'Love in less-common languages' photo (c) 2011, Quinn Dombrowski - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

The Benefits Of Being Bilingual is the headline one of my New York Times Learning Network student interactives for English Language Learners. Students read a passage, have to choose the best summary, study prefixes and respond to a writing prompt.

I’m preparing a series of lessons for my Intermediate English students highlighting the advantages to being bilingual (I’ll share them here once they’re done). I think they’ll provide some good positive reinforcement. I thought readers might find it useful to see the few resources I’ve identified, and hope you can suggest others.

In a related issue,e very so often I’ll have a student who says they’re not very interested in learning English because they’re going back to Mexico as soon as possible. My usual response, which has been pretty effective, is that the student is likely to get a better-paying job there if he/she knows English, too. That position makes sense to me and, usually, to the student, who then tends to become more serious about learning English. I have gotten anecdotal evidence from English teachers in Mexico that this statement is true, but had never been able to find any concrete evidence to back it up.

Until recently.

The Guardian ran a story on research showing that knowing English increased your income by 25% in five countries in the developing world.

Mexico wasn’t one of the countries started, but just being able to show this kind of data to my students will be helpful.

You might also be interested in The Best Funny Videos Showing The Importance Of Being Bilingual Or Multilingual.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual:

The Wall Street Journal reports on new research that shows speaking a second language helps mitigate the consequences of dementia. Now, obviously teenagers have challenges thinking long-term. But this kind of info certainly can’t hurt.

An article Education Week provides additional information on this research. It’s headlined Science Grows on Acquiring New Language.

Languages smarten up your brain is the title of a column in the Guardian Weekly. It’s a summary of a report detailing research results that show learning a second language contributes to improved problem-solving and decision-making abilities, among other advantages. The full report can be found here.

Voxy has produced a great infographic titled Why It Pays To Be Bilingual.

Being bilingual may delay Alzheimer’s and boost brain power is a very interesting article from The Guardian. Here’s a short excerpt:

Another study of bilingual people carried out by Judith Kroll, a psychologist at Penn State University, supported the idea that speaking more than one language keeps the brain in shape and bolsters mental function. She found that bilingual speakers could outperform single-language speakers in mental tasks such as editing out irrelevant information and focusing on important details. Bilinguals were also better at prioritising and multi-tasking, she said.

“We would probably refer to most of these cognitive advantages as multi-tasking,” said Kroll. “Bilinguals seem to be better at this type of perspective-taking.”

Juggling Languages Can Build Better Brains comes from Science Daily.

Bilingualism good for the brain, researchers say is from the Los Angeles Times.

How the Bilingual Brain Copes With Aging: As Brain Power Decreases, Older Adults Find New Ways to Compute Language is a report from The Science Daily.

The Bilingual Advantage is a great New York Times column about…the advantages of being bilingual.

Bilingual Immigrants Report Better Health Than Speakers of One Language is the headline on a report about a Stanford study. Here’s an excerpt:

Healthy individuals who immigrate to the U.S. often see their health decline over time. A recent study from Stanford University suggests that immigrants who learn English while maintaining their native language might be protected against this puzzling phenomenon.

Ariela Schachter, a Ph.D. student in sociology, examined the correlation between English and native-language proficiency and Asian and Latino immigrants’ self-reported health status. The results, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, showed that people who are proficient at both English and their native language report better health than do speakers of just one language.

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter is from The New York Times.

Being Bilingual Has Benefits Beyond Language is from NPR.

Neuroscience and the Bilingual Brain is by Judy Willis at Edutopia.

Bilingual Children Switch Tasks Faster Than Speakers of a Single Language is a report on a new study. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual.

Being Bilingual Wards Off Symptoms of Dementia is a report on another study.

Thinking In A Second Language Makes You A Better Decision-Maker

“Bilingualism Fine-Tunes Hearing, Enhances Attention”

“Bilingualism Across The U.S.”

The Benefits of Being Bilingual is a new column by Jonah Lehrer at Wired that provides a good overview of recent research on the topic.

I’ve previously posted about this study that showed Being Bilingual Boosts Brainpower, but Breaking News English has actually made it into a lesson accessible to English Language Learners.

Educators once opposed raising bilingual children. Experts now say it’s beneficial. is from The Washington Post.

Bilingualism ‘Can Increase Mental Agility’ is the headline of an article about a new study that reaffirms a lot of previous research. This is how it begins:

Bilingual children outperform children who speak only one language in problem-solving skills and creative thinking, according to research led at the University of Strathclyde.

The Value Of Learning A Second (or Third) Language

Language Learning Makes the Brain Grow, Swedish Study Suggests is from Science Daily.

The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual is from The Dana Foundation.

Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster is by Judy Willis.

Reasoning Is Sharper in a Foreign Language is from Scientific American.

Mapping The Bilingual Brain is from Radio Lab.

Bilinguals Have Faster, More Adaptive Brains When They Get Older, Study Finds is from ABC News.

Here’s news from Scientific American:

Learning a new language can grow one’s perspective. Now scientists find that learning languages grows parts of the brain.

Scientists studied the brains of students in the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, who are required to learn new languages at an alarmingly fast rate. Many must become fluent in Arabic, Russian and the Persian dialect Dari in just 13 months. The researchers compared the brains of these students to the brains of medical students who also have to learn a tremendous amount in a very short period of time, but without the focus on languages.

