‫ سميره عبدالعزيز القاسمي‬/ ‫االسم‬

441006327 / ‫الرقم الجامعي‬

Pages 7-8

The main idea of the article:

The bilingual experience affects the brain from childhood through old age, and may also
apply to those who learn a second language later in life. Studies have shown that people
who speak more than one language have better mental flexibility and show higher
resistance to diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's. The advantage of being bilingual is
not only due to the ability to inhibit one language system, but also to an increased ability to
monitor the environment .

o The main idea of each paragraph.

o The topic sentence of each paragraph.
o The concluding sentence.

A / The main idea of this paragraph is that a bilingual person's achievement advantage extends beyond
the ability to communicate with a wider group of people, and that research has shown that achievement
improvement consists of improving cognitive skills not directly related to language.
Topic Sentence: Bilingualism goes beyond communication skills and can positively impact cognitive
abilities and academic performance.
Concluding sentence: Bilingualism can be beneficial for improving cognitive abilities and academic
performance.

B / Main Idea: The current view of multilingualism is markedly different from the
understanding of multilingualism for most of the twentieth century.
Topic sentence: Researchers, educators, and policy makers have considered a second
language to constitute cognitive interference and hinder a child's academic and intellectual
development.
Concluding sentence: Currently, the understanding of multilingualism enjoys respect and
recognition as a useful and fruitful approach to children's development.

C / Main Idea: The interplay of languages in the brain of a polyglot strengthens his cognitive
abilities.
Topic sentence: There is ample evidence to suggest that the two language systems of a
polyglot's brain are active even when he or she is using only one language, resulting in
conflict situations between the two systems.
Concluding sentence: This interference is not a hindrance as much as it is a blessing in
disguise, as it forces the mind to resolve internal conflicts and thus gives it exercises that
strengthen its cognitive muscles.

D / Main idea: Bilingual people appear to be more adept than monolingual people at solving
some types of mental puzzles.
Topic Sentence: In a 2004 study by psychologists Elaine Bialystock and Michel Martin-Rey,
bilingual and monolingual kindergartners were asked to separate blue circles and red
squares that were displayed on a computer screen into two digital boxes, one indicated by a
blue square and the other indicated by a red circle.
Concluding sentence: It appears from this study that bilingual children were more able to
solve the problems presented to them compared to monolingual children.

E / The main idea: Children were able to sort the shapes by color easily compared to the
challenge of sorting them by shape.
 Thematic sentence: In the first task, the children had to sort the shapes by color and put 25
blue circles in a basket marked with a blue square and red squares in a basket marked with a
red circle.
Closing sentence: In the next task, you need to sort them by shape, and this was more
difficult because it required placing the pictures in a basket marked with a contrasting color,
and the children with plurality were faster in performing this task.

F / Main Idea: Dual language experience improves the brain's executive functions.
Topic Sentence: Accumulating evidence from numerous studies suggests that dual language
experience improves executive brain functions.
Concluding sentence: Thus, these studies demonstrate the benefit of dual language in
improving basic cognitive brain functions associated with planning, problem solving, and
performing difficult mental tasks.

G / The main idea of the passage is that the conflict between the mind's two language
systems improves some aspect of cognition.
The topic sentence is: “Until recently, researchers thought the bilingual advantage stemmed
primarily from an ability for inhibition that was honed by the exercise of suppressing one
language system.”
The Concluding sentence is :"that explanation increasingly appears to be inadequate, since
studies have shown that bilinguals perform better than monolinguals even at tasks that do
not require inhibition."

H / Main Idea: The main difference between bilingual people and monolingual people is the
heightened ability to monitor the environment.
Topic Sentence: The ability to monitor the environment is the fundamental difference
between bilingual people and monolingual people.
Concluding sentence: The study shows that bilingual people have a better ability to monitor
the environment compared to monolingual people, and that they do so with less activity in
the parts of the brain involved in the monitoring process, which indicates their higher
efficiency in this ability.

i/ Main idea: It seems that the basic bilingual experience from early childhood.
Topic sentence: Does there seem reason to believe that this might also apply to
adolescents learning a second language later in life?
It includes the essential elements of dual learning for promising continuing life stages.

J / Main Idea: The bilateral effects of language learning also extend into the elderly period.
Objective sentence: In a recent study of 44 elderly subjects who were monolingual in
Spanish and English, scientists led by neurologist Tamer Gulan of the University of California,
San Diego, found that people with a higher degree of bilingualism were more resistant to the
onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: the greater the degree of
bilingualism The duration of symptom onset increased.
Concluding sentence: This study indicates that bilingualism may have positive effects on
mental health in the elderly period and may contribute to delaying the onset of dementia.

K / Main idea: The power of language and its profound influence

Topic Sentence: The words we hear and the sentences we utter can leave a profound
impact.
Concluding sentence: The great power of language remains in doubt.