Language Magazine – Staff Writer
“Bilinguals use and learn language in ways that change their minds and brains, which has consequences…“Recent studies reveal the remarkable ways in which bilingualism changes the brain networks that enable skilled cognition, support fluent language performance and facilitate new learning,” said Judith F. Kroll, a Penn State cognitive scientist. Researchers have shown that the brain structures and networks of bilinguals are different from those of monolinguals. Among other things, the changes help bilinguals to speak in the intended language-not to mistakenly speak in the “wrong” language…Both languages are active at all times in bilinguals, meaning the individuals cannot easily turn off either language and the languages are in competition with one another. In turn this causes bilinguals to juggle the two languages, reshaping the network in the brain that supports each.”(more)