Advantages of Bilingualism: Theory and Practice

Abstract

The aim of this work is to explain what bilingualism is and what it means being bilingual or even plurilingual, investigating both positive and negative cognitive aspects. The first chapter will be a debate on which differences there are between plurilingualism and multilingualism, and on the cognitive advantages and disadvantages of being bilingual. What seems to come out from this analysis is that, besides the positive development of executive control (EC) and of a deeper metalinguistic competence, there is a less positive aspect for bilinguals: the low development of vocabulary in both languages. The second chapter will be an introduction to the connection between language teaching, neurosciences and psychology. The purpose it to explain to what extent they are involved in the development of new effective theories regarding language education, investigating the role of emotions in the learning process. The focus of the third chapter will be on bilingual children, what happens in their brain and if they have any particular characteristic. The last chapter of this work will include teaching units with activities related to bilingual education. By the end of this work, we will be able to understand why a bilingual brain works differently from any other monolingual brain, how learning languages can help a positive increasing development of our neural connections, and how teachers can help the process of learning different languages.