Medical Daily – Anthony Rivas
““Children are really good at acquiring language,” said co-author of the study Boaz Keysar, a professor of psychology and internationally known expert on communication and cognition, in a press release. “They master the vocabulary and the syntax of the language, but they need more tools to be effective communicators. A lot of communication is about perspective taking, which is what our study measures.” For the study, researchers from the University of Chicago recruited 72 children aged 4 to 6 who fell into one of three language categories: monolinguals (exposure to little, if any, other language besides English), exposures (those who spoke mainly English but were exposed to other languages), and bilinguals…Of all the kids, those exposed to other languages the most performed the best…The findings of the current study suggest there are other advantages to learning different languages at a young age, the researchers said. Kids’ thought processes change entirely, and considering emotional intelligence is crucial to a child’s proper development, learning a second language may help.”(more)