DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE June resit exam 2022

& LITERATURE BILINGUALISM

Course taught by Dr. Anna Hatzidaki ΔΙΓΛΩΣΣΙΑ

INSTRUCTIONS
Name (in Greek) and ID number: …………………………………………………..........

1. Discuss the possible effects of a second or foreign language on thinking and reasoning.
Provide at least one example to illustrate your point. (3.5 crs. Use only the space
provided.)

Many people, on a daily basis communicate in many languages except in their L1 in their second or in
their foreign language. Not only bilingualism, but also a second or a foreign language have a significant
effect on the brain activity related to the language processing demands. In accordance with the foreign
language effect, people are less susceptible to bias and more specifically in decision making processes
and they are able to to display utilitarian cost benefit analysis in decision making procedures when they
thinking and reasoning in a second or in a foreign language. It has been speculated that the decision-
making process differs a lot in one’s native language or L1 from a second or in a foreign one and that
phenomenon is known as the foreign language effect.
More specifically, reasoning, thinking and decision making, are processes that are affected by the language
acquisition. In respect to the decision-making process, the engagement with the System 2 leads the
individuals to a more deliberative thinking and better life choices. However, they are sometimes prone
to mistakes due to their automatic responses of the engagement with the system 1 as their adaptive
behavior and intuitive reasoning is evidence. On the other hand, it has been mentioned that types of
cognitive biases are minimized when people, who speak more than one language are presented with
decision-making problems in their foreign language. For example, as it has been reported from studies,
when presented with problems in their native language, participants tend to opt for more risky options,
but these risky options were not evident when the problem was presented in their foreign or in their
second language. Reasoning in the foreign language elicits a reduced emotional reaction that thinking
and reasoning in the native language. According to Altarriba, & Isurin, (2012) bilinguals exert a more
complex conceptual organization and may exhibit behavior that is unlikely to happen to their
monolingual peers due to the cultural immersion or due to the pre-existing concepts they have been
introduced to.
The bilingual person has activated subconsciously and automatically the languages into their brain,
resulting greater brain development. Research on decision making and judgment suggests that bilinguals
are protected by biases and they have the capacity to be less affected by framing a decision as well as
superstitious beliefs
2. Draw on a topic from the Bilingualism course that you found interesting and explain why. (Your
answer should not refer to the content of the other two questions.) (3 credits. Use only the space provided.)

Drawing back to the Bilingualism course, the fact that made a real impression to me, is how
bilingualism diminishes Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia. More specifically, through the use
of two language, the onsets of dementia and Alzheimer's symptoms can be delayed by as much
as five years compared to the monolinguals.
Alzheimer is an age-related, neuro-degenerative disorder which is characterized by declined
cognitive functions and dementia is used to describe the loss of memory as well as the loss of
reasoning. Many studies indicate that bilingualism aid dementia as well as Alzheimer.
(Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, 2014). The most recent study by Baycrest's Rotman
Research Institute examined 200 patients that had been diagnosed with these diseases. The
conclusions of the study were very insightful as it had been reported that bilingualism offered
protection against the onset of these diseases. According to Marian& Shook (2012) “In the
bilingualism brain, both languages are constantly active, even in strong monolingual contexts.
This is surprising but well documented; it is the key to understanding how bilingualism affects
the minds and the brain” Patients with Alzheimer onset went through neuropsychological
evaluation through the use of functional imaging. The bilingual patients had a strong resilience
into the Alzheimer’s onsets rather than the monolingual one. According to Roger (2014)
bilingualism offers cognitive reserve to the patient and protects them from the cognitive reserve
in the elder stages of their life. Cognitive reserve has to do with the neutral plasticity and in the
the compensatory use of alternative brain regions and the enriched brain vasculature. In respect
to the Bialystok’s et al research (2014), bilinguals not only had a better metal health than the
monolinguals, but also experienced much later the onsets of dementia.
Of course, bilingualism does not prevent dementia or Alzheimer at all, but it can contribute to the
cognitive reserve in the brain and the onset of these diseases can be delayed as the bilingual’s
abilities equip them with compensatory skills to hold back memory loss and confusion.
According to Dr Scweizer’s research, bilinguals are better prepared to use alternative pathways
as their brain is equipped with this ability due to the constant switch of the languages.
According to the Swedish Experiment learning a new language even at the age of thirteen years
old at a fast pace aids the hippocampus growth and the frontal gyrus. The hippocampus is
involved in the new learning material structures and depends on the effort of the individuals.
Thus, the surprising fact, was that the patients who put more effort in learning the new language
made a great influence on the brain structure.
Except the fact that bilingualism declines the effects of dementia and Alzheimer, it is surprisingly
that it remains much younger in spite of the effects of aging. The bilingual brains remain active
all the time, even when the individual speaks more often their L1. The bilingual’s brain works
out non-stop resulting to the youthful cognition. Lifelong bilingualism aids memory and
reasoning.
3. Do bilingual children have two complete vocabularies? Discuss issues that should be considered in
the study and assessment of vocabulary acquisition of bilingual children. (3.5 credits. Use only the
space provided.)

