilinguals to switch from one language to the other makes the brain to be very active and flexibility is enhanced. Bilinguals have a higher intellectual capacity as they have the ability to shift between diverse language structures. There is lack of competence, speech impediment and isolation due to loss of identity. In this regard being a bilingual has both benefits and challenges that bilinguals face in their day to day lives. The essay will discuss the benefits and the challenges faced by bilinguals in the global society (Schwartz et. al. 2008). Benefits of Being a Bilingual Bilingualism is considered as an advantage in the current globalized world. Bilinguals can therefore get various forms of advantages for being able to communicate in two different languages. Cognitive benefits are regarded as a benefit to the bilinguals. Cognitive benefits involve the aspect of critical thinking among the bilinguals. In this case a bilingual possess more words for particular ideas and objects. Therefore a bilingual individual has the capability of generating inventive form of thinking. In addition a bilingual thinking ability is considered as being more flexible as compared to a monolingual. Furthermore bilingual individuals possess a positive impact in relation to intellectual development. Bilingualism improves and develops and individual’s mental growth. Various forms of research have indicated that bilinguals are better in terms of IQ tests as equated to monolinguals (Bialystok et.al. 2010). In terms of employment benefits bilinguals are able to access various employment opportunities globally. In many careers language is considered as an important asset. This is due to the fact that language is engaged as an effective tool of communication in moist careers and business world. Hence being a bilingual presents prospective job opportunities. Bilinguals get prosperous in their careers due to the fact that they can easily switch from one language to the other through the process of code switching. Bilingual individuals therefore possess the opportunity to partake in the global business market as they have the capability to get information from various places and learn more about other individual’s culture. In relation to more job opportunities for the bilinguals they are considered to earn more as compared to their monolinguals counterparts (Grosjean, 2010).More job opportunities are presented to the bilinguals due to the fact that they are able to switch between different languages in the process of communication. For instance a bilingual in French and English is more likely to get more job opportunities in French speaking countries as opposed to a monolingual (English) within a similar context. Throughout the world the bilinguals can get career opportunities in the transport sector, public relations, sales and marketing, teaching law and the translation sectors. Bilingual are regarded as international focused and therefore have an added advantage in various careers across the world (Schwartz & Kroll 2006). Cultural benefits forms another important advantage of being a bilingual. Culture and language are interrelated and therefore one cannot function without the association of the other. Cultural aspects in language are used in the process of constructing meaning and assigning meanings to codes. Hence culture and language go hand in hand. However it does not that if an individual is bilingual he has to be multicultural in his approaches. Bilinguals through their knowledge of two language s arte able to appreciate different culture and individuals from various cultural orientations. Bilinguals are therefore exposed to different cultures as a result of their bilingual nature. As a result of cultural orientation to varied forms of culture there is a greater form of tolerance in relation to the differences in beliefs and customs of other individual’s culture. Therefore individuals within a bilingual environmental setting possess an elevated feeling in relation to the cultural diversity and uniqueness of the world (Umbel et.al. 1992). Bilinguals benefit in terms of communication. This is due to the fact that bilinguals do not face any difficulty in terms of communication whenever they are in a foreign country. Bilinguals enjoy the process of reading and scripting in diverse types of languages. In this case bilinguals are able to easily appreciate various forms of literature in different languages. The ability to access a wide range of literature materials in different languages helps a bilingual individual to enhance their thoughts and behavior. In addition bilinguals enjoy reading novels, poetry and magazines in different language forms so as to gain pleasure and enjoyment (Schwartz et. al. 2008). Curriculum advantages present a bilingual with better academic outcomes. Research has often indicated that bilingual individual tend to gain an elevated form of performance in tests and exams. Hence bilinguals tend to adapt easily to different languages and can communicate in more than two languages. The willingness to learn and the achievement of excellent performance in school are attributed to the bilinguals’ dominance of their home language. Bilinguals therefore have advantages in terms of academic in many ways. The capability to read and engage in thoughts in two varied languages enhances an elevated level of abstract ideas that forms a critical component in the learning process (Cantone, 2007). A bilingual has a benefit of being presented with both social and emotional form of support. This is due to the fact that bilinguals encourage children in maintaining strong forms of relationships with their families, community and cultural aspects. The family, culture and community form important aspects that are essential for developing an individual’s identity. Bilinguals are also able to engage in the process of generating strong relationships in the diverse form of society while making new friendships. Research has further indicated that individuals who are raised within bilingual families are in a better position of exhibiting forms of self-control that forms an important indicator in the