The brains of the language learners exhibited significant new growth in the hippocampus and in parts of the cerebral cortex. The medical students’ brains showed no observed growth.

Infographic: “Integration & Immigration Reform”

Understanding How the Brain Speaks Two Languages is from TIME Magazine.

inspire language learningLearn English with Kaplan

Why It Makes More Sense Than You Know to Learn a Second Language is from The Huffington Post.

The Bilingual Brain is a pretty interesting piece from Brain Facts (including images of brain scans).

Think Twice, Speak Once: Bilinguals Process Both Languages Simultaneously is from Science Daily.

The Benefits Of Learning Languages is an excellent lesson plan from Film-English.

Speaking a Second Language May Delay Different Dementias is a report on a new study.

Sean Banville’s great website Breaking News English has three good lessons on the importance of being bilingual:

Can learning another language keep your brain healthier?

Being Bilingual Boosts Brainpower

Half of Europe’s citizens are bilingual

American Academy of Pediatrics Endorses Myth-Busting Report on Multilingualism is from Education Week.

What is a foreign language worth? is from The Economist.

Learning a second language in adulthood can slow brain ageing is from The Telegraph.


Quote Of The Day: The Benefits Of Adults Learning A New Language

 

What happens in the brain when you learn a language? is from The Guardian.

Being Bilingual Makes You Better at Non-Linguistic Tasks is from The Harvard Business Review.

Speaking More Than One Language Could Sharpen Your Brain is from TIME.

Oh, Boy, This Is Great! Researcher’s Scans Show Brain Connections Growing When Learning New Language

Bilingualism delays Alzheimer’s manifestation by more than four years is from Science Daily.

Study Finds That Bilingualism Supports A Growth Mindset

Big Brain Benefits For Bilinguals is from Wellness Warrior.

Infographic on Second Languages

“How speaking multiple languages benefits the brain” is a new TED-Ed lesson and video:

Quote Of The Day: Being Bilingual Helps Your Job Prospects

New Study Says Being Bilingual Equal More “Gray Matter”

This tweet shares a very good article, including links to a helpful study sharing the economic benefits of being bilingual:

Statistic Of The Day: Being Bilingual Pays Off In The Workplace

Know more than one language? How your bilingual brain could pay dividends is from Quartz.

Statistic Of The Day: The Advantages Of Being Bilingual

Bilingual Benefits Vary by Gender is from The Society Pages.

Here are two articles, offering somewhat different perspectives, that, ironically, came out on the same day:

Bilingual Kids Are Way Better At Thinking Outside The Rules is from Fast Company.

The Bitter Fight Over the Benefits of Bilingualism is from The Atlantic.

Why being bilingual helps keep your brain fit is from Mosaic Science.

How language is processed by your brain is from CNN.

Bilinguals are more attractive, say 71% of Americans is from CNN.

Another Study Finds That Learning Second Language Helps Our Brains

Study suggests bilinguals have an improved attentional control is from Eureka Alert.

6 Potential Brain Benefits Of Bilingual Education is from NPR.

Yet Another Study Finds Advantages To Being Bilingual

Learning a new language makes you a more tolerant person is from Quartz.

People who speak multiple languages make the best employees for one big reason is also from Quartz.

Quote Of The Day: Bilingual Is Better!

Being bilingual makes you experience time differently is from Quartz. Here’s how it ends:

The results of this work indicate that brains are adaptable and that by learning new things—like a new language—anyone can increase cognitive flexibility.

 

Bilingual preschoolers show stronger inhibitory control is from Science Daily.

Bilingualism Benefits Low-income Children is from Language Magazine.

Speaking a Second Language May Give Low-Income Kids a Boost is from Scientific American.

New Research Examines the Economic Benefits of Bilingualism is from New America.

4 Benefits of Learning a New Language for Career Growth is from Human Resources News.

Can bilingualism protect the brain even with early stages of dementia? is from Eureka Alert.

Benefits of being bilingual is a lesson plan from The British Council.

Here’s a great infographic from the Office of English Language Acquisition, National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA). You can find the full PDF version here.

 

Bilingual children may lose less brain matter as they grow up is from Science Daily.

The amazing benefits of being bilingual appeared a few years ago at the BBC, but it’s new to me.

Raising kids bilingual can make them more attentive and efficient as adults is from CNBC.

Video: Spanish-Language Version Of TED-Ed’s “The benefits of a bilingual brain”

How Useful Is It to Be Multilingual? is from The NY Times Learning Network.

 

Britain’s multilingual children: ‘We speak whatever language gets the job done’ is from The Guardian.

From OELA :

Benefits of Multilingualism Infographic Translations

Three new translations of the Office of English Language Acquisition’s (OELA) Benefits of Multilingualism infographic are now available in Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic! This resource illustrates the cognitive, educational, economic, and sociocultural benefits of learning multiple languages.

Spanish Translation / Chinese Translation / Arabic Translation

More Research Finds The Benefits Of Being Bilingual

Benefits of being bilingual is a lesson plan from the British Council.

Highlighting the Benefits of Being Bilingual is from Edutopia.

The Economic Benefits of Multilingual Learning is from The Bay Area Council.

The bilingual brain may be better at ignoring irrelevant information is from Science Daily.

The Benefits of Being Bilingual is from Too Small To Fail.

Additional suggestions are welcome.

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You might also want to explore the over 600 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.