Being confronted with two different languages from birth, in the home bilingual, would not create any confusion in the baby’s head, quite the contrary.
A study conducted by several research and health institutes in Singapore shows that babies exposed to two mother tongues would show better learning and memorization skills than children growing up in monolingual homes.
The study involved 114 six-month-old children, half of whom had been exposed to two languages from birth.
To assess their learning abilities, the researchers presented the babies with two successive images of a colorful bear and a colorful wolf.
They divided the children into two groups: in the first group, the image of the bear was presented as the familiar image, the wolf then constituting the new image, while in the second group, the wolf became the image. familiar.
Scientists later found that babies from bilingual families turned away from familiar images faster than monolinguals, implying, according to cognitive research, that bilingual babies recognized familiar images faster. They also paid more attention to the new images presented.
Previous studies have shown that babies who quickly tire of observing images show better performance in several cognitive and linguistic domains as well as in tests of IQ(Intelligence quotient).
“One of the biggest challenges in childhood research is data collection,” says Professor Singh, lead author of the study, “visual habituation works wonders because it only takes a few minutes and takes advantage of what babies do naturally: get interested in something new quickly, then move on quickly. Habituation or visual habituation is one of the few experiences that subsequently predicts cognitive development. “
Moreover, it turns out that a baby exposed to two languages not only learns them, he learns to discern them by ear. Thus, while learning two languages at the same time requires effective discernment, it can also endow the child with potential. cognitive benefits and intellectuals growing up.
“As adults, learning a second language can be laborious,” says Professor Singh. “We sometimes project our difficulties onto our young babies, imagining a confusion between the two languages jostling in their little heads. Yet, a large number of studies have shown that babies are quite able to meet the challenge of acquiring two languages, and that they may even benefit from this ordeal. “
Source:
Back to Basics: A Bilingual Advantage in Infant Visual Habituation, Child Development review.