achievement of success (Grosjean, 2010). Challenges of Being a Bilingual Despite the advantages of bilingual individuals there are also some negative aspects that bilinguals experience in their day to day lives. Bilinguals tend to lose their identity in life. Therefore a bilingual individual may not be in a position to ascertain where they belong. This is due to the fact that bilinguals constantly engage in the process of switching from one language to the other and may be from one cultural orientation to the other. Thus bilinguals engage in changing language depending on the country that they are in. The constant changing of languages by bilingual individuals creates challenges in relation to finding a suitable vocabulary that can be engaged in description of thoughts or discussion of various issues. These challenges frustrate the bilinguals as it creates a feeling of not belonging (Fields, 2012). Another main challenge involves the fact that in the education curriculum there is always one language that is usually preferred over the other. This therefore forms the language that is dominantly used in a particular country. It is therefore argued that bilinguals cannot gain competence in both languages in terms of written and spoken forms of language competence. Competence cannot be gained by bilinguals in both languages due to the fact that language competence is gained through extensive reading for the purposes of widening the set of vocabularies in both languages. In most cases children who are raised bilingually have the difficulty in the mastery of either of the two languages. This in turn leads to difficulty in completing a formal form of education successfully as a result of lack of mastery or competence in the language that is used in the process of learning in a formal educational setting (Heller, 2007). Another challenge that faces a bilingual individual involves the fact that individuals enjoying a bilingual environmental setting may face a threat of being isolated by the host society. This may also involve some form of mocking in relation to peers in the process of speaking in the foreign language. This form of threat of isolation is common in a formal environmental setting whereby children interact with each other in the learning process. For instance a Chinese student studying in an English dominant country may find various challenges in the process of learning. This may lead to the host country students teasing the foreign students in relation to their bilingual nature. The process of isolation among the bilinguals may further lead to a generation of low self-esteem of an individual (Myers-Scotton, 2006). Speech forms of impediments may also be a challenging effect on the bilinguals. This is mainly an experience among bilingual children. Speech impediments are experienced in the sense that the pronunciations of various vocabularies within each language become challenging to mix. This speech impediment occurs due to the fact that each language has to be addressed separately in the process of both vocabulary and pronunciations usage. In addition it is often argued that individuals possess a natural inclination towards a single language or culture. Hence individuals relate well in a language that best suits their personal orientation. Thus individuals should engage in one type of language that suits their personality and cultural orientation. This is due to the fact that language and culture are closely linked in many perspectives (Yip & Mattews 2007). Conclusion Bilingualism has become a wide spread phenomenon globally. Bilinguals involve individuals who are able to communicate through the use of two languages. Bilinguals have both their benefits and challenges that face them in their daily lives. In relation to the benefits of bilinguals cognitive advantage allows the development of the brain in form of thoughts while at the same time making bilingualism flexible in terms of their thinking capacity. Bilinguals are also able to access career and employment opportunities easily as a result of proficiency in two or more languages and international focused. In terms of education a bilingual system of education is regarded as a successful form of education among individuals. Bilinguals are presented with both social and emotional source of support as they able to understand the cultural orientation of various languages in a better position. Among the challenges or difficulties faced by bilinguals include; lack of mastery of either language that is learnt, risk of isolation by the host country leading to the experience of low self-esteem among the bilinguals and speech impediments in terms of difficulties in forms of pronunciations and vocabularies. Therefore despite the fact that bilinguals are presented with many advantages that has led to the advocating of bilingualism there are various difficulties or challenges that are being faced by bilinguals. References Yip, V., & Mattews, S. (2007). The bilingual Child. Early Development and Language Contact. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Myers-Scotton, C. (2006). Multiple Voices. An introduction to Bilingualism. Blackwell, Malden, MA. Heller, M. (ed) (2007). Bilingualism. A Social Approach. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Fields, H. (2012). Speaking your mind: Bilingual language, culture, and emotion. APS Observer, 25(5), 15-19 Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Cantone, K. F. (2007). Code-switching in bilingual children. Dordrecht, NL: Springer. Schwartz, M., Share, D. L., Leikin, M., & Kozminsky, E. (2008). On the benefits of bi-literacy: Just a head start in reading or specific orthographic insights?. Reading And Writing, 21(9), 905-927. Umbel, V. M., Pearson, B. Z., Fernández, M. C., & Oller, D. K. (1992). Measuring bilingual children's receptive vocabularies. Child Development, 63(4), 1012-1020 Schwartz, A. I. & Kroll, J. F. (2006). Bilingual lexical activation in sentence context. Journal of Memory and Language, 55, 197-212. Bialystok, E., Luk, G., Peets, K. F., & Yang, S. (2010). Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13(4), 525-531 Read More

