The Effect Of Multiple Languages As A Predictor Of School Achievement

THE BAPTIST COLLEGE OF FLORIDA

PROJECT PROPOSAL

For

PSY 400

Experimental Psychology

Katrina M. Singletary

Undergraduate, Christian Counseling

April 25th 2007

The Effect of Multiple Languages as a Predictor of School Achievement

Katrina M. Singletary

The Baptist College of Florida

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have revealed that there are correlations between a child's understanding of multiple languages and their IQ. However, most of the studies have been conducted in other countries and results are based on somewhat subjective IQ tests. This study will address the relationship between language and how well students do in school. Bilingual students will be evaluated by a linguist in order to determine how well the student can access information in both languages. Once they meet the desired specifications, we will compare the mean score of bilingual students GPA to those of the monolingual students at the end of the school year. The expected results will be that the bilingual students will have a higher GPA than those of students who are monolingual.

Key Words: Bilingual, School Achievement, Education

Introduction

How do children learn language? How important is language use in adulthood? The language we use and how we use it is a very important factor in how we communicate with others. It can also be a strong determinate for intelligence development during the early childhood years. All children are born with the tools they need to learn the languages that there are exposed to, regardless of how different the language may be. In fact, cross-cultural studies have shown that newborns can distinguish all of the basic sounds that constitute the 4000+ human languages that have been documented to date (Comrie, 1987; Ruhlen, 1994). Children have the ability to learn eleven different languages before they reach the age of three. Many studies have concluded that two prevalent factors in determining IQ are communication as an infant and young child, plus the child's socio-economic level.

By looking at other countries, one would be able to see the noticeable relationship between the number of languages spoken and school achievement. The national center for languages states that "being able to access knowledge in both languages is a key element in educational success". Also, a study of 11 year olds in Hackney who routinely used three languages in addition to English showed that these children were outperforming monolinguals from similar backgrounds, and boys were often found to be ahead of girls in their reading skills. One question that arises when looking at these studies is the difference between the language skills of the children and the discipline that accompanies their own culture. Research in the area of language is greatly needed in this area in order to better understand how language impacts leaning and school achievement.

Linguistics'

Bilingualism is to intelligence as food is to human fitness. The relationship between the two is both central and controversial. It is central in that the disadvantages or advantages of being bilingual have been historically measured in association to intelligence. It is controversial in that both terms are difficult to define, elusive to measure, and evoke passion and prejudices. - from the book Key Issues in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education by Colin Baker

Children are not instructed in the complexities of the English language. We do not formally teach our children to develop sentences when they are younger, nor do we teach them the structure of their language system. God in his infinite wisdom has created us with a "decoding machine" in each person to decode and understand any language we come into contact with as a baby. The amazing thing about children as they learn a language system is that they do so in a remarkably short time and in any environment. If given the opportunity, children will adapt to many different languages in the same environment and learn each of them at the same time (Eric 1999).

Language is greatly entwined with our mental development. The way we perceive things, our memory, and our comprehending skills are all contingent upon our language. It is through language that children experience the world, learn new ideas and explore interests. Studies show that success in school depends upon the child's mastery of cognitive/academic language which is very different from the social language used at home. Children developing their literacy skills need approximately 4 to 7 years of formal instruction. This is also something that needs to be taught in a familiar language. Once the child has achieved cognitive language skills, the subject matter then transfers more easily from one language to another (ERIC 1999). Many children are exposed to more than one language in early childhood. Children who hear more than one language virtually from birth are referred to as "simultaneous bilinguals", whereas children who learn a second language later are known as "sequential bilinguals"(lightbrown, Spada 1999).

Research by Ellen Bialystock of New York University shows that bilingual people are better at multitasking because they constantly exercise the part of the brain known as the pre-frontal cortex. This reinforces attentional processes. She also established that being bilingual exercises the brain and dramatically lessens age-related mental decline.