A child can become bilingual by the successive or simultaneous exposure and acquisition of the
second language. To acquire best the foreign or the second language, the earlier is better in
accordance with studies that have proposed that the mastery in the second language declines
dramatically if it is learned after the critical period-puberty. The simultaneous exposure to two
languages, right from birth is called bilingual first language acquisition, while the sequential
exposure to the second or to the foreign language is called second language acquisition. Many
children grow up in bilingual contexts either from birth or soon after they have reached some
understanding of their first language.
It is admitted that bilingual children have smaller vocabulary structures in the individual languages
that the monolingual ones, but in overall their vocabulary is much larger. More specifically,
bilinguals can acquire the vocabulary structures and patterns smoothy and as its has been
admitted they start to produce their first words in the fist year of their life as the monolingual
ones. Some studies have indicated that the vocabulary acquisition for the two languages is not
much different and it is well said that their vocabulary in overall is much larger that the one of
the monolinguals. However, bilinguals when compared with their monolingual peers at the
earlier stages of their life, their vocabulary is smaller. As Genesee, (2012) points out “Because
bilingual children must share their limited memory with two languages, they can store fewer
words in each language than monolingual children—but the same number, or more words,
when you consider both languages” Moreover, the bilingual children’s smaller vocabulary is
related to the amount of the exposure into the learning environment.
The delay over the vocabulary acquisition can be explained through the exposure of the language
they have. The existence of another language system can affect the vocabulary structure and the
vocabulary acquisition when compared with the monolingual peers. When the child is exposed
to the same degree of the two languages simultaneously, the language systems are not treated as
separate but instead, there are some shared aspects, cross linguistic structures as well as
meaning language transfers can be observed in bilingual child vocabulary output. Although it
is widely thought that bilingual children have two separate linguistic systems, as they appear to
mentally represent two separate language systems, they use code-switching techniques, and
they have the ability to move to one language to the other. Thus, they have better metalinguistic
awareness than the monolingual ones, and they seem to have cognitive advantages.
There are considerable evidence that there is a vocabulary overlap in the lexicon of the bilingual
children’s languages. Specifically, the overlap can be attributed to each child’s knowledge
across the two language systems. Hence, it is essential to look at the total amount of expose to
the bilingual child’s competences towards the vocabulary section. According to Bialystok,
(2001) bilingual children may have smaller amount of vocabulary competences as their
“developing cognitive capacities impose limitations on the breadth of information that can be
stored in accessible memory”
Bibliography
ADMdx. (2014). Overview – Alzheimer’s & dementia diagnostics.
Altarriba, J. & Isurin, L. (2012). Memory, Language, and Bilingualism. Theoretical and Applied
Approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., Binns, M. A., Ossher, L., & Freedman, M., (2014). Effects of
bilingualism on the age of onset and progression of MCI and AD: Evidence from executive
function tests. Neuropsychology, 28 (2), 290
Genesee, F. (2012). Simultaneous bilingual acquisition. Encyclopedia of Literacy and
Language Development, 17(44), p. 30.
Marian, V. & Shook, A. (2012) The cognitive benefits of being bilingual. In Cerebrum: the Dona
forum on brain science (Vol, 2012)
Roger, S. (2014). His Mother-In-Law's Struggle With Alzheimer's. Recuperado el 24 de April de
2014,