Cultural benefits forms another important advantage of being a bilingual. Culture and language are interrelated and therefore one cannot function without the association of the other. Cultural aspects in language are used in the process of constructing meaning and assigning meanings to codes. Hence culture and language go hand in hand. However it does not that if an individual is bilingual he has to be multicultural in his approaches. Bilinguals through their knowledge of two language s arte able to appreciate different culture and individuals from various cultural orientations.

Bilinguals are therefore exposed to different cultures as a result of their bilingual nature. As a result of cultural orientation to varied forms of culture there is a greater form of tolerance in relation to the differences in beliefs and customs of other individual’s culture. Therefore individuals within a bilingual environmental setting possess an elevated feeling in relation to the cultural diversity and uniqueness of the world (Umbel et.al. 1992). Bilinguals benefit in terms of communication.

This is due to the fact that bilinguals do not face any difficulty in terms of communication whenever they are in a foreign country. Bilinguals enjoy the process of reading and scripting in diverse types of languages. In this case bilinguals are able to easily appreciate various forms of literature in different languages. The ability to access a wide range of literature materials in different languages helps a bilingual individual to enhance their thoughts and behavior. In addition bilinguals enjoy reading novels, poetry and magazines in different language forms so as to gain pleasure and enjoyment (Schwartz et. al. 2008).

Curriculum advantages present a bilingual with better academic outcomes. Research has often indicated that bilingual individual tend to gain an elevated form of performance in tests and exams. Hence bilinguals tend to adapt easily to different languages and can communicate in more than two languages. The willingness to learn and the achievement of excellent performance in school are attributed to the bilinguals’ dominance of their home language. Bilinguals therefore have advantages in terms of academic in many ways.

The capability to read and engage in thoughts in two varied languages enhances an elevated level of abstract ideas that forms a critical component in the learning process (Cantone, 2007). A bilingual has a benefit of being presented with both social and emotional form of support. This is due to the fact that bilinguals encourage children in maintaining strong forms of relationships with their families, community and cultural aspects. The family, culture and community form important aspects that are essential for developing an individual’s identity.

Bilinguals are also able to engage in the process of generating strong relationships in the diverse form of society while making new friendships. Research has further indicated that individuals who are raised within bilingual families are in a better position of exhibiting forms of self-control that forms an important indicator in the achievement of success (Grosjean, 2010). Challenges of Being a Bilingual Despite the advantages of bilingual individuals there are also some negative aspects that bilinguals experience in their day to day lives.

Bilinguals tend to lose their identity in life. Therefore a bilingual individual may not be in a position to ascertain where they belong. This is due to the fact that bilinguals constantly engage in the process of switching from one language to the other and may be from one cultural orientation to the other. Thus bilinguals engage in changing language depending on the country that they are in. The constant changing of languages by bilingual individuals creates challenges in relation to finding a suitable vocabulary that can be engaged in description of thoughts or discussion of various issues.

These challenges frustrate the bilinguals as it creates a feeling of not belonging (Fields, 2012).

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